Football: New deal for the world’s oldest professional football player!

By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw It is that time of the year for transfers and new signings of professional football players during the winter transfer window which is now open. The Japanese striker, Kazuyoshi Miura, has signed a new one-year deal with his current football club, Yokohama FC. Nothing remarkable about that, one may say, but what is remarkable about this signing is that the player will be 52 years old next month! He is reputedly the world’s oldest professional football player and goal scorer. He started his professional football career in 1986, when, at the age of 19, he signed for the Brazilian club, Santos, the club for whom Maradona played for many years. In 1993, Miura became the first Japanese footballer to win the Asian Player of the Year Award and has earned 89 caps playing for Japan. He has also played in Europe for Genoa and Dinamo Zagreb, with whom he won the Croatian  League Title in 1999. He first signed for his current Club, Yokohama FC, in 2005 at the age of 38 and, since then he has made more than 250 League appearances for them. Miura shows no signs of slowing down and has said that “I think that I want to go face to face with football …… and will not waste it for one minute, one second.” One can only admire him for this and long may his footballing career continue! Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.’