I’m struggling – properly struggling – to get my head around the idea that a 13-year-old boy made his senior football debut in the UK last week.
Christopher Atherton came on as a substitute for Northern Irish side Glenavon in the second half of their 6-0 League Cup win over Dollingstown. And the young prodigy certainly lived up to expectations, providing an assist for a goal with his first touch of the game before going on to put in a composed performance more akin to a player twice his age.
In making his senior debut at 13 years and 329 days, Atherton broke a record that had stood for 42 years and was previously held by Eamonn Collins. But that boy was nearly a year older when he made his first appearance for Blackpool.
What makes this difficult for me to get my head around is that Master Atherton is only a year and a bit older than my own son. Now, my lad can play a bit of football, and he may well, one day, make his senior debut for one team or another if he decides to go in that direction.
But the idea of him being ready to play against grown, sweaty, bearded men in the next 12 months or so is completely beyond the realms of possibility. He would be sliced in half and left dangling on a corner flag. As would most of his current, similarly aged teammates.
The funny thing is, having seen some photos of Atherton, he doesn’t even look particularly big or strong for his age. And that must mean he is one heck of a talented player if he is able to play against men.
Hopefully he will go on to really make a name for himself in football because if you look at a list of the youngest debutants in the British game it’s mostly a who’s who of “whatever happened to them?”
I guess that is the danger of being thrust into the spotlight at such a tender age. But Atherton’s manager and coaches at Glenavon all seem to believe he will take this next step in his development in his stride without it going to his head.
So, for now, Atherton will be settling into the routine of going to school during the day and then training with the grown-ups in the evening while hoping the big clubs come knocking.
And I suspect they will.
A farewell to the king of niceness
Has there ever been a more genuinely likable tennis star than Roger Federer? If there has, I can’t think of them.
The Swiss legend announced last week that he will be hanging up his racket for good, after winning a magnificent 103 singles titles, 20 grand slams and spending 310 weeks as the world number one during a glittering career.
He can also include Olympic medals and Davis Cup victories in his long list of achievements, but it was his performances at Wimbledon, where he won a record-breaking eight titles, for which he will probably be best remembered. Yet for me, Federer was about more than just his incredible talent and trophies. It was the way he handled his success without being flash, arrogant or self-important that really made him stand out.
Being the best in the world at a given sport, especially for such a long period of time, could easily have gone to his head. But it never did. Quite the opposite in fact, with Federer winning the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award 13 times.
Being the best in the world for such a long time could easily have gone to his head
Off the court he set up his own foundation to help impoverished children in southern Africa and never tired of doing charity work and helping out good causes. And he always had time for his fans.
One of the most memorable things about Federer was that he wasn’t afraid of wearing his heart on this sleeve. On several occasions he was reduced to tears after lifting major trophies. And that was him all over, supremely talented yet humble enough to fully appreciate each and every victory.
Injuries and surgeries prompted 41-year-old Federer to call it a day. But even bowing out of the sport he remained as dignified as ever. “Tennis has treated me more generously that I ever would have imagined, and now I must recognise when it is time to end my career. I consider myself one of the most fortunate people on Earth. I was given a special talent to play tennis and I did it at a level that I never imagined.”
Although Federer had a multitude of top rivals during his career – inevitable when you play more than 1,500 top matches over a quarter of a century – his battles with Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic are what really caused the most excitement. And both those players were quick to heap praise on the departing Swiss star.
The only negative in this, for me at least, is that Nadal (22) and Djokovic (21) will end their careers with more slams than Federer. That’s not to say they aren’t worthy of all their titles – of course they are. It would just have been rather fitting if, after an epic three-way battle that stretched over two decades, tennis’ Mr Nice Guy had ended up top of the pile. Although this particular nice guy is so nice, he would be the last person to moan about clinching third place.
There have been other great players in the past, there are some around now and there will no doubt be plenty more in the future. But for elegance, modesty and overall good-guyness, I doubt we will see the likes of Federer for a long, long time.
E-Mail: James@quizando.com
Twitter: @Maltablade