Sam Tillen 在冰島奮鬥的日子 - 切爾西足球俱樂部 Chelsea Football Club

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2332475/ (內有影片、圖片)

SAM TILLEN: I love playing in Iceland and have no desire to move back to
England... but I do miss a good cup of Yorkshire Tea

PUBLISHED: 07:19 GMT, 29 May 2013

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Sam Tillen is an English left back who plays for the Icelandic champions,
FH. The 28-year-old started at Chelsea before playing 83 times for
Brentford but has been in Iceland since 2008. In his debut Footballers'
Football Column, he talks about getting to know John Terry on the
treatment table, missing Yorkshire Tea, and playing hide-and-seek with
Martin Allen…

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When you leave Brentford by mutual consent, you're not going to end up in
Serie A or La Liga. When I left, I wanted to try something new. An
Icelandic team-mate at Brentford, Oli Skulason, put me in touch with
someone. I came over, signed for Fram Reykjavik, and have been in Iceland
ever since.


My Icelandic is getting better. I understand pretty much everything but
it's a very hard language to master. The grammar is difficult, with the
variations of the word endings. But I'm the only foreign player at my new
club, FH, so it's my duty to learn. It's unfair to make the coach speak
English.


I've had an Icelandic girlfriend for the past year, which helps my
language. I also work in an after-school club for two to three hours a
day, one-to-one with a boy there.


Most of the Icelandic footballers study, or have another income. For the
foreign guys, football is usually their sole income – they get
accommodation, a car if they're in the top division, so they're well
looked after.


I'm from Newbury in Berkshire. When I came to Iceland, I stayed with a
coach called Gary Wake, who worked with the Iceland women's team. He was
from 20 minutes outside Newbury! You come all that way, and you find
someone from home. Small world. He showed me round, and helped me settle.


Iceland is wonderful – there's no crime, the scenery is beautiful, and
the summers are glorious. It's 15 or 16 degrees, hardly any rain, and you
get almost 24 hours of daylight. A friend of mine came over a couple years
ago – he plays golf, so we went out at 10pm, and came back at 2am. You
can do things here that you just can't do in England: bathe in hot
rivers, go glacier walking, go to volcanoes.


When I signed for Fram, it was probably the first time I'd enjoyed my
football in two years. We played football like I did at Chelsea – playing
out from the back, expressing yourself, attacking. Going to Brentford was
a shock. There, it was mostly percentage football, getting the ball into
the box.


My first manager at Brentford was Martin Allen. He had faith in me, even
though I was a young guy. But his methods weren't from a textbook. Once,
on a Friday going to an away game up north, we stopped in a public park.
He called out, 'Right, you've all got to hide!'


We all looked for somewhere to hide. You've got 35-year-old guys, running
round a park, trying to find a good spot behind a bush. It was quite a
sight. After a while, we're all hiding, and Martin shouts: 'Good! You can
hide today but you can't hide on Saturday!'


I'll be playing in the Champions League qualifiers this season with FH. In
2009, I played in the Europa League with Fram. Of all the places to go, we
drew TNS from Wales! (Although they play over the border in Shropshire).


At least my mum and dad could come to watch. I scored a penalty in each
leg, and we went through 4-2 on aggregate. We then lost to Sigma Olomouc
from the Czech Republic, despite drawing 1-1 away. It was a great ground,
a great experience. Hopefully I'll have lots more of them with FH.


I spent a couple of years cleaning boots at Chelsea. We all wanted John
Terry or Frank Lampard's, because they looked after you. Some players
didn't give you any Christmas bonus.


I had three long-term injuries at Chelsea and John was brilliant. At one
point, he was coming back from injury as well, so we got to know each
other. When I was getting fit, I got injured again. John used the club's
discipline fund to pay for a holiday to the Caribbean. I took my mum. He
also gave me spending money, and offered the services of his agent.


People have their opinions of John but he was brilliant to me. When my
brother, Joe, was in the youth team, John paid for everyone's driving
lessons, because he remembered how expensive it was.


That's the side people don't see. Graeme Le Saux was also a good guy,
especially as we played in the same position. I cleaned Mario Melchiot's
boots and he was nice. And I did some rehab with Mikael Forssell. He was
very intelligent – he speaks six or seven languages, and he's very funny.


Living in Iceland, I miss my family and Yorkshire Tea. My family have
been out at least a dozen times, and I go back in October, when the season
ends, and at Christmas. We're very close, so Skype has been a Godsend.


Joe played with me at Fram for three seasons, but he's left Iceland now.
And the tea? I get regular consignments. It was my birthday in April, so I
got a big bag sent over.


I don't envisage playing in England again, and I haven't explored the
possibility. There was a chance of moving to Sweden - at the end of my
first year in Iceland, I agreed to sign a three-year contract with
Helsingborgs. I'd done the medical, waited for them to sign the papers,
and they changed their minds. I'm not sure why. Now, I've got a two-year
contract with FH and hopefully I'll be here beyond that.


The standard in the Icelandic top division is maybe League One. It's
difficult to compare to England, because the style of play is so
different. A better comparison is with other Scandinavian leagues.


Guys who've played there say the top three or four teams would compete in
the top divisions in Norway and Sweden. We train five times a week, and
there are some very good players. The average crowds are maybe 1,000, with
3,500–4,000 for bigger games.


I'd definitely encourage English players to move abroad – especially
young guys getting released from academies. Their style of football, their
physique, might not suit the lower leagues or non-League.


Here, you can express yourself. But it's not just for the football – you
meet new people, learn new things, you're part of a culture you've never
experienced. Every country plays football and English football is highly
regarded around the world, so there are opportunities.


I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I've got Icelandic friends, an
Icelandic girlfriend, I'm speaking the language. Some friends don't even
consider me a foreigner any more, I've been here so long.

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