BULL IN THE BARNE

Swapping the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for the Sunday League circuit – is a footballing legend, Roberto Carlos, who is set for the green countryside of Shropshire. The transfer window closed on "Deadline Day" but two Sunday League clubs sealed "blockbuster moves" before shut down for £5 through "eBay Dream Transfer". 

Shrewsbury based pub team "Bull in the Barne" (presently 5th in their league) snapped up Carlos, aged 48, who is a current Real Madrid ambassador. Carlos has agreed to take the plunge in the Shrewsbury & District Sunday Football League, seven years after retiring.Carlos was a modern day pioneer in making the full back role an attacking force. He joined Real Madrid in 1996 after a brief spell at Inter Milan. He won 125 Brazilian caps over a 15 year career. Roberto Carlos' brilliant, swerving free-kick for Brazil against France in 1997, is one of the most memorable goals in the history of football. As well as lifting the 2002 World Cup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdL7EDKr_rk

Carlos also won three Champions' League and four La Liga titles with Real Madrid in his career, which ended in 2015 after a spell in India as player/head coach with Delhi Dynamos. He will appear as a substitute at one of their Shrewsbury & District games in February. 

"You pay £5 to enter the raffle for a chance to have a pro sign for your team. One of our lads said in a group chat 'let's just give it a go' and we ended up winning it," striker and club secretary Matthew Brown told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"On Friday afternoon, our manager, Ed Speller, sent a message to say we won the competition and none of us believed him. We thought he was having us on. "I went out on Friday night and woke up with a bit of a sore head on Saturday and I had messages from people saying 'is it true about Roberto Carlos?' and at that point I was thinking 'it can't have happened, it's just a dream'."

"We play on a pitch next to Hanwood Village Hall. The changing room is proper Sunday league, pretty basic, a couple of the showers don't work," Brown added. "There has been talk of moving the game somewhere else because the car park is tiny."

"Our usual crowd is mostly just a couple of family members, but we do have two parents, Mr and Mrs Turrall, who are there rain or shine watching us." "I think he can speak English OK; eBay released a couple of videos - but I don't know if he'll understand the Shropshire accent," Brown joked. So, what will happen if Bull In The Barne is awarded a free-kick in the other team's half? Presumably they will just hand Roberto the ball? Maybe not!!

Most of the Bull In The Barne team are of a similar age and grew up watching Carlos' exploits. "He's probably one of the best left-backs the world has ever seen," Brown said. "Liam Turrall is in my opinion, the best left-back in Shropshire but he's probably going to have to take one game out for us - he's a cracking player but Roberto Carlos is another level. "One of our lads decided a couple of weeks ago that he wasn't fit enough to do it any more and retired, but he's regretting his decision now, I think. "I can imagine we're not going to be struggling for players for the next couple of weeks as they try to get into Ed's good books."

In Sussex, Eastbourne based club, New Pevensey and Westham FC, have landed ex-Chelsea star, Eni Aluko, who retired full time football two years ago. She played club football in England, the US and Italy and won more than 100 caps for England. Eni was appointed Director of Women's Football at Aston Villa and more recently made Sporting Director at Long Angeles based Angel City FC.

Both players are "contracted for ONE game" after winning teams entered a £5 ticket raffle, with money going to the social inclusion charity, Football Beyond Borders. Founded in 2013 the charity helps young people who are passionate about football but not fulfilling their potential at school. To date over 2,000 youngsters have benefitted from this charity.