First Call-Ups For Season's Stars As England Await Nepal

By Sam Elliott

The countdown is on to Aldershot Town’s first full international on Monday as England C look to put on an end-of-season show.

Paul Fairclough has named his squad for the game against Nepal, which comes 24 hours after the Vanarama National League Promotion Final at Wembley.

No players from the showpiece season finale will be playing but there’s so much talent on show.

National League South Player of the Month Sam Corne gets a call-up after a fine season for Maidstone United.

Barnet’s Nicke Kabamba is also involved and there’s plenty of reason for Shots fans to pay a visit to the historic moment for their club and Tyler Frost, Ollie Harfield and Jack Barham all included.

Could there be a few debutants? Slough Town star Johnny Goddard nails down a place in the squad with Dagenham’s Josh Rees also hoping to win his first ever England cap.

The fixture is part of a visit from the All Nepal Football Association and is aimed to help raise the profile of football to the Nepalese community in England.

They are also keen to increase participation from the wider south Asian communities as part of our Asian Inclusion Strategy, ‘Bringing Opportunities to Communities (Phase 2)’.

Shots chairman Shahid Azeem said: “We’re really excited to welcome international football to Aldershot and the EBB Stadium. It will be a historic and fantastic occasion for the club and the town as a whole, and I’d like to thank all of those who have helped to arrange the game.

“The town is widely known as the home of the British Army and where the Gurkha Regiment has been stationed for over 100 years. With our work in the community, this is a tremendous opportunity for the club to galvanise our local community and allow Aldershot Town to continue to be seen as a fully inclusive club.”

The club raised more than £30,000 to help build two schools in Nepal after a 2015 earthquake, and an academy team visited Nepal with club director John Leppard for the Everest Cup.

Laurence Jones, Head of National League System at The FA said: “Football has the unique power to bring communities together and it will be fantastic to engage with the large Nepalese community that live in the area, as well as the Gurkha Regiments based at the Aldershot Garrison.

"We look forward to welcoming everyone to the community events and football matches, in what promises to be a great occasion for all.”

England squad:

Nathan Ashmore – Boreham Wood
Elliot Justham – Dagenham & Redbridge
Zico Asare – Maidenhead United
Jack Barham – Aldershot Town
Danny Collinge – Barnet
Sam Corne – Maidstone United
Toby Edser – Ebbsfleet United
Tyler Frost – Aldershot Town
Johnny Goddard – Slough Town
Ollie Harfield – Aldershot Town
Nicke Kabamba – Barnet
Ollie Kensdale – Southend United
Jaydn Mundle-Smith – Wealdstone
Jack Payne – Boreham Wood
Jose Rees – Dagenham & Redbridge
Callum Stead – Barnet

Where next?

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