William Henry Foulkes
Big Member
Star article about a junior footballer originally from Sheffield who has just turned professional at Man Utd.
Relevant here bc as others have said there are ways round the rules if PL teams want to sign talented junior footballers and move them away from their homes.
I wonder how many have not coped with the pressures (pressure, at 13) and fallen by the wayside. So much wasted talent.
“I moved to Manchester at 13, and it was tough - I almost quit at one point. I couldn’t handle being away from home, living with different people, training all the time. I was at a new school, making new friends, away from my family. I’m used to it now, of course, but it’s tough at the time. It makes you appreciate the sacrifices players make to get to the top; I’m a much more confident person because of it. And, to get to where I want to be, it’s just what needs to be done.”
Ian spoke to his son three times a day - morning, noon and night - following his move to Manchester. Zak cried every night for the first month or so, but didn’t let on.
“He told me a few months later,” Ian added.
“I couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I’d have come and got you straight away’.
“And he said, ‘That’s why I didn’t tell you, dad. I knew you’d have come and got me’.
“All credit to him for sticking it out. It’s looking promising and, fingers crossed, that will continue.”
Then there's this - relevant perhaps to our Academy.
Nick Levett, Talent Identification Manager at the Football Association, shares a remarkable stat which suggests that 96 per cent of scholars signed at professional clubs when they are 16 are no longer playing there when they are 18.
Just two per cent of players that get a professional contract at 18, are still playing professionally past the age of 21.
So what are the routes into professional football? Young players are coming from somewhere. Where exactly?
Read more: http://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/foot...anchester-united-deal-1-7603113#ixzz3tHzAmmEj
Relevant here bc as others have said there are ways round the rules if PL teams want to sign talented junior footballers and move them away from their homes.
I wonder how many have not coped with the pressures (pressure, at 13) and fallen by the wayside. So much wasted talent.
“I moved to Manchester at 13, and it was tough - I almost quit at one point. I couldn’t handle being away from home, living with different people, training all the time. I was at a new school, making new friends, away from my family. I’m used to it now, of course, but it’s tough at the time. It makes you appreciate the sacrifices players make to get to the top; I’m a much more confident person because of it. And, to get to where I want to be, it’s just what needs to be done.”
Ian spoke to his son three times a day - morning, noon and night - following his move to Manchester. Zak cried every night for the first month or so, but didn’t let on.
“He told me a few months later,” Ian added.
“I couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I’d have come and got you straight away’.
“And he said, ‘That’s why I didn’t tell you, dad. I knew you’d have come and got me’.
“All credit to him for sticking it out. It’s looking promising and, fingers crossed, that will continue.”
Then there's this - relevant perhaps to our Academy.
Nick Levett, Talent Identification Manager at the Football Association, shares a remarkable stat which suggests that 96 per cent of scholars signed at professional clubs when they are 16 are no longer playing there when they are 18.
Just two per cent of players that get a professional contract at 18, are still playing professionally past the age of 21.
So what are the routes into professional football? Young players are coming from somewhere. Where exactly?
Read more: http://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/foot...anchester-united-deal-1-7603113#ixzz3tHzAmmEj
