Next season, former football representative Daniel Pudil will wear the jersey of the English team Hallam FC, which plays in the Northern Counties East Football League, i.e. the ninth highest competition in England. It was founded in 1860, making it the second oldest football club in the world.
The 36-year-old defender or midfielder will return to the British Isles in his career, having worn the jersey of Watford and Sheffield Wednesday in the past. Hallam boasted about the new reinforcement on his social networks. It is in the suburbs of Sheffield that the traditional club is based, it was founded three years after the founding of the world’s oldest club, Sheffield FC, as its local rival. The 35-time international will play at the oldest stadium in the world on Sandygate Road.
According to the English media, Pudil will not play regularly for Hallam. After the end of his professional career, he works for the Chovanec Sport Agency, which represents, among others, striker Matěj Vydra from Burnley, England.
Pudil has played 35 matches for the Czech national team. He drew attention to himself on the international stage during Slavia’s participation in the Champions League in the 2007/08 season, and celebrated the championship title with the red and whites in the same season. He also won the league two years before that in Liberec.
The native of Prague subsequently also tried engagements in Belgian Genk, Spanish Granada and Italian Cesena, before heading to England in 2012. First to Watford, then to Sheffield. Three years ago, he returned to the Czech Republic, where he wore the jersey of Mladá Boleslav. His last place of work was the second division Viktoria Žižkov, where he was the captain, and from which he left last summer. Since then he has been without a club affiliation.
“Daniel has settled here with his family and wanted to get involved at a local club. We know he’s very busy and has a lot of responsibilities even at weekends, but he could start as early as August 7 in the FA Cup against Bury,” he told The Star trainer Craig Denton. “As a coach, I am absolutely thrilled to have players of such quality in the team. There is already a great response in the cabin,” he added.
Video: Daniel Pudil will play in the oldest stadium in the world
Sandygate Road, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s oldest football stadium still in operation. Hallam FC has played on it since 1860. | Video: Hallam FC
