Sheffield Wednesday favourite Daniel Pudil has revealed why he decided to return to football with Hallam FC, even though he’s only earning ‘pocket money’.
The goalkeeper has been speaking to Het Belang van Limburg about his decision to return to football in 2022, after seemingly coming to the end of his career.
The 38-year-old joined Hallam in July 2022 after a break in his career following the end of his contract with Czech Republic side Viktoria Zizkov in July 2021.
His career appeared to be at an end at that point, with the goalkeeper having started out in his homeland before playing in Belgium, Spain and then England from 2013, enjoying spells at Watford and then Sheffield Wednesday.
He left the latter in 2019 and return to the Czech Republic but now finds himself back in Sheffield with Hallam, the second oldest football association in the world.
The former Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper isn’t bothered about all that, though, instead explaining why he returned for what is essentially ‘pocket money’ in terms of earnings.
“I am very happy here in England,” he said.
“I couldn’t stay at home. And I knew the chairman of Hallam FC well. A fantastic guy and a big Sheffield Wednesday fan. He offered me some pocket money to come and play, so I did.
“You know, I can’t miss the game. I’ve been playing football since I was four years old and have never known anything else.
“As long as I can teach the team something, I want to continue doing this. But there will inevitably come a time when I will have to step aside and give youth a chance.
“I do feel that I am getting older. In my head I sometimes think that I am still only 20 years old, but after a competition my body clearly indicates that that is no longer the case.”
