Margaret Thatchers Grandson, Grid Iron Star!

jimmyq · Margaret Thatchers Grandson, Grid Iron Star!

WE have become a sports personality. The Thatcher family has a new star, with grandson Michael wowing the crowds as one of the top young American football players in Texas.

Michael, 18, has come a long way since Margaret Thatcher, then prime minister, hailed his birth in 1989 with the immortal line: “We have become a grandmother.”

He helped to carry his high school team to this weekend’s state championship finals in Waco, Texas, by taking a stunning catch for a 48-yard “gain” in the quarter-final play-off. It left television commentators breathless with excitement.

He streamed towards the ball, caught it with his fingertips and rolled forward, before lifting it triumphantly in the air in front of a crowd of 10,000.
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“Can the guy run, can he catch, can he do everything? Wow!” said one commentator.

Michael is the son of Sir Mark Thatcher and Diane Burgdorf, the Texan-born daughter of an American millionaire car dealer. He spent most of his childhood in South Africa playing cricket and hockey, but moved to Dallas with his mother three years ago after his father was charged with supporting a failed coup in Equatorial Guinea.

“My dad was really excited to get me playing cricket and field hockey,” Michael Thatcher said after the game. “He was a great cricket player when he was my age.”

Randy Allen, coach of the Scots, the Highland Park high school team in Dallas, said: “It was a spectacular catch. I have never seen anything like it.” He recalled when Michael turned up at the school with a South African accent. “He was so small and didn’t understand [American] football at all,” said Allen. “He thought about quitting, but he stuck at it.”

Now 6ft 1in and weighing 170lb, Michael is still on the slender side for a running back – one of the most important positions on the team – but is working on his size. “It’s a story about hard work, dedication and discipline,” said Allen.

“He lifts weights and practises catching the ball with the quarterback. I’m not sure what Michael’s future will be, but he could be one of the best running backs in the state.”

“I’m not known for my hands. I’m in a state of shock, to be honest,” Thatcher told The Dallas Morning News last week. “I’m the kind of guy who gets pretty nervous coming out. But as soon as we start running the ball, I’ll come into a rhythm and I’m sure the rest of the team is the same way.”

Lady Thatcher, 82, was not known for her sporting prowess but Michael’s late grandfather Denis, largely remembered for his love of golf, was so enthusiastic about rugby that he refereed county matches.

His daughter Carol, 54, showed the family competitive streak when she won the reality television show, I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, two years ago.

Her twin Mark, whose career in motor sport ended when he got lost in the Sahara desert during the Paris-Dakar rally, has told friends he is “so pleased Michael is doing well in school and on the playing field”.

Behind his son’s success lies a family break-up. Although Mark Thatcher has seen his son’s games on DVDs, he has rarely seen Michael or Amanda, 14, his daughter, since separating from his wife. They divorced in April.

American immigration authorities barred him from entering the country after he pleaded guilty over his role in the Equatorial Guinea affair. He was fined £265,000 and given a four-year suspended prison sentence. His marriage ended after Diane accused him of infidelity.

Thatcher will play host this Christmas to his mother at the villa in Spain which he shares with Lady Francis Russell, sister-in-law of Lord Rothermere, the press baron. He keeps in touch with his children by telephone and e-mail.

“It’s very difficult because he cannot get a visa to go to the US, so he can only see his children when they travel,” said a friend.