Former Tottenham and QPR star makes 'unbelievable' move to non-league Harborough Town
A former Tottenham star has made the jump to a non-league club.
Former Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers midfielder Sandro has made an unlikely career move, signing for Harborough Town in the Southern League Premier Division Central.
This comes over a year after he officially announced his retirement from professional football. The signing came about from a ‘chance conversation’ that Harborough head coach Mitch Austin had with the player ‘a couple of weeks ago’. He revealed Sandro has kept himself ‘really fit’ and is a ‘great guy’.
Harborough will partake in the second round of the FA Cup - they defeated National League South outfit Tonbridge Angels to get this far in a minor cup upset. They have been drawn against Reading in the second round proper, though it remains to be seen if Sandro will be eligible to play in that particular game.
On Sandro’s arrival at Harborough, Austin spoke in an interview on their official club website: “What an unbelievable signing for the club, I really cannot express how I am feeling.
“I had a chance conversation with Sandro a couple of weeks ago and we got talking about football, told him about Harborough Town FC and the journey we are on and he has been messaging me ever since to sign on, totally unbelievable and gobsmacked is how I would describe this signing.
“These sort of signings don’t happen every day but when you get a chance to sign an ex-professional footballer who has played at the highest level in the Premier League and internationally with Brazil, you just cannot turn it down.
“Being a Tottenham Hotspur fan myself I knew all about Sandro, but when I looked back at a few photos online and there he was stood in a Brazil team photo with the likes of Neymar Jr., Ronaldinho, Thiago Silva, Dani Alves, Marcelo, I was like ‘what is going on, pinch me!’
“But credit to Sandro, he has kept himself really fit and is an absolute great guy, down to earth who, when the chairman and I met with him, came across very genuine, polite and humble, you could really sense there was a real desire to get the signing done on his part, I am absolutely delighted to have him at our club.
“I think the players and staff around the club can learn great things from him and develop and watch his professionalism and understand what is needed if they want to progress and play at the highest possible level of the game. However long he stays we will all become better for it.”
During his time at Spurs, Sandro made 81 Premier League appearances, scoring three goals along the way - meanwhile, he made 34 league appearances at QPR and scored just one goal. Outside of London, the 35 year old has played for clubs such as West Bromwich Albion, Benevento and Genoa.
He has also represented his native Brazil on the international stage - Sandro won 17 caps for the Verde-Amarela between the years of 2009 and 2012, scoring one goal.