You’ve probably seen Josh Pugh’s sketches reminiscing about ‘The Gaffer’ – but you may know know that the comedian has dozens of England caps.
The Coventry City fan has represented his country over 60 times as part of the Three Lions’ partially sighted team.
Pugh regularly trains with the rest of the team at St George’s Park, with his picture there to be found in the corridor alongside that of men’s captain Harry Kane.
Pugh told FourFourTwo: “When I was playing football growing up, I found it increasingly difficult as the pitches got bigger. It was hard seeing the ball, and my sense of distance and light were affected. I dropped out of the game for a bit.
“That changed when I was diagnosed as partially sighted, though I didn’t really know what it meant at the time.
« I met a guy called John McDougall at college playing a casual game of seven-a-side. He had full vision until he was 16 but was experiencing the same issues I’d been through.
« He introduced me to the concept of partially-sighted football, essentially the same as futsal, and with a national team, of which he was the captain. He really championed it, and me, and it went from there.
“The whole experience of travelling with England to competitions, all kitted out, training hard and living in hotels, it was amazing – a lovely escape from real life.
« The hardest bit about going away with England was being too scared to use your mobile phone abroad, because of the tariffs. We weren’t pros or millionaires, just normal lads terrified of how much it would cost to phone home from a foreign country. We’d use the head coach’s phone instead.
« And then you’d step back off the plane after a tournament and have to go back to being a comedian, a DJ or whatever it was we all did for money. »
Pugh’s pinnacle was playing, and scoring, in the 2019 IBSA Partially Sighted Futsal World Championship final.
He said: “We were playing Ukraine, who are really good, and I put us ahead early on. I had a feeling all tournament I’d score a big goal, and it was an amazing moment, but it was also the very definition of scoring too early… Ukraine went on to beat us 6-2.”
“It’s mad to think what some players are capable of despite their visual impairment. Could some of them play professionally? It’s the ultimate hypothetical, really.
« There was Hugo Acosta who played for Benfica; Steve Daley, who has a hall named after him at St. George’s Park; Chris Holland, who played for Newcastle and Birmingham before he lost his sight.
« There was also this really special Ukrainian lad who Trabzonspor tried to sign. I don’t think they’d understood what the tournament was when they were watching him. I mean, he’s good at futsal, but somebody probably needed to have a word with their head of recruitment… »
Pugh believes there are parallels between his football and comedy careers.
He said: “You have to work hard at both, and be totally invested in them and be honest with yourself about your performances.
« With football, that means training to a high level, consistently, regardless of whatever else is going on in your life. If I’m on tour, I have to plan my training diligently. I can’t just go out for a run, because of my vision, so I have to familiarise myself with hotel treadmills.
“Whether football or comedy, you have to keep exposing yourself to it…play loads of matches, do loads of gigs, make mistakes and learn.”
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