The Nowhere Men

Football books are a bit like chicken takeaway shops, so many, so much choice, so much disappointment. Not this one.

There is a saying that one’s mind is like a gymnasium, well this one has had a thorough workout,  absorbing a morass of hugely relevant information helping to paint a picture of a dying breed : the football ;scout, The Nowhere Men.

Michael Calvin is hugely unlikely to be besieged by  lethological  moments ; his wordsmithery flows like a trickling stream , his empathy towards the subject deeply sincere and his knowledge of the game of football takes us on a journey no book of this kind has taken us on before.

Has there been a book of this kind before ?

The magic eye they call it. The football scouts magic eye. Undercover policemen have it, artists have it, diamond cutters have it.

Calvin latest offering sings the praises, almost choirlike, for men like John Griffin, a fully paid up member of the flat cap brigade, now in his 70s, but a man, a hugely likeable man by the sounds of it, who has talent spotting firmly embedded in his DNA. A man who pulls up trees (some on a frosty January morning miles from home, if it meant he had to see a player) in search of the next Ian Wright, the next Stuart Pearce or even Peter Beardsley, all three products of non league football.

Griffin is man the like of which we may never see again. The analysts have taken over. The academics who tell us that if a 15 year old kid produces good enough stats with his pass completion rate, his shot accuracy and his defensive heading ability he will make the grade. Ok so it’s not as cut and dried as that, but that ‘magic eye’ is owned outright by the John Griffins , the Terry Burtons and Dean Austins of this world.

The gift of being able to spot ‘a player’ at an early age; how he carries himself, how does he react on a freezing cold morning ;  what he’s like when he is faced with a bruising centre half  who may give you a ‘sly one’ off the ball and how he treats the ground staff.

The book simply gets better and better as you work your way through anecdotal heaven, like the scouts who ‘followed’ Alexis Sanchez into his then small Italian town, ‘sat off’ by a coffee shop and then posed as autograph hunters to gauge reaction. What are these players like off the field ? Will the club have trouble with them ?

Jack Wilshere, Stan Collymore, Raheem Sterling ( great story), Joe Hart, they are all in here, the book is full of little nuggets.

The football scout is a dying breed, The Nowhere Men, eclipsed by technology. The analyst’s may reach John Griffins age, but I doubt they’ll have his golden memories,

Take a flat cap off to Michael Calvin………..its a winner !

Call of Duty at Grassroots level

“In my day” is an overused term in this world. Every day should be your day, Seizing opportunities, making things happen, saying yes more, creating memories, treading different paths. There is a myriad clichés freely available, a veritable feast of colourful punchy phrases surrounding us in a rainbow filled world of empty promises .

Talking the talk is one thing…….walking the walk another.

We are all guilty of encouraging our children to encapsulate themselves in the cocoon like environment of the bedroom with the play stations, the latest hi tech gadgets, the smart phones and the supersized energy drinks sitting comfortably besides  the latest leaflets offering 2 thin crust pepperoni pizzas for the price of one, and chicken nuggets free when you spend over a fiver.

The only X boxes I knew growing up were the Vernons Pools coupons draw sections my Dad used to fill in, he couldn’t put them on with Littlewoods, as half the family earned their own ‘thin crust’ down Walton Hall Avenue, the HQ of Moores empire.It was against company rules, funny how so many John Smiths and Billy Jones won though ?

We now have a wonderful opportunity to help our own children, our grandchildren and generations beyond to embrace the experiences we had. The ‘Grassroots Football Campaign” is one of the best initiatives I’ve seen for years.

The benefits to children from a health and happiness perspective are immeasurable. Fresh air, as opposed to tiny confined bedrooms, jam packed with the heat of machines, the smells of Pringles and Chicken Feasts. Kids supinely set for the day, ordering their food, killing their enemies with the tap of a thumb. But it shouldn’t be like that, Making friends, friends for life, learning social skills a computer generated gunman lurking on a corner of an LA street won’t teach you. In fact only yesterday, a judge in Liverpool whilst summing up in the case of a 15 year old who held up a bank with a plastic gun (because he wanted money like other people knew) said ” It’s an almost surreal case of a young man acting like a real-life action video game”

This is a Call of Duty !

It’s simple. Free football for kids up and down the land, sun rain or shine. Playing sports at an early age is a key component of character building. In 30 years time, regaling stories to younger loved ones about how you made the top 25 in the county on ‘Halo 3’  is not really going to gain their respect is it ?
This is no party pooping campaign against video games, which bring a lot of folk enjoyment, it’s all about balance and conditioning youngsters about the wonderful benefits of a life outside. Sadly for some, thanks to gun crime and a lack of sporting opportunities, a life ‘inside’ beckons

The crux of the problem is this,local councils are closing pitches by the day, is it because the council executives are indeed getting younger and maybe themselves quite ‘tasty’ on a Wii, having never kicked a ball or tipped one round the posts, just a thought ! Far more likely though is it’s because  their hands are tied by government legislation, budgetary restrictions and frankly a lack of understanding. It’s all very well watching elaborate stage managed exercise & keepy uppy routines involving prime ministers, but real action is required urgently. Their call of duty.

Football Clubs

I remember as a schoolboy at a huge comprehensive on Merseyside, St.Kevin’s, where 1500 testosterone filled teenagers ambled through the gates at 8.55 each morning, the then manager of Everton, Billy Bingham, brought his entire first team squad to spend the ‘whole day’ with us. An innovative charm offensive said some, they visited a lot of schools in a few weeks. I thought it was incredible, the players talked with us, they ate with us and at the end school day they played our first eleven in front of a huge crowd. As a 13 year old my breath was taken away.I mean Gary Jones, the Everton winger was pinching chips off my pals plate and dipping them in his red sauce. It uplifted the whole environment, kids all over Kirkby were asking for ketchup in the chippys.

Do any mainstream football clubs do that these days ? (visit schools) I am sure lots of them have thought about it.If not, why not ? The Call of Duty beckons for everyone, talking the talk or walking the walk.Making things happen, creating memories, changing the mindset, ensuring the England squads in future Summer or even Winter World Cups have a nucleus of natural talent, players who can keep possession, show the wonderful first touch of the foreigners and give us something to be proud of. Without FREE FOOTBALL for kids, what chance have we got ?

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