Hälsning från Daniel Leach

Förra veckan rapporterade vi om att att Daniel Leach tvingas ge upp sin professionella fotbollskarriär på grund av skadeproblem. Han kommer nu flytta hem till Australien men passade först på att lämna ett meddelande till klubbens supportrar där han tackar för stödet och berättar om sina framtida planer.

 

Här följer hela meddelandet:

 

 

"Hey Barnet fans! 

 

I thought this would be a good opportunity to thank all of you for the great experience of playing for your club. Yes, despite the two consecutive years in a relegation nail-bitter, I'm really thankful I got the opportunity to play for you. It's just a shame my “Owen Hargreaves” type knee forced me re-evaluate my career as a footballer. Now it's a case of life decisions! However my father always taught me that when one path closes, others open. I hope this proves true in my case, and maybe in a few years time, hindsight will reinforce this wisdom! 

 

Although I had many great memories of my time at the club, I think the final 7 games at the end of last season (2010/2011) sits firmly in my mind as being the best of the lot. It was exciting to play a part in those final games, especially in light of the fact I didn't play a competitive game for 6 months. I think you have to credit Martin Allen for the survival at the end of last season. Of the 5 managers over the two and a half seasons here, I'd have to say I enjoyed playing under him the most. Don't get me wrong, all of them had their strengths and weaknesses (including “Mad Dog”), although his strengths were probably the most important qualities in manifesting a successful environment. There was no ambiguity in his expectations for us that's for sure! He made me want to play for him, bleed for him, and exhaust all our energy stores to satisfy his ambition to win. I'm sure this view resonates with many of the players too (possibly not everyone though). I know that hostility may still exist in some of you regarding his abrupt departure, but I think there's a lot of factors unseen by the fans that played a significant role in his decision to take the Notts County job, so in that light, I don't blame him taking it. But credit is also due to the chairman ,and manager at the time ,Paul Fairclough, in their pragmatic approach to hire such a character in football. It's their combined long standing knowledge of football at this level that led them to this decision, and in retrospect, it was perfectly timed—one more game and we might not have made it! But I guess you have a have a bit of luck—Lincoln City's absolute free fall!!! I think we as Barnet fans and staff need to set up some charitable fund to honor the favor they did for us (intentional or not)...ummm maybe not...Because I guess that's football...life...sometimes it falls your way, sometimes it doesn't... 

 

On that note of charity, I'd like to inform all of you my plans for the coming months. Another career is definitely at the forefront of my mind in light of my current unemployment status—HOWEVER—more importantly is my charity trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp for the British Heart Foundation. I'm doing it for my brother who I lost in 2003 to heart failure. I've always wanted to give back to people that helped him. And what better way than to do it with a little bit of a challenge. If you want to read my story about my brother, and possibly donate to my cause, here is the link to my JustGiving page: 

 

https://www.justgiving.com/DanielLeacheverest 

 

This is similar to what the Barnet FC groundsman Wes Friedel did in the summer climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for his chosen charity. I've actually met up with Wes to talk about his experience doing his charity trek for the Football League. It was his testimony that motivated me to undertake such a challenge. A lot of you probably don't realize that Wes actually wore out a disc in his spine as a result of the trek, and despite this, he has only great things to say about his experience! I know you're probably thinking that this challenge sounds like something I should not be doing because of the state of my knee, however the fact is I'm okay to do things such as hiking, bike riding etc. etc. It's only the rigors of being a professional footballer that bring on the symptoms of pain—causing muscle inhibition. I'm more worried about the challenges of altitude sickness, fluid on the lungs, and possible injured discs! I'll be setting up a training blog to detail the steps I'm taking in order to be fully ready for the task at hand. 

 

On my page you'll notice there is a Corporate Sponsorship opportunity. It might interest some of the organizations you work for to have their logo/slogan/message shown to be supporting such a cause (photo of me holding a poster with their logo and Mt. Everest in the backdrop). Also, you can get a signed Barnet FC picture of me celebrating my first league goal with a personal message too if that appeals. There is an email address on this page for correspondence regarding my trip, and maybe any sponsorship ideas you might have that could help.

 

Thanks for reading. Hope to see you at a game soon! 

 

Daniel"