Lookalike wannabes shown the red card

Aug 24 2008 by Michael Kelly, Sunday Sun

THESE so-called look- alikes are vying for the chance to play in a top football match but we’re showing them the red card.

The men all think they bear a striking resemblance to their soccer heroes, but we bet you can’t guess who the dud-ringers believe they look like.

Ian Porter and Zoltan Menyhart, both of London, and Dean Wilkins, of Burton upon Trent, all reckon they’re the spitting image of Newcastle United and England star Alan Shearer.

But, let’s face facts, the similarities between these Shearers and the real-life BBC pundit begin and end with their hairlines.

They are among dozens of footie fans who have pitched themselves as potential winners in a lookalikes contest launched by tradesmen company Screwfix.com, which says it’s been inundated with pictures of supposed Wayne Rooneys, Fabio Capellos, Christiano Ronaldos and Bruce Grobbelaars.

And the North’s dodgy doppelgangers don’t end with the trio of Shearers.

Steve Charnock, of Chorley, Lancashire, has sent in a snap he says proves he looks just like Magpies’ manager Kevin Keegan.

But the title of Worst Lookalike of All Time must surely go to Arvind Somarchland, an electrician from Caterham, Surrey, who has entered himself as a Gazza double.

The 26-year-old, who admittedly sports a hairstyle similar to one the Newcastle and England player wore in the late 1980s and 1990s, said: “I like the way Paul Gascoigne plays, and I think I play in a similar way.”

The top 10 tradesmen to be picked as winners will play five-a-side football on the national stage, in a charity warm-up match prior to the Masters final at the Birmingham NEC on September 7.

Screwfix are sponsors of the Masters tournament this year, which takes place in eight regional heats, featuring 32 teams and over 320 players, culminating in a nerve-jangling grand final, all to be televised live on Sky Sports.

A spokesman for Screwfix said: “We’ve had some brilliant entries already, from the strikingly similar to the slightly more creative, and we’re extending the deadline so that football-mad tradesmen returning from their summer holidays get the chance to put in their bid for footballing glory.”

No footballing skills are necessary. Players simply need to be fit enough to play a game of five-a-side football and look like a famous footballer from the collar up.

For more details visit www.screwfix. com/football. The deadline is this Wednesday.