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Preparation:
There are few opportunities for former players whether black or white in management, but that is hardly surprising. Eighteen players are required per match including the bench, but there is only one manager. Obviously most former players will have to find something else to do – hopefully within the game.
Noel Blake played for several clubs including Portsmouth and Leeds United when both were enjoying better times. As his playing career approached its end he faced the choice that all players face, what should he do with the rest of his life? Football also had a choice to make. Was it prepared to allow the knowledge that Blake had picked up over a playing career that had lasted almost a quarter of a century to be lost to the game entirely?
Fortunately, both Blake and football made the right choice quickly. He found a path that enabled him to give something back to football, so unlike many of his peers Blake has not been lost to the game. He is exactly the type of former player that needs to be retained in football. “I started at Aston Villa in 1979,” he said. “I was sixteen and I finished playing in my fortieth year, so a pretty long time – twenty-four years.” During that time he gained a wealth of experience that is now being put to good use, but Blake started learning the tools of his trade earlier.
Gathering Experience:
His potential was spotted as a schoolboy and he started learning about football then. “I played at school,” he said. “I had trials at various clubs –scouts came and watched a game on Saturday or Sunday mornings. From there it evolved where you go and play for your local boys’ teams if they think you’re good enough to play. Managers pick their teams on a Sunday morning, but I was quite fortunate to play for a team that was run by an ex-professional player by the name of Laurie Canning who used to work for BBC Radio and a couple of commentators, so I played for the boys’ team and went to the same school as his son and the rest is history.”
These experiences help Blake to understand what is needed in young players and what it takes to succeed in football, which is a dog, eat dog business, but even those who do make it to the top are being lost to the game. Far too many take the knowledge that they have gained away with them as they find other careers, sometimes through necessity.
Blake chose coaching and has worked as an academy manager too. He currently works as a coach for the FA, which involves coaching sessions and also visiting academies. He has important advice for young layers seeking a future in football that they would do well to heed.
“Players also need to take more ownership of their learning,” says Blake. “A lot of it is placed on coaches. When things go wrong, it’s the coach’s fault, but when things go right, it’s the players that have done it. It’s a two-way thing. If they want to succeed, they need to put themselves out, same as the coaches. You need to put yourself out there as a player.”
He has more sage advice for young players that they would be well-advised to take on board. “There are a number of young players out there who like the idea of being a footballer – like the trimmings – but they don’t want to put the work in to get it,” says Blake. “They want to run before they can walk and that’s part of the problem in terms of development and I’m talking at all levels. If you want to become a player, you’ve got to want to do the work. You’ve got to take the learning path – the learning steps.”
Blake compares the development of young players to babies learning and continues his theme that players have to contribute to their own learning. “That’s where a lot of players have gone wrong,” he says. “Young players in particular – they don’t want to put the work in, but like the trappings. I’m talking even scholars as well. I’m talking boys of ten, eleven, twelve, who the parents think they’ve got a divine right. You don’t play football just like that; you have to gain that experience and knowledge. Ability alone doesn’t make you a player.” |
