From Brentford and Tottenham to Hastings – now Russ is an England captain

Russ Small - who coaches junior teams at Hastings United - skippered the English side to a 2-1 victory over Wales in Wrexham last weekend.

Russ, who is 68, played professional football in the 1970s for Brentford and was involved in the coaching set up at Tottenham before retirement.

He is the coach and first team manager now at Hastings United Walking Football Club which won the Age UK East Sussex trophy last year.

Russ said: "Walking football is the fastest growing sport in the UK and this was a great honour for me."

He travelled to Birmingham and Lincoln at the beginning of the year for training camps before being selected to play at International level and was in the England side which got to the final of the European Championships. They lost one nil to the hosts, France, but Russ's sweet left foot scored three goals during the tournament.

Club Chairman Phil Aspinall said: " Russ is the backbone of our club. He has the energy and fitness levels of a man in his 40s and plays his football to a remarkable standard. He's an inspiration to all of us Hastings lads.

" Obviously this captaincy is a great honour for Russ - whoever would dream of being an England captain when you are pushing 70 - but it's a fabulous thing for the Club too. Not many of the hundreds of WF clubs can boast an England captain in their ranks."

Russ leads the warm ups before every training session on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons at the Academy in Ore with stretching, jogging and other strength-building exercises.

But when he isn't playing for Hastings, Russ also turns out for the Arsenal WF team at the Emirates and will be touring Italy with them in November/December this year.

He added: "Football has been my life for many years and I've always stayed fit but I never dreamed when I packed up that I would be playing still at 68 and then being made Captain of England - that's the icing on the cake.

"The lads I play with in Hastings are a fabulous bunch of fellahs and aside from the fitness benefits it's such fun to play. I'd recommend it to anyone."

Any men over 50 or women over 40 can join the HUWF Club to train weekly or play in the Southern Combination league. Contact club secretary Tony Harris by email [email protected] for details.