ELEVEN years have passed since Kidderminster Harriers' Aggborough ground last staged international football.
In 2002, England under 19s, complete with a 16-year-old Wayne Rooney in their ranks, faced Macedonia and Yugoslavia within a matter of weeks.
Last night, however, the latest chapter of Kidderminster’s association with the stars of tomorrow was written when England under 16s took on their Welsh counterparts in the Victory Shield live on Sky Sports.
Such games give the nation’s best youngsters a chance to play in front of good-sized crowds and showcase their skills to a wider audience.
As with Rooney, fans may also have been witnessing players who will grace both the senior national side and Premier League in the not-too-distant future.
For Harriers, it was also an opportunity to put their facilities on the map, something not lost on former chairman Colin Youngjohns, the Kidderminster chief back in 2002.
He said: “To be offered an England game was a recognition of the hard work everyone had put into the club.
“The club had been transformed over 20 years, coming up from the Southern League to the Football League and Harriers are a very well-regarded club.
“Aggborough is a good ground and also the perfect size for this sort of international match.
“You wouldn’t want to play in a 30,000-seater stadium with only a few thousand watching.
“It was great to see the likes of Glen Johnson, Wayne Routledge, Peter Whittingham and Wayne Rooney playing at Aggborough for England.”
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