Читать книгу Goals to Gold - Lee Sandford - Страница 21

One afternoon, Alan Ball asked all the players to assemble in our home team changing room for a meeting. We didn’t know what it was for and we were sure someone had got into trouble. So when he asked me to come out to the front and stand beside him, I was terrified. I saw he had a letter in his hand and I thought maybe some local girl’s mum had written to say I’d been out with her daughter and I was never to go near her again.

He gave me the letter and asked me to read it out. As soon as I saw the three lions on the headed paper, my heart lifted. It was from the FA. I started reading and soon I was saying the words, “...pleased to announce that Lee Sandford has been selected to play for the England Youth team.” The clapping and cheering from my teammates rang in my ears for days.

The first game I played for the England youth team was against the Republic of Ireland in 1986. It was due to be played at Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday’s home ground, where we did a few training sessions. At the last moment, due to heavy snow in Sheffield, the game was moved to Leeds, to Elland Road. Mum and dad were obviously incredibly proud and determined to come and watch me. They drove all the way from Basingstoke to Leeds. I think it was the furthest dad had ever driven.

Standing on the pitch before kick-off, singing the national anthem, I thought I was dreaming. This was the moment I’d watched so many times on TV, in every cup final, with all the players lined up singing God Save The Queen. Now I was doing it, with my parents watching me from somewhere in the stands. I could have burst with pride.

I was in a team with players who went on to be some of the greatest footballers of my generation. I remember Paul Ince was there, as was Neil “Razor” Ruddock. We won 2-0 and there were huge celebrations on the coach after the match, and back at the hotel, well into the night. Mum and dad were there to enjoy it as well. It was a momentous occasion.

The next game was a month or so later and was against Scotland, played in Aberdeen. Then we started the preparations for our forthcoming tour to China. I was over the moon when I got picked to be in the squad going to China. I remember having to go and get my visa stamped in my passport, and being measured up for my suit. And then something happened.

I don’t remember exactly who left, who took over, or what the issues were, but there was a change of management and the new manager wanted to pick a slightly different squad. This time I wasn’t selected. I was absolutely devastated, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Looking back now, I can see how it was my first experience of being a pawn in someone else’s agenda. Whoever the new manager was, he wanted to make his own selection of players, to put his own stamp on the squad, so I, along with several others, got dropped.

It was a sobering experience, but it taught me how ephemeral professional success can be. It showed me that there are no guarantees in life. It was also my first lesson in letting go of control, in understanding that you cannot always be in charge of what happens to you. Little did I know then that I would use that lesson when it came to accepting the way money markets work; that I would use the story to show people how they have been pawns in the game played by big bankers and global economies.

Only now, with hindsight, can I see how valuable such experiences are to a young person, how early disappointments can actually give you the tools you need in order to succeed in life. Moments like this helped me develop the skills I would one day need to become a disciplined and unemotional trader.