MELKSHAM’S Luke Ballinger has hung up his futsal boots after 13 years, and being the first ever player to play 100 times for the England futsal team.
In November 2017, Luke received a golden cap in front of 90,000 Wembley fans for reaching 100 appearances for the England futsal team. He now ends his career with 108 appearances, scoring 60 goals.
Luke said, “After 13 years of playing futsal and 10 years as an England player, I am sadly hanging the futsal shoes up.
“Futsal has been a huge impact in my life and for 10 years as an England player, I let it dictate my life and made sure that I was available for every training weekend and matches. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed my time on and off the court and the experiences I have had, which will stay with me forever.
“Futsal has allowed me to meet some unbelievable people and people that will be my friends forever.
“A thank you to my uncle, who got me involved in the sport. A weekend to Sheffield in the FA Cup in 2007 was where it all began. A few weeks later, I received a voice message from Graeme Dell telling me I was in the squad to travel to Izmir.
“It was here that I made my debut against Azerbaijan followed by games against Holland and Turkey which was the start of what was a very proud career.
“I also had trips to Georgia and then the first ever win against Greece which were two memorable trips for me and the national side.
“After trips to Kuala Lumpar and my first World Cup Qualifier, Delly sadly left and I will always be grateful for the opportunity he have me and luckily we have stayed good friends.
“Another man who I will always be grateful to, and be very close to, is Pete Sturgess. This man came in and gave me the opportunity to not only carry on playing, but to captain England.
“This is easily the proudest moment of my life! Memories were made throughout my captaincy with Pete as manager.
“Our first ever competitive win against Cyprus, going to Libya and beating them on their own patch and the trip to Gaddafi’s compound is still spoken about today.
“The first ever qualification in Israel, first home nations tournament where we won in Newcastle are all momentous victories and helped grow the game in this country.
“Pete sadly stepped down after the main qualification round in Hungary where I was left on 98 caps. I do wish he was around for my 100th cap in Germany. To be the first ever player to do this in this country is something I am very proud of. I never thought playing one game was possible, but to do it 100 times was a dream.
“In my last 10 games in an England shirt I managed to score 10/10, so not a bad way to finish, scoring in every qualification game in the group for the first time – something I have always looked to do.
“I was able to score 60 goals over my career and this, for me, is a great achievement but not possible without the help of my teammates – so to everyone, thank you!
“To have your name amongst some of the greatest players to wear an England shirt on the wall at St George’s Park isn’t too bad..”
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