Did anyone on here get close to making it professionally?

[AngryOfTuebrook]

I "failed a medical" at Everton.

[Ne Moe Imya]

Not top top players but the jump from very good amateur to even low level pro is huge.

 

That right there is the truth.

 

I was never anything special, lumbering centre half with a penchant for a goal now and then.  Played with a lad once when I was 18 or so, he was unbelievable.  Dribbled past the whole opposing team and put it in the net 3 or 4 times a game, that sort.  I think he averaged at least 2 goals a game in what I thought was a pretty competitive amateur league.

 

I asked him if he had ever seriously thought about trying to go pro, he told me he had and he had a tryout.  "Wasn't even close," he said, "they were all miles better than me."

[Bjornebye]

A regular FF poster made it. A nearly won us the league.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Via twitter

[Preston Red]

I was a goal scoring right winger and had a decent level of ability in the school team The local non league team offered me a trial for the youth team (15 at the time) and I jumped at the chance. Did all the drills and pre game warm ups before we had an 11 v 11 game. I got going in the game with a couple of decent crosses, firing in a few shots and skinning the left back a few times. Unfortunately the left back was also having a trial and I don't know if he was nervous or just shite but he decided that because I'd turned him inside out a few times I was gonna get it. A two footed high tackle just below my knee on my left leg ended my trial with a broken leg. The cunt tried to play dumb but he knew full well what he was doing. Went through recovery for just under a year and got the ok from the doctor to resume playing again. I went for a kick about with a few mates when I fucked my ankle badly (broken and torn ligaments). It was a few days later I decided me and football weren't meant to be. Mainly because, as my dad put it, I was a fucking jinx haha.

[thompsonsnose]

That right there is the truth.

 

I was never anything special, lumbering centre half with a penchant for a goal now and then.  Played with a lad once when I was 18 or so, he was unbelievable.  Dribbled past the whole opposing team and put it in the net 3 or 4 times a game, that sort.  I think he averaged at least 2 goals a game in what I thought was a pretty competitive amateur league.

 

I asked him if he had ever seriously thought about trying to go pro, he told me he had and he had a tryout.  "Wasn't even close," he said, "they were all miles better than me."

Same with cricket.

The jump up from amateur is eye watering.

Almost a different game.

[Mil-ing Around]

I played with 5 guys who all became professional and some of them became premiership players. We were all part of a "golden generation" for our school and i was touted as the best of the lot.

 

Watching one of them run out at old trafford and mark Ronaldo was a proud and sad moment in both respects. Another one of my friends captained his side against us at Anfield in a cup match a few years ago. Very proud of him but he always said i was better than him.

 

Shoulda coulda woulda but i still play at a fairly high level today and coach at a good standard. Many regrets but i still love football and it will always be my drug. 

[Paulie Dangerously]

In school I was in goal so much I bought gloves

[Jairzinho]

In school I was in goal so much I bought gloves

 

Fucking hell. I'm sorry, mate.

[Tony Moanero]

Sadly, I was fucking shit, really fucking shit. Last pick, stuck in goal, you name it. I wanted to be Billy Dane and to have my own pair of magic boots. I retired from playing footy at the age of 15.

[Bjornebye]

I used to play against Carl Baker (MK Dons captain) a lot as a kid. He was boss when he was 9/10 him. Playing against those players as a kid that were just that much better than you used to kill me. I wanted it badly but was nowhere near good enough.

[Jairzinho]

I retired at 12. I played right wing in a 4-2-4 and was pretty decent. One day the left back was injured so the manager forced me to play there. Being the good team player that I was I got myself sent off within the first five minutes of the game, had a massive argument with the manager telling him his tactics were shit, and that was that.

[magicrat]

In school I was in goal so much I bought gloves

There was one kid at school that always wanted to be in goal and in the summer he would be first in the queue to be the wicket keeper, I could understand it if he had a great pair of hands but he was fucking shit at both .

[WhiskeyJar]

I played with 5 guys who all became professional and some of them became premiership players. We were all part of a "golden generation" for our school and i was touted as the best of the lot.

 

Watching one of them run out at old trafford and mark Ronaldo was a proud and sad moment in both respects. Another one of my friends captained his side against us at Anfield in a cup match a few years ago. Very proud of him but he always said i was better than him.

 

Shoulda coulda woulda but i still play at a fairly high level today and coach at a good standard. Many regrets but i still love football and it will always be my drug.

Cool story.

 

Hope its true.

[FanchesterCity]

One of the City scouts used to live about 6 houses down from me, and he had two sons - both really into football, but the younger one (about a year older than me) was really REALLY dedicated.

 

At the end of our road there was a huge field, and every morning about 6.00am he'd be out on his own kicking a ball there. He'd kick the ball thousands of times into an empty net, or just run with the ball dribbling, or practising headers. I could sometimes glimpse him from my bedroom window. He'd be at it again after tea, up until about 9.00pm. Seriously dedicated and I think he got trials at City, but mustn't have been good enough.

 

He was the only footballer I've ever seen who actually demonstrated sheer will to succeed through hard work. You hear about it sometimes from managers, but I've never witnessed it anybody other than him (in sports). Plenty of talented lads, but this was on another level. If he'd made it, I'd never have begrudged him seeing the effort he made.

 

I often wonder what became of him. He was the sort of lad who 'deserved' to make it but never did.

[whistler]

would anybody on here give up their kids/wives/whatever to have the skill of Steven Gerrard?

[moof]

would anybody on here give up their kids/wives/whatever to have the skill of Steven Gerrard?

Yeah

[The Guest]

Played in the same school team as Mike Newell. Superstar me.

In SFX we got told a scout from Liverpool came to watch Newell and Brophy being the old grouchy cunt he was told the scout he wasn't good enough. God knows why he wasn't just backing a pupil from his school up to get a trial. Instead he was just trying to look clever to the scout.

 

The scout ignored him anyway and took Newell. Apparently even though Liverpool fucked him off not too long after he became a goal machine and the rest is history.

[RJ Fan club]

I "failed a medical" at Everton.

I feel for you mate, the most rigorous in world football. You're not the first, you won't be the last.

 

Hardest game in the world that.

[Section_31]

Nah, I'm dispraxic I think, or maybe just shit. My keepy up record is about four and the last one usually went over the fence.

[Jennings]

I scored two fucking great goals for our Junior School team. There were only 9 boys in Junior 4, so I was guaranteed a game despite my orthopedic shoe and calipers.

[Rico1304]

I played against Phil Whelan at school, he was fucking massive, one of those kids who's a man at 14. He had a good career but wasn't amazing when I saw him, just huge.

 

I played cricket with a lad called Jon Bass who was a brilliant goal keeper, he got a trial at SheffnWed and said that the difference between pro and amateur was the pace the pros hit the ball with, he said he couldn't see the ball never mind save it.

 

My cousin lad is 11 and plays for Luton and Spurs, he was also with Arsenal for a trial last week. I watched him play against Utd u11 last week and he was really very good, I didn't know what to expect but he was the best keeper out of the 4 I saw. The amount of time it takes up is incredible, he has to go to Spurs 3'times a week, it's an hours travel to the training. He then plays Sat and Sunday. He probably won't make it but if he does I'm going to milk the fuck out of it!

[Alan Sex]

When I was just a kid an old bloke offered me a tenner in the lavvy, but I was only in there for a slash.

[s(k)aturation]

My Dad played semi-professionally in the 60s in Australia and was very good.

 

He played in friendlies against Chelsea and Cardiff City.  He scored against Cardiff (John Toshack was in the Cardiff side).

 

I represented my State, but gave up at 16.  I didn't like training and shitted out of tackles.

[Sandman40]

The pinnacle of my career was scoring a brace (including the game winner!) and losing 2-1.  TBF, it was a magnificent own goal into the top corner.  I left my keeper no chance.

[Tony Moanero]

My Dad played semi-professionally in the 60s in Australia and was very good.

 

He played in friendlies against Chelsea and Cardiff City. He scored against Cardiff (John Toshack was in the Cardiff side).

 

I represented my State, but gave up at 16. I didn't like training and shitted out of tackles.

Pussy.