After leaving Sutton United in April, ex-Hereford United player Stuart Fleetwood returned to Herefordshire to play Sunday League football for Rosey Athletic, a move which he said was strange but enjoyable.
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| Fleetwood also played in the Don Cooke Memorial match last month |
"I put out a message on Facebook asking if anyone needed a ringer,”" Fleetwood told The Non-League Paper.
"I think my mate thought I was joking but I said, ‘No, I’ll come and play’ and I signed my Herefordshire Sunday League forms.
"It was a bit strange paying £5 to play. I asked what I needed and I had to take my own socks at times. He even asked me to wash the kit once, but you have to draw the line somewhere!
"I enjoyed it, though. We won my first game 12-0, so that was nice. I think a few Hereford fans recognised me and one week a referee said, ‘You look like that Stuart Fleetwood’.
"I just thought he was having a laugh. Then, later on, he said, ‘Oh, it actually is you!’ I played four or five games and scored a few goals, so it was good."
Fleetwood has since signed for Bath City, a side who finished 14th in the National League South last season.
"I always said I didn’t want to sign for a club who weren’t looking to achieve and they want to push for the play-offs,” he said. "I know a few of their players from playing against them and they’ve always been tough," Fleetwood added.
"There are some good players in this league. You look at Sutton last year, with the likes of Craig Eastmond and Nicky Bailey, and the players at Ebbsfleet, too. It’s a good league and sometimes I don’t think it gets enough credit."