Football crazy boys in 1998
![Southdown under 10s](https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/imagefetch/http://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/webimage/1.7924659!image/image.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65&enable=upscale)
![Southdown under 10s](/img/placeholder.png)
To paraphrase the late, great Bill Shankley '“ football isn't a matter of life and death, it's much more serious than that.
Especially when you’re 10 years old.
At that age, with the ball at your feet, you are six feet tall and swift as a deer. You are Ronaldo or Rooney or Vardy.These young chaps in 1998 were playing in a six-a-side tournament at Oakmeeds School, Burgess Hill. They looked up to the likes of Shearer, Batistuta and Beckham – until he got himself sent off in the World Cup – and were the same age as future stars Sergio Aguero, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.Do you recognise any of the young players in these photos? Did any of them go on to play at a professional level?