Bible story - The best footballer in the world

An afternoon stroll

One hot summer, a talent scout from Manchester United took a holiday in London. During his two weeks in town he and his wife visited Southall – he’d heard it was an exciting, colourful town and the best place in London to get a curry.

After a great lunchtime curry, they decided to take a walk. They went up Dane Road and into Spikes Bridge Park – they’d heard this was where Dame Kelly Holmes use to train.

A Chance meeting

Some teenage boys were playing football in the park. The scout’s wife said: ‘Let’s watch the game’.

‘No,’ the scout replied. ‘I’m on holiday, I don’t want to watch football.’

But his wife insisted. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Just for a few minutes. Besides, that boy over there looks pretty good.’

The scout agreed to watch, just for a few minutes. Only, the boy his wife had spotted was so brilliant that he couldn’t bear to stop watching. The boy could dribble past anyone. When the other players got angry and tried to foul him he seemed to have a sixth sense, and avoided their tackles without even looking. He could head the ball powerfully too, and seemed to be as strong as any of the bigger boys playing.

A new star is found

The scout was absolutely astonished. He’d worked for Manchester United a long time and spotted some great players – Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Christiano Ronaldo! But this boy, this kid in Spikes Bridge Park, Southall, was better than any of them at the same age. He could do anything with a football.

When the game finished, the scout went to talk to the boy, whose name was Joshua Christianson.

‘Who do you play for Joshua? The scout asked.

‘Southall Football Club.’ The boy answered.

The scout was puzzled. He’d never heard of Southall Football Club.

‘We’re in the Middlesex County League,’ Joshua explained.

The scout took an instant liking to Joshua. The boy was polite and had a warm, humble manner – unlike many other talented kids he came across, who were often arrogant, big headed and rude.

Enter Sir Alex

After his chat with Joshua, the scout called Sir Alex Ferguson and told him about the new talent he’d discovered. Sir Alex was doubtful at first, but the scout convinced him that he had to watch Joshua play. So Sir Alex flew down to London and went to watch Southall play. They thrashed Park View 15-0 and Joshua scored 5 goals. He unselfishly set up the other 10 too.

Sir Alex had never been more excited about a young player – but he knew he had to keep Joshua and his talent a secret from other clubs.

Enter the Glazers

He called the manager of Southall FC. Only the manager was a sharper businessman than Sir Alex expected. Sir Alex offered him £30 million for Joshua, but he said no. Sir Alex offered him £50 million, even £100, but both times the answer was no. Now Sir Alex was desperate. He rang up the Glazers, who own Manchester United and said: “I must have £150 million to sign this kid!’. The Glazers replied; ‘We just don’t have that kinda cash Alex!’

Sir Alex chewed his gum and thought hard. Finally, he came up with an idea – to sell Old Trafford and then rent it back. He told the Glazers – they didn’t like the idea at all. But sir Alex said: ‘If we bring Joshua Christianson to this club we’ll win the Premiership and the Champions league every year for the next 10 years!’

Success

The Glazers thought about this – about the glory, the TV money, the shirt sales. They figured that with Joshua in the team, Manchester United would grow bigger and richer than ever before. They would make history.

So, they sold Old Trafford and everything else of value they owned to bring Joshua to Manchester United for £500 million. And Sir Alex went to bed a happy man, thrilled with his new signing.

What’s this story really all about? Click here to read Matthew 13:44-46 in the bible to find out.