Former Brazil International Sandro Joins Non-League Harborough Town for FA Cup Run

The story details how non-league club Harborough Town secured the signing of former Brazil international midfielder Sandro. An unusual scenario unfolded when a former Brazil international agreed to play for a non-league club without charge in what is considered the biggest match in the club’s history. The manager of seventh-tier Harborough Town, known as the Bees, initially made a jocular suggestion to former Tottenham midfielder Sandro about playing for the club during an unplanned encounter in a pre-match hospitality suite. Sandro promptly accepted the offer. However, Harborough boss Mitch Austin, a Tottenham season-ticket holder, responded with laughter, believing Sandro was merely being facetious. Austin recounted with amusement, “I thought, ‘nah, he is just being nice’ but then he didn’t go away. He’s still here.” He continued, “Then I asked, ‘what do I need to do now, speak to your agent?’ He just said, ‘take my number’. And from there, he has arrived here.” The Brazilian player was introduced to his new team-mates on Saturday at Bowden Park in Market Harborough, a Leicestershire town with a population under 25,000, on a grey winter’s day. Sandro expressed to BBC East Midlands Today, “It’s amazing, man. I feel the love, the energy of everyone here at the club.” Sandro attended Harborough Town’s 1-1 Southern League Premier Central draw against Royston Town. While Tottenham paid £8m to acquire Sandro from Internacional in his home country in 2010, Harborough incurred no cost to bring him out of retirement 14 years later, at the age of 35. Harborough chairman Pete Dougan confessed that his initial question to Austin upon hearing of the improbable transfer was “how are we going to finance this?” However, the Brazilian has declined all monetary offers, including payment for fuel and expenses. Sandro stated, “I’ll do it for free because I just want to enjoy it one more time.” To play for the Bees in their FA Cup second-round match against League One Reading, a stage the club has not previously reached, Sandro must first complete a two-match ban, which resulted from a red card in his final game for Belenenses in Portugal’s top flight over two years prior. Nevertheless, the powerfully-built 6ft 2in midfielder, formerly of West Brom, QPR, and Genoa, made a significant impact upon his arrival by performing an initiation song in the changing rooms during his official welcome. He readily agreed to the traditional introduction and inquired about the availability of a microphone. Unsurprisingly, his team-mates were unfamiliar with the lyrics to the international hit “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” by fellow Brazilian Michel Telo; however, he still captivated the room, with everyone chanting and clapping to the melody. Coaches, club chiefs, and players have described Sandro’s arrival as “surreal.” For the 35-year-old, the slightly off-key song sung with team-mates and the accompanying laughter contribute to his reason for returning to football. Sandro stated, “I missed football.” He added, “Football has helped me, my family and my friends, and if I can get one more or two more games to enjoy then it’s an honour.” Sandro played 106 matches for Tottenham between 2010 and 2014. Sandro, who is pursuing a career in management, received the unexpected opportunity to return to playing after meeting Harborough manager Austin, a lifelong Spurs supporter, among hospitality guests at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Sandro commented, “I said to the manager, ‘you know what, I’m serious I’ll take this opportunity and enjoy it’. It’s an opportunity to feel like a player again, to be in that changing room again.” The team Sandro has joined consists of part-time players who have made a notable impact in the world’s oldest cup competition, progressing through four qualifying rounds to reach the first-round proper, where they defeated fellow non-league team Tonbridge Angels, thereby arranging a match against a former Premier League club now in League One. The upcoming second-round away fixture against Reading with the amateur club represents a significant contrast to playing alongside figures such as Ronaldinho and Neymar for Brazil. The Harborough boss aptly described the acquisition of a midfielder who made 17 appearances for the five-time world champions, once captained his nation, secured a Copa Libertadores title with Internacional, and played for eight top-flight clubs across England, Italy, Turkey, and Portugal as “random as anything.” Sandro personally views the FA Cup match with an obscure club from rural south east Leicestershire as “a dream” opportunity to once more participate in the sport he values. Sandro declared, “It’s all about the love of football. It will be an nice experience, a nice moment for me to be on the pitch one more time.”