The world at our feet (sort of)

We thought it was all over – but it wasn't. How South London's most intrepid and senior parks football team rediscovered its wanderlust

Matchless merch: some tour t-shirts down the years. Credit: Chris Bain

The place and time: a football match outside Aleppo, May 2002. I, a centre forward, am standing on the halfway line, next to a centre half. We are both under-employed. My team, the Racing Club de Blackheath, is defending desperately against his, a team of semi-professional Syrians. Mo…