England under-20s weren’t the only ones celebrating a World Cup win.

While the nation celebrated a World Cup victory for England’s rising stars on Sunday, the veterans were also doing their country proud.

Three former Gillingham players were part of the team which clinched the Seniors World Cup in Thailand.

Fifty-one-year-old Andy Hessenthaler lifted the trophy after captaining England in the final. He was joined by Nicky Southall – who like Hessenthaler was part of the side who won the trophy last time around – and newcomer to the international vets scene Mark Saunders.

Maidstone assistant manager Southall, 45, was thrilled to be returning home with a World Cup winners’ medal again.

He said: “It is up there with my other achievements in football. I’ve had promotion and played in the Premier League and they are all fantastic experiences.

“People say you are a long time out of the game and so when there is a chance to go back and do it then you jump at the chance, who wouldn’t? It was a brilliant experience. It made me feel young again!”

Southall captained the side in their opening group game against USA, scoring inside five minutes to get them off to a flyer. They backed up their opening-game win by beating New Zealand and then drawing 2-2 with Scotland to set up a semi-final with Australia.

“There were a few tackles flying around,” said Southall, recalling the game against Scotland. “We beat Australia in the semi-final 6-1. We had too much quality for them and although they were a good team, they were out on their feet.”

England beat Iran 2-0 in the final, where the weather actually did them a favour.

Southall said: “We were up against four or five players who play in the Iranian Premier League but I’m not actually sure how we managed to play the game. The rain was torrential but that suited us.

“We went a bit more direct, hitting it up to Jamie Cureton and Lee Trundle. That did us a favour because if it was red hot it might have favoured them."