England futsal goalkeeper Joe Payne is looking forward to representing the Three Lions at the UEFA European Futsal Championship, realising a dream he initially thought had passed him by.
The England national futsal team will be flying the flag for the country at the forthcoming Euros, which get underway in December, and the Boltan goalkeeper cannot hide his excitement.
Joe, like many young children do, grew up dreaming of becoming a professional footballer. Initially, the Kettering-born international harboured hopes of playing as a goalkeeper before reinventing himself as a midfielder.
Playing academy football for Leicester City in his teens, it looked as though Joe just might go on to realise his dream. That was until the age of 14 when he decided to come away from academy football.
“I decided I wasn’t going to make it as a professional,” Joe told Fen Regis Trophies. “There were lads around that were greater than me.”
Discovering Futsal
Having left football behind him at the age of 14, it wouldn’t be until a couple of years later that Joe would transition to futsal through an old teacher at Kettering Futsal Club.
“It was my old head of year, Sam Hallett,” he said. “He ran Kettering Futsal Club at the time and knew I was a good goalkeeper through my school years, but also knew the reason why I stopped playing in goal was my height.
“In the beginning, I was very much played outfield for the first year when I was 16, but by the age of 17 I put on the gloves and started to throw myself about on a wood floor!”
International Futsal Return
These days, Joe is playing at the top level domestically for Bolton Futsal Club in the National Futsal Series. The league was formed in 2019 and has been broadcast on BT/TNT Sport, increasing the reach of the sport in England.
Joe’s performances for Bolton have seen him earn the call to represent the Three Lions at the upcoming European Championships, something he never thought he would achieve when he left football behind in his teens.
“The opportunity to represent England in the Euros I feel, if I’m honest, is due,” he said. “It is funny to sit in my position having experienced what it was like in the program and having been involved before it was axed.”
During the Covid pandemic, the FA cut funding for futsal and the national side was axed as a result. In late 2023, it was announced that an England national futsal team would be entered into the UEFA European Futsal Championship 2024-26, with the opening round of fixtures taking place in December 2024.
“I’ve got the opportunity to wear the shirt again and do the things for which I train three times a week for and have done for the last 10 years,” Joe said.
“It’s exciting, but on the flip side, it is pressure but in a good sense, because we have to go out and show how we can compete.
“We are completely different to what it looked like four years ago when the program used to exist.
“Post-Covid, it is completely different, so I am looking forward to it. I don’t know what it is going to look like, but I am excited by this fresh, new team.”
England has been drawn in Group 8 of the tournament, alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, and futsal heavyweight Spain.
“Playing against Spain is probably going to be the pinnacle of their career for many people in that room,” Joe exclaimed.
“I can’t even put the feeling into words – ecstatic, buzzing, scared, nervous, whatever it may be…but all I know is I’m going to give them hell!”
England’s opening game of the tournament is away in Bosnia on 13 December before hosting Switzerland a few days later on 16 December, with the much-anticipated visit of Spain scheduled for 4 February.
By Aaron Gratton
