I once played in a charity football at Stoke City for a team which is now called The Jet 2 Allstars but was at that time The Morson Allstars. The game was to celebrate the
unveiling of a statue of the legendary goalie, Gordon Banks. The statue depicted his iconic save in the 1970 World Cup against the player widely regarded as the greatest ever. . . Pele.
When we arrived at the ground our manager, Tony, told us that our manager for the day would be none other than the Brazilian great, Pele. None of us really believed this! As we sat down to listen to the team selection, Archbishop Desmond Tutu walked in as our trainer for the match. He proceeded to give us all high-fives as he walked around the room. It really was surreal and for some reason the “industrial language” usually spoken in the dressing room stopped.
Then the door opened and in walked Edson Arantes do Nascimento aka
Pele. As we sat there open-mouthed, Pele asked in Portuguese if anybody spoke Portuguese. I stood up and said yes and then proceeded to do an impromptu welcome in his native language. I think he really appreciated this (hence the selfie).
A lot of the lads were slightly bewildered as nobody was expecting that.
When I sat down after my little speech, a young actor next to me said, “Wow, I can’t believe that.” He had a little think for a moment and then asked “So what did Pele say?” I turned to him saying “He said . . .I love Phoenix nights but who are all these others?”…….