Walsall's Darren Byfield in big match up ... with his best man!
Nov 24 2009 by Brian Halford, Birmingham Mail
WALSALL’S home game with Oldham tonight might appear a run-of-the-mill, mid-table fixture, but Darren Byfield is looking forward to it like no other.
After all, it’s not often in professional football that a striker is marked by his best man.
That will be the case when Byfield, assuming his ankle niggle clears up, goes goal-hunting against a Latics side with Reuben Hazell in central defence.
The two have been close friends since meeting on the way through Villa’s youth system in the mid 90s. And at The Banks’s Stadium tonight, when Byfield faces the team with which he started this season, their direct confrontation will have a unique edge.
“I’ve nothing to prove to Oldham directly but a massive point to prove to Reuben, who’s my best mate,” said the 33-year-old. “He was best man at my wedding, is godfather to my child and really isn’t like a friend, he is family.
“He plays centre-half and it’s absolutely massive that he doesn’t get the better of me. Sorry, it’s nothing to do with Oldham – it’s all about me and Reuben!
“I need about 30 tickets because we are both from Birmingham, and everyone’s coming to the game. My ankle had better be okay. If I have to hobble out there I’ll play.”
Walsall hope Byfield is fit as he has led the line impressively since rejoining the club in late August. And the striker revealed that throwing himself into his football has, along with returning to his native West Midlands, helped him through the break-up of his marriage to singer Jamelia.
Byfield admitted it had been a time when he needed friends and family around him.
“They say that when you are happy away from football you are happy at football,” he said. “And being back in the Midlands around my family and friends brings the best out of me.
“Me and Jamelia are still on good speaking terms. We have a daughter together and it’s okay the way things have worked out.
“But if I was away from the Midlands I would be enjoying myself on the pitch but then back at an apartment or hotel without my family and friends around me.
“Now after training I have all my mates and family close by so I am really enjoying myself.
“Football is the biggest release and when you are out on the pitch you just enjoy yourself.”
