Issue No. 13

David, top left (red) playing for Liverpool at the
25th Anniversary of Hillsborough Match
"I wanted to integrate into the community
and I had already decided a good way of
doing that would be to go along to the local
football club and learn more. I didn`t want
to breeze in and say to people 'look at me
I`m an ex-pro' and 'piggy-back' on that. I'm
a private person and didn`t want that kind
of privileged start. I just wanted to train and
keep fit".
But the local team, Olympique Coux et
Bigaroque beat him to it and after being
invited to train with them he ended up in
the side but was unable to prevent their
relegation. The following season, with, as
David puts it, `"professional organisation,
training and a few new, good, players, we
won the championship of the Dordogne."
Meanwhile the family settled well and
fortunately there weren`t too many
obstacles to the acclimatisation process.
"I think most people who start a new life
abroad encounter situations that lead them
to think 'what are we doing here'" says
Jackie. "But we had no such problems.
David had his football, the children were at
school and meeting up with and talking to
local parents helped immensely in us
settling in to the local community."
The process was helped by the continual
work schedule they had to carry out on
their farmhouse because David and Jackie
put something back into the community, a
tangible contribution to the local economy,
as Jackie explained:
"Rather than use English tradesmen we
made a point of employing local French