Below is a journal update from the England tour our Executive Director Gary Hamill and Girls Director of Coaching Gary Curneen have been on this week. Check back later for more updates.
Saturday March 8
The last day of the trip and we ventured to the Madejski Stadium to watch the Premier League clash between Reading and Manchester City. Watching the warm-up, we know that the talent on show would produce a great game and we were not disappointed. Reading needed three points to escape relegation and they produced a great display, winning 2-0. As we were sitting behind the goal and the final whistle went, US goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann stayed out on the field 10 mins after everyone else clapping the fans and even giving away his jersey. It really summed the week up - for all the quality and array of talent we had seen in the academies, training fields, and packed stadiums, it is the passion and enthusiasm of the players that makes it such a unique experience.
Friday March 7
This was our official day off, so some time was spent sightseeing around London. We tried to find a game somewhere to watch but we could not make it 3,000 miles for a match between Partick Thistle Reserves and Inverness Reserves.
Thursday March 6
We fought the morning rush in the London tube system to make our way to Notspur Park to watch Premiership side Fulham FC train. We were greeted by the great Les Reed (Fulham FC Director of Football, former Charlton FC manager, former England U-18 Head Coach) upon our arrival. He gave us a tour of the training facility which was top class. At the Premiership level, nothing is left to spare with game analysis rooms, Sports Science department, Physiotherapy, and top restaurant for the players to make sure they are getting the right foods.
We then watched the first team train under the instruction of Coach Roy Hodgson. The quality of the squad is fantastic with several top international players. The tempo and quality of the session was breathtaking and we watched the heart rate monitors on the sidelines that measured the work rate of each player during the session. This tells the coaching staff who is at optimum fitness and who needs some extra ’top up’ work after training. Not much gets past strength and conditioning coach Steve Nance and his staff.
When the session concluded all the players made their way to the weights room to do their workout. We spoke with US players Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson about the differences in set-up between the US and England. They all spoke very positively of the challenges in the Premiership. After lunch we observed a strength and conditioning session with the youth academy and some ’pre hab’ work to prevent injuries. A lot of first team players were still in the gym or out on the field doing extra work.
In the evening, we jumped on the tube again to White Hart Lane, home of Tottenham Hotspur as they faced Dutch giants PSV Eindoven in the UEFA Cup Quarter Finals. We were fortunate enough to be the guests of Tottenham U-18 Coach Chris Ramsey (former Charleston Battery Head Coach) and met with him before the game to discuss the ’Spurs’ philosophy to youth development. The game itself was a let down for Spurs fans as they conceded early and went down one zero, despite the efforts of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov to force the best out of the PSV keeper. Needless to say the atmosphere with five minutes to go when Spurs were chasing a goal lifted you off your seat!
Wednesday March 5
We spent the morning making conference calls to our previous stops discussing curriculums, specialist training programs offered to their academy players, nutrition programs made available and also arranging visits to Fulham and Tottenham. We then made our way back down the M1 Motorway to London for the second half of our trip. We arrived in London and checked into the hotel and made our way to the famous ’Stamford Bridge’, the home of Premier League Giants Chelsea. We watched the Champions League quarter-final between Chelsea and Greece powerhouse Olympiakos. Again we were not disappointed by the quality of players or the game as Chelsea turned on the style to win 3-0. Lampard, Cole and Ballack were on form and even in the warm-up you can see how high the level of skill is from these players.Tuesday March 4th
The traveling continued as we made our way to Derby County training facility Moor Farms. The first thing that strikes you (apart from the tight security) is the fantastic facilities. The upkeep of the seven practice fields is left to four full-time groundsmen and they resemble the Premiership fields Derby play on every week. We met with Education Officer Terry Moore who showed us around the facility and talked us through the progress that each academy player makes throughout their time at Derby. Terry also introduced us to Head of Academy Kevin Thelwell who kindly spent time showing us the detailed curriculums at each age level that Derby County provide. As a Premiership club, the standard is rising all the time and the club takes no chances when developing their own talent.
In the afternoon we traveled to Wolverhampton to watch Wolverhampton Wanderers play Southampton at the famous Molineaux Stadium. We were guests of Gavin Tait again, and thoroughly enjoyed the "Six Pointer" which finished 2-2. It was another full house and another example of skill and passion at the highest level.
Monday March 3rd
We made our way up to Nottingham to watch Nottingham Forest play Carlisle United at the City Ground. We had a great meeting with Forest Head of Academy Nick Marshall who talked us through the Forest program. Nottingham Forest has a rich tradition in English soccer with legendary figures such as Roy Keane and Brian Clough being household names there. The game was a top of the table clash and was sold out and on national television. It was a great atmosphere and the game lived up to the hype with a 1-0 victory for Carlisle.
Sunday March 2nd
Gavin Tait took us around the training ground explaining the roles of each coach at each age group and his role as Recruitment Officer. The professionalism and high standards of everyone and everything associated with the club was really impressive.
We spent the afternoon at the Southampton Academy again this time watching the U-13 and U-15s play games against Milwall Academy. The U-9’s also played smaller side games against the same opposition. Southampton work very hard to make sure that all their players are comfortable on the ball and technique is being worked on all the time. The enthusiasm of each player in the game is also extremely high.
Saturday March 1st
We began the morning in Southampton Football Club meeting Gavin Tait (himself a WISA Staff Coach in 2005 and 2006) who is now the Southampton Recruitment Officer. Gavin gave us a tour of the Academy and First Team facility and explained their policies and philosophies. We also met Matthew Crocker - Head of the Academy who spoke at length of the goals and aims of their programs.
Southampton is famous for producing talent - Theo Walcott, Alan Shearer, Kenwyne Jones, and Gareth Bale all came through the academy. We watched the U-16 and U-18s play games against Crystal Palace Academy and took in a U-9 practice session. The emphasis of the session was all about technique and the skill level was very high.
In the afternoon, Gavin showed us great hospitality for the senior match against Ipswich Town at the new St Mary’s Stadium. The game finished 1-1, but the true passion of the spectators really made the occasion. New coach Nigel Pearson has really turned around the fortunes of the first team in recent weeks. This is the dream of every young player we watched this morning - to step out in front of 30,000 at St. Mary’s Stadium.
The traveling continued as we made our way to Derby County training facility Moor Farms. The first thing that strikes you (apart from the tight security) is the fantastic facilities. The upkeep of the seven practice fields is left to four full-time groundsmen and they resemble the Premiership fields Derby play on every week. We met with Education Officer Terry Moore who showed us around the facility and talked us through the progress that each academy player makes throughout their time at Derby. Terry also introduced us to Head of Academy Kevin Thelwell who kindly spent time showing us the detailed curriculums at each age level that Derby County provide. As a Premiership club, the standard is rising all the time and the club takes no chances when developing their own talent.
