The Saturday Interview

SEEING international footballers turn out for Bacup Borough isn't exactly the norm.

Rarely do you witness Overmars tearing down the wing, Maldini keeping things tight at the back, or Ronaldo knocking in the goals, North West Counties League football is made up of more industrious types.

But at the moment the West View side can count amongst their numbers one man who has represented his country at senior level - Welsh goalkeeper Dave Felgate.

The stopper who's had more clubs than Ian Woosnam in Open Championship week played one match for Wales way back in October 1983, coming on as a substitute against Romania to replace the legendary Neville Southall.

So you can understand why he was initially underwhelmed when Bacup boss Brent Peters came knocking towards the end of last season.

Felgate had spent the previous two years as goalkeeping coach and reserve team keeper at Unibond Premier League team Radcliffe Borough, but unwittingly revived his playing career by agreeing to play one game for Chorley to help out his old Bolton team-mate Mark Patterson.

"Mark asked if I'd play in a one-off game, because they were short. I was a little bit concerned about showing myself up though - I'd only played one game in 12 months," said Felgate.

"But I agreed for old time's sake, and I played against Rossendale, we won 2-0, I enjoyed it and got man of the match. They asked me to play again but I said no - one game was enough."

However, that appearance alerted Peters to his availability, and the Bacup chief immediately made moves to sign the 44-year-old on loan.

"A good mate of mine, Ian Senior, asked me if I wanted to play for Bacup, so I texted him back and said no. But Brent Peters is like a dog with a bone, and once he gets his teeth into you, you've got no chance.

"He called me on the Friday and said, 'I've spoken to Ian, and he's told me you're up for playing tomorrow'. I said, 'You've got that wrong for a start, I said no.' I could tell the disappointment in his voice, and I felt a bit awful, so we agreed with Radcliffe manager Kevin Glendon that I would play one game."

But he was persuaded to play in two more games, and by that time he was enjoying his football again, so more arm-twisting led to Felgate, born in Blaenau Ffestiniog at the foot of Snowdon, agreeing to stay for the rest of the season.

The keeper, who currently works for a timber merchants in Bolton, is keen to move into management in the near future, and it was this fact that enabled Peters to sign the Welshman permanently this season.

"I've applied for a few non-league jobs, but such is the non-league scene now that you've got to be in it a little while to get your face known. Brent got to hear that I'd applied though, so he came to me with a package to go to Bacup as head coach but still play, which was an ideal situation for me."

And he is pleased with a start to the season that sees the West View club currently lying in second place in NWCL Division One.

"It's not being on top of the league that counts at this stage of the season, it's being up there. Brent's set his sights on getting promoted this year, and with the single-mindedness of the man I hope we manage to achieve that.

"We're trying to make Bacup more professional, in the way we do things in the dressing room for example, and we've got a good nucleus of players - there's no stars, they just get on with it. At the moment I'm enjoying it, I'm looking forward to games and to training, although the bones aren't the best at my age!"

In his 27 years in the game, Felgate has played for an incredible 17 different clubs, with the bulk of his career spent at Lincoln, Leigh RMI and Bolton, who he rejoined for a second, lengthier spell after starting there as a youngster. But he says a lot of his moves were part of his learning experience in the game.

"Early on I was on loan at a few clubs, they used to send you out to places because it toughens you up. You're 17 or 18 and you're in this cocoon, and then you play at places like Spotland and you've got 6'3" centre forwards coming down and battering you all over the place."

His time at Lincoln sadly included playing at Valley Parade in 1985, on the day that 56 people were killed as the main stand went up in flames during the match.

"It was a horrific time - I was the last player to actually kick the ball. I saw an incident in the far corner, there was a little bit of smoke, so basically the ball came to me and I kicked it over the stand. It was meant to be a joyous occasion (Bradford were celebrating winning the old Third Division title), but in the space of twenty minutes it was a national disaster."

Felgate has had a remarkable habit of saving penalties throughout his career, and he explains that it was due to a little more than just pure guesswork.

"When I was younger I had a book, and if I saw a penalty on television or in a game I was playing in, I always made a note of who took it, which side they put it, and whether they blasted it or chipped it.

"Then there's your own technique in reading how people take penalties. I would always wait and watch the taker - it's too easy just to commit yourself one way. I think I saved something like 22 out of 24 penalties in one season at Lincoln."

He now runs a goalkeeping school in Bolton with Ian Senior, with Manchester United showing an interest in sending their youngsters there to be assessed.

And one thing's for certain, no professional in the country will fancy taking a spot kick against graduates from that particular school.