THE Schwarz twins from Winsford are preparing for a historic final in New Zealand as their football careers continue to go from strength to strength since emigrating.
Twin brothers Dan and Tom are part of Cashmere Technical FC, who will play Fencibles United in the Chatham Cup Final in Christchurch on Saturday.
Dan is the club’s head coach, while Tom is captain, and with the rest of the group are gearing up to play in the New Zealand equivalent of the FA Cup Final in what will be the first day's football played at the new 30,000 capacity One New Zealand Stadium.
Cashmere Technical have already won the competition three times, with the former Verdin High School students having played together at centre-back in the first two finals.
Tom has played close to 400 matches for Cashmere Technical, while Dan made 220 first-team appearances before moving into coaching.
Over the last 13 years they have celebrated winning multiple league titles, South Island titles, local cup competitions and have represented the provincial team Canterbury United.
The 36-year-olds are tasting success on the league front with Cashmere this year as well, having been crowned Southern League champions with games to spare.
Unbeaten in the Southern League, records for goals scored and goals conceded are a possibility as they qualify for the second part of the season in the national league next month.
The level is amateur/part-time, with Dan comparing the standard to England's National League, but it plays a big part in the lives of the twins.
Dan works as general manager for a company that manufactures gate hardware, while Tom is a builder.
Tom was the first of the brothers to move to New Zealand in 2010 to play football and when Dan visited him on holiday he trained with Cashmere and was invited to return, eventually also moving Down Under permanently in 2013.
Starting out, Dan played for Stoke City’s academy for five years and had a youth training scheme place at Walsall.
He later played non-league football for Witton Albion, Winsford United, Kidsgrove Athletic and Alsager Town, while Tom also had a similar path with Stoke and Walsall but only played for Kidsgrove in non-league.
The pair are certainly enjoying their lives in New Zealand.
"Life is pretty good. Very similar to England only the weather is much nicer," said Dan.
"We have both married Kiwi girls, both got good jobs and own properties, had family and friends out here visiting a few times too.
"The football community is quite tight over here, lots of brits and expats that are pretty tight and everyone looks after each other pretty well.
"I don’t think there is as much competition over here as there is in the UK. Everyone is running their own race and not competing with those around them."
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