NEW!! New Boots And Contracts by Dale Farrington: 2009

New Boots and Contracts
by Dale Farrington

Back in 2009, Chonburi had a very talented overseas player who was also helping to recruit top class professionals from Europe for other Thai clubs. On this particular evening, I was in the car with him when he took a call from one such hopeful. The lad in question had secured a trial with a TPL team and had just landed in Bangkok. He was now waiting for a representative from the club to pick him up from the airport.

At first all seemed to be OK. However, and even though I could only hear half of the conversation, I soon gathered there was some sort of problem. It went something like this:

“Yes. Khun ‘X’ is on his way. I’ve just spoken with him. He knows who you are and has a photograph of you.”

Pause

“He’ll take you straight to the house. It’s a nice place. lots of the players have used it.”

Pause

“No, mate. That’s all sorted.”

Pause

“They’ll pick you up in the morning and take you to training. You don’t have to worry about anything”

Longer pause

“What? Are you sure? You’ve checked all your bags?”

Pause

“Seriously?”

Pause

“Hang on.”

The ‘agent’ then covered the phone and turned to me.

“He says he’s forgotten his boots.”

“What?”

“He’s forgotten to bring his football boots. The silly sod has arrived to sign for a team and he’s forgotten his boots!”

After we had finished laughing, my mate got back on the phone.

“OK. Don’t worry. I’ll call Khun ‘X’ and explain what has happened. There’s a shop in town. You’ll have to go there and get some new ones in the morning."

After a few more exchanges and reassurances, the chat ended and a quick call to Khun ‘X’ was made. There then followed another call to the bootless star to further impress on him that turning up on the first day at your new club without football boots wasn’t really that much of a problem.

Finally, everything was sorted and we carried on with our journey. There was plenty of mickey taking and name calling, even though the recipient wasn’t there to defend himself. In conclusion, I’m pleased to say that the player in question went on to have a very successful career in Thailand, representing a few clubs and is still highly regarded by the fans. He is now playing abroad. The ‘agent’ opened a sports shop!*

*Artistic licence may have been used here