Professional football may be a thing of the past for most of the Middlesbrough team preparing to defend their North East Masters title next month. But for Dean Windass - Boro's top performer in the veterans' six-a-side tournament in recent years - it remains very much part of the present. Still plying his trade with League One outfit Bradford City at the ripe old age of 37, Windass performed with such panache last season he was offered a return to the Premiership by Wigan Athletic boss Paul Jewell. Windass turned Wigan down but, after breaking the 20-goal barrier for Bradford last term, he certainly isn't planning on hanging up his boots just yet. And it's clearly much more than money that keeps the former Middlesbrough man coming back for more. "I've got a year left on my contract here at Bradford and, the way I'm feeling, at the moment, I think I could keep going for another two or three years at least," Windass said. "It would have been nice to have played in the Premiership again but Wigan offered me a one-year-contract and I already had a two-year deal at Bradford. "Financially, it would have been a good move but it's not always about money - at this stage of my career I want to be playing regularly, that may not have been the case at Wigan. "While at Middlesbrough I had a spell where I was in and out the side and it was frustrating not to be involved on a regular basis - I didn't want to go through that again." And once Windass' playing days are over, he hopes to follow his former Boro team-mate Gareth Southgate into football management. "Hopefully I'll get a chance somewhere in the future," he said. "You only have to look at my old team-mate Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough who has been given an opportunity because the chairman has faith in him despite his inexperience. "I've always been interested in the coaching side of the game even when I was a young professional at Hull, and I'm already on the coaching staff here at Bradford. "I've got my UEFA B coaching badge and am looking to get my A licence next year - after that, who knows?" Southgate is currently covering the World Cup for ITV - and despite England's stuttering start, Windass expects them to ensure his old mate is out in Germany for some time yet. He said: "It's going to come down to how well England perform when it matters most. "To win a World Cup you need a few players to chip in with goals, not just rely on one player to get five or six." | 
