Wigan. Has it had a sport revolution?

The half decent kids from Wigan are currently being scooped up by Acadamies of Manchester United, Liverpool etc – again, as i am sure you are well aware – or maybe i’m giving you too much credit and you purposefully (or not) come across as a bit slow in an effort to try to make a petty point.

The same would be the case if we built an Academy. “So son, do you want to join the Academy at Wigan or travel another 20mins and get coached by world class coaches at Manchester United or Liverpool”. I know which i’d have picked as a kid (and would still pick now) and I actually bother to support my home town team.

The same happens to Bolton. Nice shiny Academy. Yet produces nothing because all the kids from Bolton are herded into the Academies at the bigger clubs in the area, where, inevitably, they fail to make the grade.

Gary Walsh was signed by Man Utd from the Wigan Athletic Youth set up. He came up through the Junior Latics teams.

Yes, Latics were in the Championship seven years ago, but is that not when the sudden public and media interest started? You don’t just get talented ten year olds appearing from nowhere, and then have seven years to turn them into something good enough to play in the Premier League. Their development has to start from their early years, and that’s what I was harping on (slightly drunkenly) about in my post last night about schools.

Before Latics got to the Championship, the interest in football at Wigan schools was, on the most part, poor, and kids were not encouraged to develop. Places like Manchester, Liverpool, and the North East are almost totally football focused, and that’s why you get an abundance of talented ten years that you mentioned in places like that, and not in Wigan.

Yes, we do need an academy at Wigan, and it should not be the manager’s decision, as managers come and go at clubs and their focus is usually only short term. Football academies should never be under the first team manager’s jurisdiction.

But, Mutty, this is not the original subject matter. The original subject was that the town is now more football than Rugby League orientated – which it is, but it will take more time before the young players start to come through.

So, the rugby related comments were not irrelevant as they related to the original post – and be honest, if you were not a Wigan RL fan would you even be on this site?

Do you want to know the truth?

In 10 years time, the English game will be on it’s ar*e. Why is that? I hear you ask.
Simply because the kids don’t play football like they used to. It’s true. For the past 5 years or so, the Scot’s have been blaming the failings at grass-roots level for their inept displays at international level. Only today George Burley was on SSN talking about it and saying that they have to make massive changes. Well eventually, it’s going to happen in the English game as well. Why? Because it’s not like it used to be. Kids would rather mess about these days, than play football on a field, street, or yard. And that is exactly where the game is learned best. But these days, there are too many distractions, such as games consoles and TV, obesity is blooming. It’s funny, me and my mate were talking about this only yesterday. I predict that the repercussions will really be felt, right up to the top level.
But are the clubs to blame? In a way, yes. The influx of the foreign player, post Bosman, has made it increasingly difficult for English kids to progress into the top flight. This has meant that more are having to settle for the lower tiers of football, or even a move abroad to somewhere like America, or Scandinavia. But as the clubs are now being hit hard by the recession, they are now struggling to attract the very ‘best’ in foreign talent, and it ahs meant that a lot of average foreigners have, and will, come over. All in all, it’s had a kind of ‘knock on’ effect on the game. When I was a kid (albeit in Skem, a football daft town full of football daft scousers, you never really had a choice) I played football about 5 times a week. Sometimes every day, in summer. A football was never far away. I remember when me and some mates met for a kick about one day, and got challenged to a match by ‘Skem Taxi’s’ who were a decent local Sunday League side. Grown men, obviously. Despite getting the sh*t kicked out of us, we beat them. It was how you learned….by playing against older people, learning the ways of the game. It frightens me, the current state of our game, it really does.
I haven’t played myself, since I packed up about 7 years ago. I played up to a decent standard though, and played against some very good players in my time, one of which was Jon Macken (Ex PNE, now Barnsley) who was a very good player.
The highlight though had to come some time in the 80’s when I was on the Astroturf pitch in Skem. Unbelieveably, a bunch of guys come on for a kick about…..and it was none other than Peter Reid, Kevin Sheedy, Graeme Sharp, and others from Everton. They were just having a kick about for fun. Wouldn’t see that today. (Later found out Reid had a good mate in Skem) I also saw Paul Cook on that pitch once, just having a kick about with some mates. We’d just sold him, I think.

With regard to other players to come through with Wigan, in the same way as Leighton Baines, what about Tony Kelly? David Lowe? The aforementioned Paul Cook?, etc?

Oh, and did you know that Leighton Baines and Ryan Taylor were ‘moonlighting’ whilst with us in a midweek five a side league in Kirkby Sports Centre? Apparently so. (Have that from a source close to one of them) The club knew sod all about it, obviously. Only at Wigan, eh? :roll:

I agree Vat, as time goes on kids have far too many ‘other’ things to keep them amused. With what they bring out on DS, Game Boy, PSP etc, one day we’ll look back at our lazy imobile probably overweight offspring and think, hmmmm where did it go wrong.

Is it not down to us as parents to take technology away from them for a time every week and get the kids doing sport, not just football but all sports. If we don’t, I dread to think what it will be like in a decade or so.