Veteran will make modern history

Still going strong at 47 after signing for the EVO-STIK League South's Steelmen and new manager David Bell this summer, the stopper will be celebrating his 48th birthday when the 2018 FA Cup Final takes place at Wembley on 19 May. An FA Youth Cup winner with Coventry where he kicked off his career as a scholar, Bastock will also be three decades older than many of his teammates when they step out at Isthmian League Dereham Town in the Preliminary Round.

Bastock, who has played for 17 different clubs since making his Football League debut in 1988 as a 17-year-old for Cambridge United, told BBC Sport on the eve of the tie that he's planning to finally hang up his gloves at the end of the 2017-18 season but joked that he couldn't guarantee it after performing a number of u-turns in the past to prolong his career!

After playing in more than 1,100 league games and making many of his 679 appearances for Boston United after the Pilgrims won promotion to the Football League in 2002, the stopper, pictured, said: "This is definitely my last year playing but I've been saying that for the last 10 years. Some of the other players are 30 years younger than me. It's funny seeing their faces in the dressing room. They're like 'here comes grandad!'"

Bastock, who shared a dressing room with former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne and ex-Manchester United striker Dion Dublin before joining Stamford last term, added: "I remember my debut like it was yesterday. It was a goalless draw at Colchester in 1988. John Beck gave me £25 after the game to go and have some beers for keeping a clean sheet. I pocketed the money because I was teetotal at the time."

The Steelmen last reached the Third Round back in 1965-66 and have never met their opponents from Norfolk in the world's oldest cup competition. Kick-off at Aldiss Park is 3pm.

Follow Saturday's league and cup action @evostikleague on Twitter before visiting the results pages under the match info tab on the EVO-STIK League's official website from full-time for a full classified results service.

Image courtesy of corbytownfc.co.uk

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