66 2GM Wednesday December 2 2020 | the times
SportFootball
draw that he wanted Spurs away to
treat the players to “a couple of nights
in London”.
“Binmen, teachers, some work for
the NHS. I said to the Australian
radio station we had a binman and
they were like, ‘You have a
garbo man who is going
to be up against
Mourinho?!’ That’s
what makes the
story.”
Perhaps none
more so than
the goalkeeper
Bayleigh
Passant, right,
who went viral
when footage of
him nipping to
the local Co-op on
College Road after
the Havant victory in
his bright orange kit to
buy beers for the squad was
posted on social media. Passant was
released by Tranmere Rovers in July
because of the financial implications
of Covid-19 for a side who were
relegated to League Two. When he
was a baby his parents were told thatPark the bus? José won’t have room
T
he cramped car park at the
front of Marine’s Rossett
Park ground has up to 30
spaces and is likely to be full
of outside broadcast trucks
on the day Tottenham Hotspur arrive
in town. The FA Cup may yet throw
up its biggest ever surprise but
already one thing is for certain.
“José will struggle to park the bus
here,” said Paul Monaghan, a fan of
the Northern Premier League
Division One North West side, who
was out walking his dog the morning
after the night before delivered the
most uplifting of third-round draws.
Marine versus Mourinho represents
everything the competition aspires to
be. It is beyond David and Goliath.
The part-timers, based in Crosby,
about seven miles from Liverpool,
will host the Premier League leaders,
who are 301 places above them in the
football pyramid, with the eyes of the
world watching.Football’s glitterati already reside
here with Jamie Carragher and Carlo
Ancelotti among the town’s more
famous residents. Yet the arrival of
Mourinho, Harry Kane and Gareth
Bale et al, who will drive past The
Edinburgh pub (known locally as
The Bug) and spot the Crosby
Chiropractic and Sports Injury Clinic
across the road, brings a new frisson
of excitement.
“It’s just a magical story,” said the
67-year-old chairman Paul Leary,
who lives two minutes from Rossett
Park and whose car number plate
ends in “MFC”.
“It is a real pinch-yourself moment.
It has captured the attention of the
world. I was on an Australian chat
show at midnight last night. Myselfand the club secretary have had
hundreds and hundreds of text,
email or WhatsApp messages
congratulating us.
“It is a fantastic moment after what
has been such a dreadful year for
everyone, with Covid. And here we
are now: Marine hosting Mourinho.
It sounds great, doesn’t it?”
Leary, who first became involved
with Marine as treasurer in 1978 and
has been chairman for the past 16
years, admits the cash windfall of
reaching this stage after Sunday’s 1-0
extra-time victory over Havant &
Waterlooville courtesy of a Niall
Cummins goal is a “godsend”.
Marine’s clubhouse has been
shut since March because of the
pandemic, depriving them of the
income usually derived from parties
and family gatherings. Staff have had
to be furloughed.
Yet for once in the modern era, it
feels like the financial benefits really
are outweighed by the romance for
the manager Neil Young’s squad,
many of whom are under 21 and far
removed from the multimillionaires
of Spurs. “They all have jobs,” said
Leary, who told the BBC before theFans in back gardens
will swell attendance
for Marine’s date
with Kane, Bale
and co, writes
Paul Joyce
he would not live beyond 18 months,
having been diagnosed with Edwards’
syndrome, a genetic disorder. When
he passed that age, they were
informed he might not celebrate his
16th birthday.
Now 20, he is full of health
and dreaming of rubbing
shoulders with Kane
and Bale.
“I watched the
draw at home
with my mum
and dad and my
brother
and sister,”
Passant, who
works in a
Sainsbury’s, said.
“When ‘39’ came
out and they said
‘Tottenham’, me and
my dad were like, ‘Oh
my God’. We were
screaming.
“They will definitely not be used to
our changing rooms. They are quite
small. Having seen the Amazon
Prime documentary [All or Nothing]
it’s not like their changing rooms. If
they [Kane or Bale] were involved, itJiménez hoping to return
‘soon’ after skull surgery
The Wolverhampton Wanderers
striker Raúl Jiménez has said he
hopes to “return to the pitch soon”
after undergoing surgery on a
fractured skull.
The Mexican, 29, received lengthy
treatment on the pitch after a
sickening clash of heads with Arsenal
defender David Luiz at the Emirates
Stadium on Sunday before being
taken to hospital.
Jiménez posted a tweet late on
Monday night which read: “Thanks
for your support messages. I will be
under observation and I hope to
return to the pitch soon.”
Wolves released an update on
Monday morning: “Raúl is
comfortable following an operation
last night, which he underwent in a
London hospital. He has seen his
partner Daniela and is now resting.”Liverpool
Bootle
Crosby
Marine FC
M57One mileGETTY IMAGESwould be something I could look back
on for the rest of my life and say I had
played against some of the best
players in the world.”
The practicalities of hosting the
match over the weekend of January
9-10 will now kick in. Leary is to hold
meetings with the authorities in the
coming days to determine how many
fans will be allowed into the ground.
Crosby is in Tier 2 of the
government’s restrictions and
however many fans are officially
granted entry, the number is sure to
be swelled by those who will fill the
back gardens of houses in Jubilee
Road and Rossett Road that back on
to the 3,185-capacity ground, wanting
to catch a glimpse of the biggest day
in the club’s 126-year history.
A previous claim to fame had been
the tenure of the former manager
Roly Howard, who was in charge
from 1972 to 2005, a reign spanning
1,975 games. He doubled as Kenny
Dalglish’s window cleaner. Now the
Special One awaits.
Leary said: “José will be treated like
everyone else who comes here: with
respect and dignity and the usual
Marine friendship. As simple as that.”Clockwise from left, Marine battle past
Havant & Waterlooville to make the
third round of the FA Cup; the club
chairman Leary with Carragher, one
of the town’s famous residents; the
car park outside Rossett ParkNow 20, he
and dream
shoulde
and B
“I
dra
wi
an
bu have a
goings
n
r
y in
kit to
squad was
media Passant wasa
P
w
Sa
“W
out a
‘‘Totten
my dad w
my God’. W
screaming.
“They will definitelyTownsend’s Kick It Out
claim is not true, says FA
The FA has responded to criticism in
the documentary Anton Ferdinand:
Football, Racism and Me by writing to
clubs to remind players that support
is there for anyone who becomes a
victim of abuse (Matt Lawton writes).
The BBC documentary focused on
the storm that erupted in 2011 when
John Terry was captured on TV using
the words “black c***” in an exchange
with Ferdinand. In the programme,
the former defender asks Troy
Townsend, the Kick It Out head of
development, why the anti-racism
campaign group did not do more to
help him. Townsend said that Kick It
Out is forbidden from engaging with
alleged victims during an inquiry.
The FA, however, has said that is
not the case and there were “serious
inaccuracies” in comments made by
Townsend that it found “concerning”.Brexit rule would have blocked Solskjaer joining United
Restrictions on Premier League and
EFL clubs appointing foreign
managers are to come in from
January — and the new rules would
have prevented Manchester United
appointing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
(Martyn Ziegler writes).
The FA, Premier League and EFL
have agreed a system for work
permits for overseas players and
managers, and it was yesterday
approved by the Home Office.
The criteria for overseas managers
is that they must have worked for
three out of the previous five years in
what is described as a “top league” —
that covers 33 of the world’s main
leagues but not Norway where
Solskjaer had managed Molde.
Due to Brexit, clubs will no longer
be able to sign EU players freely and
there will be a points system for all
overseas players to gain a “governingbody endorsement”, with points
awarded for international senior and
under-21 appearances and domestic
appearances, which vary with the
ranking of the country and league. It
should make it easier for clubs to sign
players from South America, Asia and
Africa but more difficult from Europe.
There will be limits on the number
of 18 to 21-year-olds that a club can
sign — in the Premier League only
six overseas under-21 players can be
signed per season. It may, however,
lead to Premier League sides with
sister clubs in Europe using them to
sign promising teenagers.
Meanwhile, the FA said that the
businesswoman Kate Tinsley will step
up to lead its search for a chairman.
Tinsley, an independent director of
the FA, replaces Stacey Cartwright as
head of the selection panel to find
Greg Clarke’s replacement.continued from back
Villa-Newcastle game called off
playing and non-playing staff. They will
review their findings with Public
Health England (PHE), who will decide
when the Darsley Park training ground,
which has been closed since Monday,
can reopen.
The Premier League board met
yesterday and accepted Newcastle’s
plea, backed by PHE officials, to have
Friday night’s fixture at Villa Park
postponed after “a significant increase
in Covid-19 cases”.
“Several players and staff members
are now self-isolating at home after
returning positive test results in recent
days and the club’s training centre site
has been temporarily closed in order to
contain the spread of the virus,”
Newcastle said in a statement
yesterday.
Villa said they “fully supported” the
decision to postpone the game.