“I was surprised, but I always say nothing surprises me in football.” Les Ferdinand.
Kevin Phillips. Ian Wright. Les Ferdinand. These are all names that will be familiar to anyone who has followed the exploits of the England team over the last decade and a half. Wade Elliott, Jimmy Bullard and Jermain Beckford are three other players who most people, with a reasonable knowledge of English club football , will recognise.
But what do this 6 players all have in common?
They have all over come the disappointment of being released from their first clubs after failing to earn a professional contract and managed to make a name for themselves in the footballing world. In fact they have all risen through the ranks of non-league and league football to earn themselves a place in the top tier of English football.
Ian Wright never played football at any level higher than Sunday league until he shocked the footballing world when he signed for Crystal Palace at the age of 20 in 1985. It was a huge risk for then manager, Steve Coppell , to take. And one that paid off. Ian Wright enjoyed a successful playing career at Crystal Palace and Arsenal amongst others, he also earned 33 England caps.
Les Ferdinand began his career at Hayes F.C. and ended it with 17 England caps and over 400 Premier League appearances.
Kevin Phillips was released by Southampton F.C. in 1992, where he played right back in the youth team. He was quickly snapped up by Baldock Town, a semi-professional side, and converted into a striker. In 1994 he returned to the Football League, dipping in and out of the top two divisions and is currently playing for Birmingham City in the top flight. Between 1999 and 2002 he won 8 caps for England.
Wade Elliott was also released by Southampton, only two years after Kevin Phillips. In 1997 he joined Bashley F.C. and then moved on to Bournemouth in 1999. After a successful period at the south coast club he moved to Burnley where he scored the only goal in the Championship Play-off Final in 2009 earning his team an estimated 60 million pounds.
Jimmy Bullard started his career at Gravesend & Northfleet in 1998 who were playing in the Isthmain League. He then moved to West Ham and now plays for Hull City, via Wigan and Fulham, he has been heavily linked with a move to Scottish giants Celtic. He was called up to the England squad by Fabio Capello in August 2008, however he failed to make an appearance. He was also considered for the German national team, for which he is eligible to play for through his grandmother, prior to the 2006 World Cup.
Jermain Beckford was released by the Chelsea youth academy in 2003. He then signed for Wealdstone F.C. in 2006 he moved to Leeds United and has recently joined Everton.
These 6 men have all made incredible journeys that bring hope to many young players who have failed to make the grade at youth level, and have no doubt inspired great ambitions in some Sunday league players. But you've got to question whether the youth system in our country really works all that well and that perhaps clubs don't spend enough time looking round their local areas for talented players? Didn't anyone notice at the Southampton youth acamdemy notice that Kevin Phillips had a real eye for goal, and that his natural position wasn't right full back. How was Wade Elliott's technical ability over looked, as he is a fantastic dribbler and can put in a magnificent cross. How is it that nobody noticed Ian Wright potential when he was younger or his skill until he was 20?
Although all the examples are reactively old, I do not believe that a great deal has changed in the last 15 or so years when we look at youth development. In fact it is quite possible that due to the number of foreign players coming in it is beginning to degrade, and may even be over looked completely in the near future, it should be noted however that this two points apply almost solely to the Premier Division clubs, as this would be hugely damaging to small clubs who simply don't have the means of bringing in players from abroad and struggle to do so from closer to home as it is. If the Premier League academies were to shut down, the flow of young talent dropping down the divisions would be cut off and smaller clubs would be forced to keep more players from their own youth teams, who would otherwise have dropped further down the chain. This would mean that there were fewer players for non-league teams to pick up and these would eventually die out altogether.
Youth and non-league football is the life blood of our nation and take away the top flight academies would first kill one and then as a consequence the other too. And we'll be enduring a lot longer than 44 years of hurt.
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