Has anyone on here played professionally?

[Vialli98]

I was in Nottingham Forest's academy between ages 16-18. Had trials at various lower league London clubs. I was almost offered a contract at Leyton Orient before I suffered a bad knee inj ..... no I just wasn't good enough. It's true that I was very close to securing a contract but they had to pick between me and two other trialists in my position - they picked one and it wasn't me. I was 20 and I realised my chance had gone, so I said forget it and went to university instead.

As far as crowd noise goes, it can definitely give you an adrenaline push when something happens during a game, but as someone as already said, after a couple of minutes, you block it out as you're trying to focus on the task.

 

[stonerblue]

My Dad used to get a fiver if he took me with him and i played for Beeston utd. Same with Long eaton if they managed to sneak me on.
As i progressed up the footballing ladder i would only sign on if the pub in question paid my fines, fees and, expenses. double time on Sundays.

Biggest crowd i played in front of was about 300 on Manchester road park opposite Gigg lane.
Toughest was Darnhill flats.

 

[stonerblue]

I was in Nottingham Forest's academy between ages 16-18. Had trials at various lower league London clubs. I was almost offered a contract at Leyton Orient before I suffered a bad knee inj ..... no I just wasn't good enough. It's true that I was very close to securing a contract but they had to pick between me and two other trialists in my position - they picked one and it wasn't me. I was 20 and I realised my chance had gone, so I said forget it and went to university instead.

As far as crowd noise goes, it can definitely give you an adrenaline push when something happens during a game, but as someone as already said, after a couple of minutes, you block it out as you're trying to focus on the task.

bummer.

 

[Vialli98]

bummer.

I gave up on my terms, knowing I had tried and tried but the truth was I wasn't good enough for any of the clubs I had a trial with.

That is 1000x more preferable than suffering a knee injury and at an inopportune moment, then spending the rest of your life wondering what if. I realised where my level was, and it wasn't the pro level.

 

[stonerblue]

I gave up on my terms, knowing I had tried and tried but the truth was I wasn't good enough for any of the clubs I had a trial with.

That is 1000x more preferable than suffering a knee injury and at an inopportune moment, then spending the rest of your life wondering what if. I realised where my level was, and it wasn't the pro level.

I think there's many a time we can all wonder 'what if' but it's a pointless exercise really. Knowing where you're at now because of your own choices is much better.

 

[BlueTG]

Rugby. Semi pro, mid to late 90s

Fucking hell mate, you must have been the oldest on the pitch by about 60 years.

 

[Ric]

A friend of mine who played in the same junior side as me is probably the best natural talent I’ve ever shared a pitch with. It was obvious from a very young age that he was streets ahead of everyone. He was the best player in our league, and then for Stockport schoolboys, then his county, and then England u-15s. A long story short, despite his prodigious talent he didn’t make it as a pro and just ended up playing non-league for a while. Always makes me think just how fucking good even the very shittest players in the league must be though, relatively speaking. We scoff at some players, but football is an industry where you don’t simply fluke your way to the top. 99.9% of those in academies don’t make it, so anyone who goes on to play either professionally or even semi-professionally must be fucking brilliant.

 

[Groke]

A friend of mine who played in the same junior side as me is probably the best natural talent I’ve ever shared a pitch with. It was obvious from a very young age that he was streets ahead of everyone. He was the best player in our league, and then for Stockport schoolboys, then his county, and then England u-15s. A long story short, despite his prodigious talent he didn’t make it as a pro and just ended up playing non-league for a while. Always makes me think just how fucking good even the very shittest players in the league must be though, relatively speaking. We scoff at some players, but football is an industry where you don’t simply fluke your way to the top. 99.9% of those in academies don’t make it, so anyone who goes on to play either professionally or even semi-professionally must be fucking brilliant.

Unfortunately, it's not the case that only the best make it, with the size of the population and the number of kids who play football, we should be producing world beaters on a regular basis.. In England, so much talent is lost because: kids don't have the right connections, because of their physical development or size, or they can't cope with the rigorous demands of academy football i.e. the time dedicated to training and travelling around the region for games. Pretty sure David Silva wouldn't have made it as a footballer, if he had been english.

I known loads of lads who have more natural talent and footballing brains than a significant number of premier league footballers, the system doesn't favour these kind of players, with few exceptions.

I think Danny Mills was on the FA advisory board to help map out the future of English football a few years ago FFS! Like British athletics seeking guidance from the runner up in the 1991 Isle of Man egg and spoon race.

 

[117 M34]

No but when I was a teacher I used to manage the school football team. One of the lads on my team has gone on to play in the premier league and play for England u19s.

 

[peoffrey]

A lad from my first work was offered a contract at Walsall as an 18 year old but turned it down because he liked drinking, smoking and chasing the girls too much. What a wanker.