Andrew Farrell To Grow Beard Until He Scores First Goal For Revolution

BOSTON — Whenever the New England Revolution take a corner kick in 2014, we’ll forgive Andrew Farrell if he has a little razor on his mind.

Farrell, 21, has vowed to grow his beard until he scores his first Major League Soccer goal. The promise is the result of a friendly wager the second-year defender made with his older brother.

“Me and my brother had a bet during the offseason,” Farrell said Tuesday at the Revs’ uniform launch party. “He obviously knows that I didn’t score a goal last season.

“I had a couple chances, but I never scored. He said ‘make sure you want to score.’ (I agreed) So I can shave this off.”

Farrell was a right fullback in 2013, playing 34 games in an impressive rookie campaign. Farrell displayed his versatility ahead of his second season, spending parts of preseason in his normal position, as a central defender and as a defensive midfielder.

Farrell doesn’t think Jay Heaps plans on fielding him as a striker anytime soon, so there’s only one realistic scenario in which he sees himself scoring his first goal as a professional player.

“Corner kick,” Farrell said when asked how he expects to score. “I scored a couple in practice. That’s why coach is letting me get forward a lot more.”

Tom Huddlestone famously made a similar promise back in April 2011, saying he would let his hair grow until he scored. The Hull City midfielder went two-and-a-half years without sitting in a barber’s chair before finally scoring in January.

Farrell won’t suffer a similar fate. He said his bet with his brother has a one-season shelf life.

“No I’m not worried because mine’s going to be more year-to-year. If I don’t score this year, I’ll shave it and start over again.”

If Farrell scores his first MLS goal at Gillette Stadium, one of the Revolution staff members should give him a razor (and foam) right away. After all, what little brother wants to wait more than a moment to show his older brother that he won the bet?