Training at El Palmar beach

One of John's preferred training sites whilst living in Arcos de la Frontera was the fantastic white sands of El Palmar beach on the Costa de la Luz.

Arcos de la Frontera

At age 5, John's family moved to Arcos de la Frontera, where he soon joined local 7 a-side team El Santiscal, and wore another yellow strip (Back row 4th from left).  Their first match was against a team with a white strip, and John turned round excitedly to his dad and asked "Are we playing Real Madrid?"!  Another highlight of that season was a 7-0 win at Jedula, when John scored 4 of the goals and came off the pitch asking if they had won.

Massanet de la Selva

A keen ball player since his early days, John joined a team as soon as possible, at age 3!  At this time his family lived in Catalunya, so his first team was Massanet de la Selva, where he wore a bright yellow shirt and whatever number was available.  Magnet ball enjoyed by all, but there was always one little boy who seemed to leave the scrum with the ball at his feet!