At 0-0 in the 12th minute, King placed the ball inside his
six-yard box and launched it so far upfield that it bounced a few yards outside
the opposition box before the wind picked it up and over the helpless Joshua
Griffiths in Cheltenham's goal.
Guinness World Records ratified the record on Thursday, with
his 105 yards (96.01 m) goal breaking the record previously set by former Stoke
City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, whose clearance from inside his own box found
the Southampton net in 2013.
"I'm absolutely delighted because it's not something
that I intentionally set out to do," King said on the club's website.
"I'm sure it will be talked about for a long time to come, so I'm proud
and I'm sure my family will be extremely proud too.
𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜 of the castle👑 #OneClubOneCountypic.twitter.com/LJA2I2Bo0X
— Newport County AFC (@NewportCounty) January 19, 2021
"I'll have to drop Asmir a message to send my commiserations...
It's different territory for me because I never dreamt of being in the books
that you get for Christmas every year.
"Hopefully I might actually read it if I get one for
Christmas this year. I'm delighted and hopefully no one beats it for a long time
now so I can show my grandkids."
🏅Goalkeeper Tom King has etched his name into the @GWR following his goal, which covered a distance of 96.01m, against @CTFCofficial on Tuesday evening.
— Newport County AFC (@NewportCounty) January 21, 2021
👉https://t.co/6t8q18sPXn#OneClubOneCounty pic.twitter.com/SpaJ9AI74I
However, King refused to celebrate the goal out of respect
for his Cheltenham counterpart even though it was the first goal he had ever
scored as a professional.
"I didn't even know how to celebrate really and I
apologised to the other goalkeeper after the game... It's not nice to be on the
other end of it," he said.