Who did you play with or against in school or youth football who made it big time and what were they like as youngsters

[kippaxwarrior]

Played for North Manchester Boys a couple of times and one of those games were against the rags youth side at the cliff.

Their side included both Nevillves, Scholes, Butt and Cooke.

I came on as a sub playing right back and had to mark Scholes who was playing left wing

 

[Bill Walker]

Played against George Best and Mike Summerbee , a Sunday game at Stalybridge Celtic ground.

Don't know the score I woke up before the end.

 

[Kinkladze 1]

I played against John Macken when I was about 12 in a school v school match. His school was St Matthews in Moston if I remember rightly. He was a fully grown man with a beard and massive legs.

 

[Pughie]

Played against Giggs a few times, or Wilson as he was known then.

Also played against Shay Given and Kenny Dalglish in a press friendly against Blackburn.

Did you ever play with/against Colin Little? (went on to play for Crewe and Macclesfield in the EFL, now youth coach at United) if so you might have played with/against my uncle!

 

[youngbob]

Went to school with a lad called Joe Mwasile. He was miles, miles better than everyone at football. Could run rings round any number of us. Used to play against fully grown adults when he was 16 and 17 and he made them look like toddlers.

My memory is a bit foggy because we weren't really friends, we just went to the same school, but as far as I can recall he was being looked at by Chelsea scouts. But then he broke his leg and was in a cast for 6 months. When he came back he was nearly as good as he'd been before but he was never quite the same and the momentum for his potential Chelsea move went flat.

He signed a professional contract with Morecambe 12 months later and played about 50 games for them. He was loaned back and forth between a few non-league clubs after that and eventually signed for Salford City when they were in the Northern Premier League. He got on BBC TV when they beat Notts County 2-0 in the FA Cup first round in 2015 and almost scored one of the all-time great first round goals (1:55:05 on the video below) but fluffed his lines a bit.

Last I heard he was playing for Nantwich in the 7th tier. Makes you realise just how good you have to be to make it at the top level.

 

[M16 citeh]

Went to school with a lad called Joe Mwasile. He was miles, miles better than everyone at football. Could run rings round any number of us. Used to play against fully grown adults when he was 16 and 17 and he made them look like toddlers.

My memory is a bit foggy because we weren't really friends, we just went to the same school, but as far as I can recall he was being looked at by Chelsea scouts. But then he broke his leg and was in a cast for 6 months. When he came back he was nearly as good as he'd been before but he was never quite the same and the momentum for his potential Chelsea move went flat.

He signed a professional contract with Morecambe 12 months later and played about 50 games for them. He was loaned back and forth between a few non-league clubs after that and eventually signed for Salford City when they were in the Northern Premier League. He got on BBC TV when they beat Notts County 2-0 in the FA Cup first round in 2015 and almost scored one of the all-time great first round goals (1:55:05 on the video below) but fluffed his lines a bit.

Last I heard he was playing for Nantwich in the 7th tier. Makes you realise just how good you have to be to make it at the top level.

I played with multiple lads all destined to make it to the top and only a few of them made half decent lower league careers. Its a cut throat business!
Best I played against was welbeck. I marked him and he scored 4 haha

 

[youngbob]

Also, wasn't going to say because it gives away where I went to school, but fuck it, might as well...

When I was at Stockport Academy sixth form, the lads in Years 12/13 would play against the teachers every Friday at 3.30pm. Usually we had enough for 10 or 11-a-side. That's when Joe Mwasile (see above) would play with us.

Anyway, not every Friday, but about once a month, we were short on players. Whenever that happened, a little Year 7 lad would pop his head round the astro-turf gate and ask if he could play. Reckoned he could take us all on.

He was never allowed to play because the teachers weren't insured to play against kids his age but that didn't stop him asking a few times. He just used to sit watching for a bit and then go home.

Pretty soon he was moved to a different school and naturally none of us ever thought we'd see him again. But then in 2017, City were playing a pre-season friendly against United and I recognised one of the lads in City's line-up.

Yep.

Spoiler

 

[youngbob]

I played with multiple lads all destined to make it to the top and only a few of them made half decent lower league careers. Its a cut throat business!
Best I played against was welbeck. I marked him and he scored 4 haha

Yeah it's nasty. If you're in the Academy at City and don't make it you're usually set for a career at a decent level. Someone I know when to school with Chris Chantler, who would have probably made a go of it at City but was ousted when we got taken over. He had a decent career playing for Carlisle United and Kilmarnock in Scotland. But if you're at the Academy of a team in League Two and don't make it, you need to think of finding another career. It's why so many young lads end up on the scrapheap a bit.

 

[Jack74]

John Foster , Rae Ingram , Adie Mike , Ryan Wilson ( Giggs ) , Simon Davies all sound as fuck probably more but my memory is not what it was

 

[M16 citeh]

Yeah it's nasty. If you're in the Academy at City and don't make it you're usually set for a career at a decent level. Someone I know when to school with Chris Chantler, who would have probably made a go of it at City but was ousted when we got taken over. He had a decent career playing for Carlisle United and Kilmarnock in Scotland. But if you're at the Academy of a team in League Two and don't make it, you need to think of finding another career. It's why so many young lads end up on the scrapheap a bit.

I know so many lads who's lives took a turn for the worse after being released! One lad who was released from United cuz school told them he was failing maths. I can't see the link myself but it ruined his prospect in life!

Anyway great story about nearly playing with Phill! Bet he would have run rings around you!