Aye, aye skippers

David Platt

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TALENTED hockey player Nicola White has joined a prestigious line of Oldham sporting stars who have gone on to captain their country at senior level.

Shaw-raised White (26) was bursting with pride as she took the England captain’s armband at the weekend’s EuroHockey Indoor Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, and rightly so.

She joins footballer David Platt, cricketer Mike Atherton and rugby league legend Kevin Sinfield — all household names after stellar careers in their chosen sport — in the national team captain’s club.

Leicester forward White is by far the youngest of the four. She took up hockey at seven, at the Saddleworth club, and already has more than 100 England and Great Britain caps after making her debuts in 2009.

After spending a large chunk of his childhood on the Fold Green estate in Chadderton and playing for Chadderton FC, Platt, now 47, enjoyed a hugely successful and lucrative footballing career.

Platt made his England debut when a 22-year-old Aston Villa starlet in 1989 and — after making his name thanks to his goal-scoring exploits at the World Cup in 1990 — went on to play for Bari, Juventus and Sampdoria in Italy, before returning to England and clinching a glorious Premier League and FA Cup double-winning success with Arsenal in 1998.

He captained England between 1992 and 1995, but is currently taking a break from football after leaving his assistant manager’s role at Manchester City last summer.

Failsworth-born batsman and now journalist Atherton (45) skippered the Manchester Grammar School and Combined University teams before signing for his home county Lancashire in 1987.

He first captained England at the age of 25, and by the time his playing career came to a close he had led the Three Lions in 54 Test matches — a superb achievement.

Atherton is seen regularly as a cricket commentator and pundit on Sky Sports, while also an award-winning writer for The Times newspaper.

Oldham-born rugby league king Sinfield (33) has won every domestic honour on offer after getting his career under way as a youngster at Waterhead RLFC.

Since signing for Leeds Rhinos in 1997 — and remaining loyal to that club ever since — Sinfield has won the Harry Sunderland Trophy, the Golden Boot, the Man of Steel, and is highest-scoring kicker in Super League history.

He has played 21 times for England since 2000 and 14 times for Great Britain since 2001, and is still going strong as he edges closer to a 500th appearance for the Rhinos.

Now it begs the question, who will be the next Oldhamer to captain their country — George Ford, Ben Pearson, Ryan Kent, Kyle Eastmond? Only time will tell.