jaishaw

Sunday 2nd July 2006

Due to certain leagues being dominated by a handful of teams, UEFA shook the footballing world by creating a 6-tier European superleague. Headed by new chairman Fedorico Domenichoni, with promises of "finding the true european champions, over a structured league and eliminating the 'luck' associated with knockout competitons".

This was my opportunity. Having played all my career at Portsmouth FC - until cruciate ligament damage forced me to retire at 29 - I was recognised at a national level and always fancied trying my hand at management . Having read in the news that Fernando santos had resigned from Benfica - stating 'UEFA have effectively destroyed domestic football and over a hundred years of history' - I knew this was my chance.

After seeking out Benfica chairman Luis Filipe Vieira at his 2nd home in London I arranged a meeting for the same morning. Suprisingly, Mr Vieira agreed to meet me at the Eagle Bar Diner just off Oxford street at 11am. Not knowing what to take with me I just grabbed everything I could see in my living room. Passport, copy of my UEFA Licenses and business plan. When I say business plan, this was basically a rough collection of my favourite training drills, and description of the way I intend to strip things down to basics and rid my prospective club of uneccessary staff and players.