English non-League side Harborough Town have announced the signing of former Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers midfielder Sandro.
Sandro had retired from football in September 2023 at the age of 34, having also played for Internacional, West Bromwich Albion and Antalyaspor, as well as the Brazil national team.
Harborough manager Mitch Austin told the club’s website that he had a “chance conversation” with Sandro which led to the 35-year-old signing for the seventh-tier side.
Harborough have made headlines in recent weeks after beating National League South side Tonbridge Angels in the first round of the FA Cup, setting up a second-round tie against League One Reading on November 30.
🐝 New Signing Alert 🇧🇷
Following on from our amazing victory in the @EmiratesFACup, being drawn away at Reading in the Second Round, we are delighted to break the internet with our latest signing…
We warmly welcome former Tottenham, West Brom, QPR, Udinese, Genoa,… pic.twitter.com/rB514QWGay
— Harborough Town FC 🐝 (@HarbTownFC) November 5, 2024
“What an unbelievable signing for the club, I really cannot express how I am feeling,” Austin, a Tottenham fan, said. “I had a chance conversation with Sandro a couple of weeks ago and we got talking about football, told him about Harborough Town FC and the journey we are on and he has been messaging me ever since to sign on.
“Totally unbelievable and gobsmacked is how I would describe this signing. These sort of signings don’t happen every day but when you get a chance to sign an ex-professional footballer who has played at the highest level in the Premier League and Internationally with Brazil, you just cannot turn it down.”
GO DEEPER
Sandro: ‘I get goosebumps just talking about Tottenham’
Sandro made 105 appearances for Tottenham and told the club’s official podcast that he was working on his coaching badges when he retired. He was part of the Spurs side which reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2010-11.
Sandro also spent time in Italy later in his career, playing for Benevento, Genoa and Udinese in 2018 and 2019. He then spent time at Brazilian side Goias and Portuguese club B-SAD.
“Credit to Sandro, he has kept himself really fit and is an absolutely great guy, down to earth, who when the chairman and I met with him came across very genuine, polite and humble, you could really sense there was a real desire to get the signing done on his part, I am absolutely delighted to have him at our club,” Austin added.
“I think the players and staff around the club can learn great things from him and develop and watch his professionalism and understand what is needed if they want to progress and play at the highest possible level of the game. However long he stays we will all become better for it.”
(Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
