A FIVE-STAR performance from a ‘ringer’ in his Sunday morning veterans’ team could be the signing that helps Rory Fallon lead his Wythenshawe Town side to promotion.
The ringer in question was former Premier League player George Boyd, who Fallon brought to the North West Counties League Premier Division side last week.
“George played for our vets team and I think he scored nine in his first game,” recalls Fallon, the former Hyde United, Curzon Ashton, Trafford, and FC United striker.
“Pretty early on, the opposition realised who he was and as an ex-Premier League star, they tried to give him a good kicking. The goalkeeper even tried to throw the ball at him! But I’m sure George was used to that.
“You could see he was still fit and in good condition, so we had a casual conversation about whether he would be interested in playing at semi-professional level.
“He went away and gave it some thought and said that he would be up for playing. It’s massive for us.”
Boyd played almost 700 senior games for the likes of Peterborough United, Hull City and Burnley before injury cut short his stay at Salford City in the 2020/21 season.
Now 38, he has been lured to the Step 5 club as they aim for promotion to the Northern Premier League.
Fallon was delighted with Boyd’s first impression PICTURE: Alamy during a 2-1 league victory over Burscough on Tuesday night, while the new arrival netted his first goal for the club in a 4-0 win over Cheadle Town yesterday.
“The Burscough game was hard because we went down to 10 men after 65 minutes,” Fallon said. “But George played all 90 minutes and he was sprinting around and closing opponents down.
“It was not a pretty game and everyone had to dig in. But for the other players in our team, and we have a lot of young lads, to see an ex-Premier League player do that, then everyone can.
“When he was at Burnley under Sean Dyche, that team was known for hard graft. They were all hard workers with a bit of quality and that’s George. He’s got so much experience and the team can only learn from his professionalism.”
Having won promotion out of the Championship, League One and League Two, Boyd knows what it takes for a side to be successful.
And that winning mentality is exactly what Fallon hopes rubs off on the rest of the squad, with Wythenshawe currently fourth and sat in a play-off spot.
“George is a winner and if we can get 15-20 games out of him between now and the end of the season, his experience and quality on the ball could be the difference between us being in the play-offs or finishing outside them,” he added. “It helps us out and it’s something refreshing as it shows a genuine love of playing the game.”
