It doesn’t take long for Jamie Cureton to name his favorite target.
“Reading’s goal against Brentford. My favorite goal and probably one of the most important goals. I put us out there and equalized rather than keeping us in the play-offs.”
On the last day of the 2001-02 second division season, he was 26 years old.
Cureton, who turned 50 last August, is still playing nearly 25 years later. That is an achievement in itself.
And on 25 October, he made history as the first person in history to score in the top 10 of English football when he scored in Kings Park Rangers’ Eastern Counties League Division One North 4–1 win over Dussindale and Hellesdon Rovers.
The video of the goal immediately went viral. Media attention was widespread. He has been interviewed by English, French and German media.
Cureton played for Norwich in the Premier League in 1994/95.
“I didn’t know it would last this long!” he says sky sports.
“Our tier is so different from other tiers around the world and people seem to like that. It’s a little crazy that someone who debuted in 1994 would do something like that.
“I’m always told that I’m one of the only players who has been playing in FIFA since it first came out.
“A lot of people thought it was a good achievement and as a sportsman it was really nice to have achieved something that others couldn’t. It will definitely make me more proud as time goes on.”
The landmark goal came just 10 days after Cureton, who attributes his longevity to “general healthy living”, joined the club and just over a month after he was sacked as Cambridge City player and manager.
Unwilling to go straight back into management, he signed for Kings Park Rangers, which shared ground with Conard United near where he lived in Sudbury, Suffolk.
When he did so, the club’s announcement to
“I knew I had scored on number nine, but I forgot about it because it wasn’t mentioned for so long,” he says.
“Josh Pollard, the co-owner of the club, got a message from someone saying I didn’t score at Step 4. So Josh started panicking because he thought I had scored for Cambridge City at Step 4 when I was managing.
“But he checked it and saw that he had scored at Farnborough in the fourth stage.
“We played the first game and there was a lot of attention because of that. I think the boys were desperate for me to score so they gave me everything and it didn’t work out.
“When the goal came, because of the type of goal it was, it was more explosive than when I scored like a tap-in. I’ve scored that type of goal so many times, it’s a finish I always enjoy and put a lot of effort into.
“If you have time, you can probably remember most of your goals, but by the end, you’ve probably reached the ones you did best.
“Josh was buzzing and couldn’t wait to get home to post this. From the moment he posted I’ve had to charge my phone about three times a day, every day, and it just keeps charging!
“There was no social media when I was playing, so it’s nice to go hooray and get people talking about you. In football you get forgotten pretty easily. You get to a point where you’re no longer a footballer, you’re just a normal person and everyone moves on to other players.
“No wonder this happens at my age and I’ve been away from the professional game for about nine years, but I’m not complaining!”
Cureton doesn’t get paid to play at Kings Park, but he doesn’t care.
“I was always stable and it didn’t make any difference where I played,” he added.
“I can go anywhere and still enjoy football. At the end of the day, when the whistle blows you’re on the pitch. You have a goal and you just go and enjoy it. I’m here purely because I want to play and have fun.
“There are bigger events and bigger crowds, but the real feeling you get when you score in an important game… there’s no replacement.”
He is content until his next management or media venture begins. Even more so if he reaches the 400-goal milestone.
Jamie Cureton was 26 years old when he scored his favorite goal. He scored his most memorable goal in October at the age of 50.
“That’s the goal. I heard a while ago that I only needed 6, but after checking around, it seemed like it was between 10 and 12, so I told myself that 10 would be enough.
“But I don’t want to put a score on it. I thought I was about number 395, but I’m actually number 400!
“Everything else beyond that is pretty far away. As we get closer to 1,100 games, that would be another thing. If I could play both games this season, and I say this every time I have a goal, I would be happy.”
“I’m not going to play 1,200 games, I’m not going to score 500 goals, so maybe two goals will stop it and anything more is just for fun, but those are the two goals I want to get.”
And what about the future beyond that?
“As long as I have time and feel OK, I’ll keep doing it. I’ll keep turning up, running around for a bit and scoring a few more goals.
“I’ve always said that if someone wants me and I feel like I can do the job for that person and the team and I don’t let anyone down, I’ll keep playing anywhere, at any level.”
Jamie Cureton’s love affair with football isn’t over yet.
