Morecambe will have history in their sights when they walk out at Wembley to face Newport in the League Two play-off final today.
A club that spent nearly 50 years playing in the Lancashire Combination league, the seasiders are aiming to reach the English third tier for the very first time.
If they do it, they’ll owe a debt to a player with a remarkable story, their 22-year-old top scorer this season and former Atletico Madrid youth player, Carlos Mendes Gomes.
The wonderful run – five wins in six – with which Morecambe finished the regular season came too late to snatch automatic promotion, though for a team that was 14th at the beginning of December, being here at all is a testament to an astonishing momentum.
Manager Derek Adams’ team kept up that intensity in battling past Tranmere in the play-off semi-final and now stand on the precipice of a historic promotion.
Winger Gomes, who has scored 15 goals this campaign ahead of Monday’s showpiece, has a pedigree unlike anything you will find at this level.
At two years old, he left Dakar in his native Senegal and moved with his family to the Spanish island of Lanzarote. Then, aged 13 he moved again, this time without his parents, to Madrid. He joined the youth set up of La Liga side Getafe, before attracting the attention of Atletico a year later.
“I was 14 and playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world,” said Gomes. “It was more like a dream than reality. But it was tough, being away from my parents at 13. I remember spending my first Christmas in Madrid without them. That was very hard. But I had a dream and I knew I was doing the right thing.
“Most of my teammates from Atletico are either playing in the lower leagues in Spain or have dropped out of football altogether. I’m lucky to be doing what I’m doing.”
The move to England in 2015 wasn’t without family trauma. Gomes spoke no English, and didn’t want to leave his life in Madrid.
There was “a little disagreement” with his father about whether he should join the rest of the family but, as is inevitable when a teenager goes nose-to-nose with a determined parent, Gomes senior won the upper hand.
After settling in Manchester, he stopped playing football for a full year, before signing for Northwest Counties side West Didsbury and Chorlton, juggling his playing commitments with his studies at Manchester College.
“I was in my final year when Morecambe came in,” he said. “I remember thinking that the following year I would have to go to university, and that with those responsibilities it would make finding a football club tough.
“As soon as Morecambe came, I knew it was written for everything to happen at that time. I didn’t think twice about it. This is what I’ve worked for since I was a kid. It was a no-brainer.
“My family love England, especially Manchester where we’re based. I’ve got a soft spot for the city. I don’t know if it’s the people or what it is. It certainly isn’t the weather. Back in the day I wasn’t really into good food so it’s not that either.”
Morecambe boast a remarkable feat that is almost unmatched in the Football League; along with phoenix club AFC Wimbledon, they are the only team in the league never to have suffered a relegation.
The Shrimps, so called for the cuisine of the seaside town they call home, have spent most of their history in England’s regional leagues, making it into the national picture as late as 1995 when they won promotion to the former Vauxhall Conference.
They arrived in League Two under the leadership of their legendary boss, the former Manchester United midfielder Sammy McIlroy, in 2007, and before the current season life as a Football League club has been dicey.
They finished in the top half of the league only once and placed in the bottom seven in each of the last five seasons, including 22nd in two of the last three. The most ardent Shrimpers would admit they were not primed for a promotion push.
“To be fair, and it might sound crazy, but I expected this,” said Gomes. “I remember telling people in pre-season. I saw the players that were coming in and the players that were staying. And I told people, we’ve got a great chance this season. There’s work to do, but we’re going to be up there.
“It might sound strange but I’ve always been a bit of a dreamer. I’m always thinking ‘one day’. I can picture these things, you know? I believe that it doesn’t matter what division you are in or what team you’re at. As long as you play well, do the right things, you will be seen.”
Gomes is a talent that surely deserves a crack playing at the next level. His fortitude in getting to this point is another tick in his box. Yet on Sunday, it may all come down to a question of nerve.
“I’m not one of those people that gets nervous,” he said. “Sometimes I think I don’t have blood in my veins. It’s unreal to think about Wembley. Until I’m there, I won’t believe it. To think of some of the players that have stepped out there; Messi, Ronaldo, Drogba. It’s a dream come true.
“We’ve got a job to do. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the occasion.”
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3p6SmoL
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