THIS is the story of a poodle, a footballer (Soccer to those of us on this side of the pond) and their reunion that hinged on his comeback to the A-League.

At the beginning of last year, Marcos Flores was one lonely guy living in Melbourne, Australia. The Argentinian midfielder was under contract to the Melbourne Victory Club, and it wasn’t working out.

That’s when Marcos life changed. In an article in the Newcastle Herald, he tells it this way:

‘‘Then this one day, I walked past a pet shop,’’ he recalls.

A black poodle pup in the window was so lethargic that he asked if it was dead. No, said the assistant, just sleeping. Despite his flat’s strict No Dog policy, Flores got out his wallet.

He named his new friend ‘‘Cipi’’.

‘‘I hid this thing for six months in Melbourne, even though there were about 2000 inspections,’’

Flores continued, ‘‘I hid this thing for six months in Melbourne, even though there were about 2000 inspections,’’ says Flores, 28.

‘‘Every time I came back from training, he’s destroying my apartment, destroying my clothes; people who own dogs will understand. I finished the season happy.’’

Then Marcos was transferred to a new team and Cipi came too.

And for a while, it was great. The poodle had room to run; his owner began to find some on the field. Then, one day at training, Flores planted his foot. He lurched one way. His knee went the other. Teammates rushed to his side. Scans confirmed he’d torn his anterior cruciate ligament, a season-ending injury at best. The Mariners declined to re-sign him.

Distraught but vowing his career wouldn’t end like this, he flew home and left Cipi with an Argentinian family on the Central Coast.

Before he left, he made a pact with his poodle. If another A-League club didn’t sign the midfielder within eight weeks, he’d pay for the dog to fly to Argentina to live with him and his family.

A week passed. Then a few more. After five weeks, he received an offer to play for Newcastle, where he now says he’s ‘‘full of passion’’ and one of ‘‘23 lions try to get the Jets back where they should be’’.

Cipi and Flores have a house in Lambton. There’s no hiding. In fact, Cipi gave marketing types an idea.

‘‘The Newcastle Jets are pleased to launch the Club’s Pet Membership for the 2014-15 season,’’ the club’s website announced last month.

Pet members get an official lead, tag and membership card. Cipi is member No.1.”

See the whole story here: http://bit.ly/1uQoe1u