Asprilla the new Quaker from Colombia
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Your support makes all the difference.Six years ago he was the £7.5m darling of Newcastle, but today Faustino Asprilla will be polishing his boots in readiness for his debut for Third Division Darlington in the salubrious environs of Kidderminster Harriers.
The 32-year-old former Colombian international had been looking to revive his career in English football, preferably in the Premiership, but that all changed when the Quakers colourful chairman, George Reynolds, stepped in.
Reynolds sees Asprilla as the man to put bums on seats when Darlington move to their new ground in December and set about acquiring a work permit. The first attempt was rejected by the Home Office on the grounds that Asprilla had not played a significant enough proportion of Colombia's competitive internationals over the last two years. However, yesterday an appeal against the decision was successful.
Asprilla had met Reynolds on Sunday after the player had made known his desire to return to England during a pre-season visit to St James' Park for Newcastle's friendly against Barcelona.
Darlington may not have been the destination Asprilla first had in mind , but few could deny the club's ambition. Reynolds, a former safecracker who made his fortune in chipboard, has invested heavily in a new 25,000-capacity stadium on the outskirts of the town and, during the summer, attempted to lure Paul Gascoigne to join Tommy Taylor's squad.
"I am a friend of the [Darlington] chairman and I want to help him take the team into the Second Division, so I am going to play again in England," Asprilla said. "I am ready to hear what the coach wants from me and I am ready to learn more things and to give all I know. I've kept good links with England. I have great friends here."
Asprilla arrived in England for the first time in 1996 after Kevin Keegan paid Parma £7.5m. He produced many moments of magic during almost two years on Tyneside, but returned to Italy in 1998 as Keegan's successor Kenny Dalglish remoulded his squad.
Asprilla is now set to play at Kidderminster on Saturday, provided that his registration is completed and international clearance comes through in time.
He was paraded in front of 5,163 fans before the 2-0 win over Carlisle at Feethams on Tuesday night. Few would have thought that they had a new Quaker in their midst, but Reynolds appears to have cracked it.
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