The match was played at 'Silver Stadium' - home to Malawi's premier football team, 'The Silver Strikers' - before the final Super League game of the season. All money raised from the game went to support Malawi's war veterans - three of whom attended as guests of honour.
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| One of Malawi's few surviving veterans of the Second World War at the game. Photo' courtesy of Jenny McNee |
A combination of the recruitment of ringers - including Paddy, who played most of the game at the centre of midfield - and the stringent conditions placed on the MDF team (e.g. no under-40s allowed), resulted in a memorable 3-1 win for the diplomats. We even made our way onto the back pages of the national newspaper in an article which began:
"A football team of diplomats accredited to Malawi whacked a Malawi Defence Force (MDF) team 3-1 in a war veterans fundraising football match at Silver Stadium in Lilongwe on Saturday."
The first five minutes of the game were designated 'symbolic' and all the heads of the various diplomatic missions in Malawi made an appearance on the field. The results were amusing; here are my nominations for best faller-overer (photo's courtesy of Jenny McNee):
And my personal favourite...
As if that weren't enough, straight after the football match I took part in a rugby grudge match between Lilongwe and Blantyre rugby clubs. It was the first time in four years that the only two senior rugby teams Malawi had played a 15-a-side game, so everyone was pretty psyched up. It was also the first time I'd played rugby since 2003, when I was involved in a turgid 13-13 draw at Vicarage Road against Watford Grammar School. The end result was a 21-7 win to Blantyre, after a hard-fought forwards dominated game. More games are scheduled for the new year, so watch this space...
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| Me pictured cuddling another man. Nothing wrong with that. Photo credit: Joe Wilkinson |
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| Smiles all round post-game. I'm third from left on the front row. Photo credit: Joe Wilkinson |
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