Phuket Hosts ESPN Charity Football Clinic

Monday, 30th March 2009 at 12:10pm

The ESPN STAR Sports broadcast team concluded its hectic weekend in Phuket with a footballing day at the British International School (BIS) on Sunday March 29.

The day got underway with a coaching session for the benefit of children from BIS, the Youth Football Home and the Thailand Special Olympics team. Former Liverpool and England midfielder Steve McMahon was one of a number of presenters who supervised a training session, sharing some of the knowledge he had accumulated in a glorious career.

McMahon won the English first division (now the Premier League) three times with Liverpool and the FA Cup twice and was also a member of the England squad who reached the semi finals of the world cup in 1990.

After the coaching clinic, the ESPN side took on a couple of local teams. Some of the ESPN team looked visibly the worse for wear and conceded two goals in quick succession to the Phuket Reporters Club, Watcharin Kaendiew netting a brace. ESPN rallied in the second half and former Birmingham City player Paul Masefield pulled a goal back before PJ Roberts grabbed a deserved equalizer.

The second match saw ESPN take on a BIS side featuring a mixture of parents, teachers and children. ESPN took an early lead with an expert finish from Andy Tait but BIS promptly pulled a goal back. The best, however, was yet to come as Paul Masefield scored with an audacious flick to give ESPN a 2-1 lead that they held until mid-way through the second half when the game had to be abandoned due to lightning.

Steve McMahon, who made a couple of cameo appearances for the ESPN side, said afterwards, "It's been great and we've raised some money for charity which is the main thing. I always like coming to Phuket, its beautiful here." A total of 400,000 baht was raised over the course of the weekend, which will go towards helping the Thailand Special Olympics team.

By James Goyder

Have Your Say About This Post