They've got some of the biggest names in football.
Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Steven Gerrard and Christiano
Ronaldo to name but a few. In fact it's such a star-studded line-up
that they've even got Wayne Rooney playing in GOAL.
And this superstar dream team will be proudly trotting out next
Sunday against their arch rivals... the, er, Iron Horse.
But if you've never heard of the Iron Horse, you've probably never
heard of lowly Lynam Athletic either.
They play in the Birmingham Coronation League Alliance. Division 3,
actually. And last season they finished bottom.
But now they're aiming for the big time - after the entire squad
changed their names by deed poll to match those of their footie
heroes.
The Lynam line-up includes Jamie Carragher, Cafu, Hernan Crespo and
Ronaldinho all fighting for a place in the team, which is pretty
amazing since, despite the names on the back of their shirts,
they're just a bunch of IT workers from the West Midlands.
Top scorer Thierry Henry (Darren Yeomans, 39) said: "We wanted to
strike fear into the opposition and we certainly weren't going to
do that with our football skills."
Player manager Cafu (Dan Branch, 30) dreamt up the idea over a
pint. He said: "We're hoping it will give us confidence."
But skipper John Terry (Ian Flett, 28 ) admitted: "It'll be tough
against The Iron Horse because it's Ronaldinho's birthday the night
before.
Thierry and Ruud smoke 20 a day and Gerrard is always more than
half cut on a Sunday - nothing like their namesakes."
Star squad: Kevin Alban (Cristiano Ronaldo), Majid Ali
(Ronaldinho), Jonathan Barber (Jamie Carragher), Paul Blears (Dani
Alves), Dan Branch (Cafu), Darryl Brown (Michael Essien), Marc
Clifton (Ruud van Nistelrooy), Connor Edgcumbe (Steven Gerrard),
Darren Yeomans (Thierry Henry), Ian Flett (John Terry), Chris Gray
(Lionel Messi), Nick Hall (Kaka), Pete Hall (Iker Casillas), Neil
Kimpton (Fabio Cannavaro), Andrew Mullan (Hernan Crespo), Jon
Robins (Petr Cech), Ben White (Wayne Rooney).
YES IN DEED
Anyone who signs a Deed Poll commits themselves to abandoning their
old name, using their new name at all times and requiring others to
address them by the new name. It must be used on all formal
documents, including mortgages and bank accounts.
