Former pro hits out at standards in Cornwall

[Richard Chown]

Thiscornwall.co.uk ©

Former pro hits out at standards in Cornwall

HOW many Cornish footballers are currently playing in the Football League? And why are so many young players failing to reach the standard required to make it in the professional game?

Those are the questions former Arsenal and Sheffield United midfielder John Matthews is keen to shed some light on after revealing his concern at the alarming lack of players from the county making the grade as professional footballers.

The Duchy's most prominent figure in the game at present is Matthew Etherington, a Premier League footballer with Stoke City.

After being plucked from junior football, the Truro-born winger made his Peterborough United debut at the age of 15, before moving on to Tottenham Hotspur in 2003 followed by Bradford City (loan), West Ham and now Stoke.

Newquay-born Chris Morris represented the Republic of Ireland, while Bugle's Nigel Martyn was regarded as one of the country's best goalkeepers in the 90s.

But not many footballers in Cornwall have been as fortunate as Etherington, Morris or Martyn.

And that is why Matthews has decided to speak up about the lack of players from the county making it into the professional game.

Matthews ended his playing days in the south west with Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United. The Camden-born 53-year-old now lives near Torpoint and takes a keen interest in Cornish football.

But, while other areas of the country continue to produce new talent, Matthews is frustrated that so few players from Cornwall make the grade as professional footballers.

"Why is that the case?" he asks. "There is something fundamentally wrong when an area as big as Cornwall is not producing professional footballers.

"It's not just year in, year out, it is decade after decade.

"Cornwall has a similar population to Liverpool, for example, yet look at the players the area has produced down the years - Rooney, Gerrard, Carragher and in the not too distant past Fowler, McManaman etc. These players were not born internationals.

"There is much potential in Cornwall but few seem concerned or aware of the poor return when trying to realise that potential until you put it there in front of them in black and white."

Cornwall is a county renowned for its love of rugby, where the Cornish Pirates attract most interest.

Truro City's rise up the non-league ladder has raised Cornwall's footballing profile in recent years. And with a promising youth set up and in a former playing colleague of Matthews, City boss Sean McCarthy, Matthews believes he will instil a professional attitude into the club.

Matthews, a full licenced coach, said: "I live in Cornwall and I am sure there are some very good players out there, but more often than not they are failing to reach the standard required by the age of 16.

"This is something that really needs to be addressed, and on a practical basis I will be looking to get involved on the coaching side, I am convinced the talent is there.

"Good habits and basic principles introduced at an early age would save having to get rid of the bad ones years later.

"It is a simple game but many want to complicate things before the young players can pass the ball competently 10 yards.

"With no professional clubs down here there seems to be an amateur mentality towards professional football.

"Players coming through of all ages need to be pushed and also develop a tough mentality as football is a tough business.

"It is not enough just to keep them amused, I think that this may be one area that is lacking. The standards have got to be raised in the county and I understand Plymouth Argyle have one apprentice from Cornwall (Oliver Chenoweth from Liskeard).. It's not good enough.

"There are some big junior leagues in the area so why are there not more players coming through?

"I have my opinions, I would like to know what people out there think, because it is a crying shame that the area continues to be left behind when it comes to producing local talent good enough for the professional game."

[Pidgeon]

Current Cornish Pros i know of............. anyone know anymore?

Jamie Lowry from Newquay plays regularly for Chesterfield (League 2)

Scot Bennett from St Columb plays for Exeter City (league 1) and I believe they've had a goalkeeper from Newquay on trial recently

Its difficult as young players up country have at probably at least 5 teams within the 1 hour travelling time rule for youth teams. anyone from cornwall just has plymouth and at a push exeter. Thats probably why youth players arent making it further.

[Zee]

What about Jamie Day at Peterborough!?

[Guest Reginald Perrin]

Tonkin at Cambridge

:c:

[CoachKT]

Under new FA laws, Pro Club's Academies and Centres of Excellence can only attract lads up to the age of 15 from a certain travelling distance from their grounds, which I think is something like an hour or 90 minutes tops.

In the case of Cornish lads that means Plymouth Argyle and at a stretch Torquay United and Exeter City, whereas in most other regions there are a greater number of clubs to choose from.

Toquay United have only recently reformed a youth set up at the club, whilst both Exeter City and Torquay United I beleive lost their C of E status in terms of playing in a recognised pro youth league due to their time spent in the conference and as such had to rely on friendly matches against other pro clubs.

When you take all this into account and further consider that Plymouth Argyle are one of the highest ranked clubs in the Football League to still have a C of E instead of an Academy and all three devon clubs have limited resources at Youth level it is hardly surprising that their is a sparsity of talent that gets through to pro level from over the water, regardless of how good they might be between say 10 - 15 years of age.

From what I understand, once lads hit 16 they can be offered scholorships or apprenticeships at any pro club and with such experienced and well respected coaches like Mike Pejic and Allun Evans in charge of Argyle's youth set up, they have selected lads from all over the place including abroad in an attempt to be able to compete with the bigger clubs whilst also improving the club's status at youth level and push for Academy status.

Subsequently, Argyle have several youth developments links with all regions of Cornwall up to the age of 15, but as yet very few of these lads progress beyond that into the clubs Centre of Excellence at 16.

[nephew]

Toby Davies was very unlucky not to make it Argyle and is now playing pro football in Sweden. Not bad for a local lad.

[Martin Eddy]

parents have to be really committed.if you live in west cornwall and your son is good enough to play for say argyle.if they play away you have to get them to plymouth.then follow them to the ground.this is if you have the time and money. you qouted liverpool,how can you compare them to cornwall.how many league teams do they have in a 60 mile radius.dont get me wrong if my son was good enough i would do everything in my powers to get him there.but to most families in cornwall it is just not possible due to work commitments and cash.we seem to be the forgotten county because we are out on a limb :(

[legend or leg-end]

what about KEVIN MILLER his name was omitted from the list.hes a Falmouth boy.EXETER BIRMINGHAM and CRYSTAL PALACE under his belt.

[quiksilver]

I know its not cornwall but Ben Tozer is a plymouth lad currently playing for newcastle, and good chance of breaking into first team

[D K]

Grass roots football requires a bit of help from the FA, filtered down and administered properly by the people at the CCFA. Unless this starts from the top, even the people I love to hate are struggling.

Grass roots issues are very contentious and very long drawn out saga's that do not get resolved overnight.

However, ATTITUDE is the biggest problem that us Cornish people have.

When trying to sort the radio show out, were people really that interested? I dont think so.

I've read negative comments about Massey's mutterings etc and here lies the problem.

The Cornish football commuity are very quick to point the finger at those having a go but when I have tracked the credentials of those who moan about the efforts of others; I find they are in no position to cast judgement at all!

Anyone being proactive for the local game gets more stick than praise and so it scares off anyone that at some point is willing to try and make a difference.

God knows why but the majority of Cornish people also seem to begrudge anyone any success!

The clubs that have been most talked about on this forum over recent years would be St Blazey and Truro, largely becasue oftheir successes. No one willing to heap praise on their players or committee's of both clubs for excellent set ups, just keen to say that they overspend etc etc.

We are very bad at putting our hands up and congratulating our peers on innovation, commitment and hard work sadly until the attitude changes, things will not change.

Falmouth are the latest example. This time last year the club had knockers for allowing stands to fall into ruin, team at the bottom of the league etc, etc.

This year they bring in a man who is willing to try and reserrect the club and now the same people who had sympathy last year are moaning that they are spending too much money!

On the voluteer front, its time to put up or shut up. Kids will never come through and flourish in an environment where we enjoy people failing so much!

[Bambi]

Many of the top local teams want instant success, therefore managers try and sign well established players. Younger players (16,17,18,19) tend to be fringe players at these clubs and don't progress as they should, as results are more important when money is involved.

I believe John Hodge (ex professional) got noticed playing for Falmouth against Exeter City in a pre-season friendly when he was 19. I believe younger players should play in these games, it might be worth a few quid to the club. Just a thought.

[J MILLER]

In regards to the Argyle set up, I played at the centre of excellence at Bodmin in the 90's we had a good bunch of players and in our final season before apprenticships were given out we had 3 games against the argyle team. In those 3 games the Cornish contingent won two. 4-1 and 3-0 respectively, and drew the other. This was a against an argyle side that had the benefit of two nights of training(compared to our one) and played 95% of all the argyle youth games. Im not saying that the Cornish contingent were better but out of the 13 lads taken on 11 came from the argyle team that we beat comprehensively and two cornish lads one was Lee Phillips ( already a 1st team player) and glenn rogers (Porthleven, I think) If you werent 'big and strong' as Geoff Crudgington put it then you wouldnt get much of a sniff! I hope things are different now and after having a chat recently with a coach that used to be involved at Argyle told me it was a case of money the Plymouth lads didnt need accomadation, and us pasty munchers would have needed to have been put up!

The fact were out on a limb doesnt help but the cream will always rise to the top as Nigel Martyn and most recently my mate Ethers at Stoke has shown!

[Guest JackSticker 2]

One reason why players may not make it is due to the fact that players are hidden from scouts. If you travel into the depths of cornwall, there is talent, but undiscovered. Perhaps too far to travel or too remote.

I remember reading of a boys team in London who have had 7 or 8 players in recent years play premiership football. Perhaps this is due to travelling for scouts.

A look closer at young cornish footballers will show the potential, players with the raw attributes to do well. Its a case of looking to find raw attributes.

Then again it could be a case that parents cant cope in different ways with the travelling to and from Plymouth/Ivybridge.

[Smudge]

It says a lot about Cornish football that we no longer have a County team. Tommy Matthews & co do a great job with the under 18s but after that what...?

[oldasitgets]

Wayne Quinn made it to the top.

And back again. Maybe that's part of the story.

[a little bit of a dinho]

"Cornwall has a similar population to Liverpool, for example, yet look at the players the area has produced down the years - Rooney, Gerrard, Carragher and in the not too distant past Fowler, McManaman etc. These players were not born internationals.

LOL at using population as a determent or factor in an areas ability to produce footballing talents. China has a much larger population than Brazil and Argentina put together.

It's just a matter of culture,facilities and knowledge/information. There's no secret, or 'x factor'. In Cornwall we are devoid of good coaching facilities and the culture very much favours Rugby in my experience. Football facilities and participation per head are probably ridiculous compared with places like Liverpool, as well as access to coaching courses and stuff like that.

It's pretty obvious why a city in love with football such as Liverpool, continues to produce great footballers at an increased rate to an area of similar population that is not in anyway bothered about football on a serious level.

I mean, Uruguay produces much better footballers than China, for example. I hope that illustrates my point.

I think the guy is just trying to be an observer when he really doesn't have much of a point.

[Dave Deacon]

Steve Massey's back and he gives his views on the John Matthews comments - take a look at the latest "Massey's Mutterings"

:D

[Guest Cornishdave1980]

Comments have been made that Cornwall is more Rugby focussed when choosing its Sport; which I can understand to an extent. However, I would say there are more Football teams in Cornwall than Rugby, thus more people are participating in Football than Rugby at all levels.

In response to the slightly absurd comment comparing Cornish population to that of Liverpool; yes they might be similar but Liverpool is a condensed International City with a mass of sporting facilities and plenty of OPPORTUNITY to be scouted as the youth football setup is considered one of the best hotbeds of talent in the UK, as well as the fact that scouts from professional clubs do not have travel far to do their job!

Unfortunately, Cornwall is widely spread rural County, which limits its capacity to compete with Cities in the production of professional footballers. Yes Bodmin, Newquay and Truro have great facilities but if you’re from Penzance then it’s still a considerable journey!

Hopefully the re-emergence of Torquay and Exeter might see more opportunities for Cornish youngsters....fingers crossed.

[kempy]

Martin Gritton who is a Truro lad who was at Argyle.Torquay,Macclesfield,Grimsby and now at Chesterfield!

And Nicky Medlin who was at Exeter!! and they have both played for the mighty Perranwell!! :c:

[Tommy Matthews]

Hi Smudge,

Thanks for your comments, but the fact that Cornwall doesn't have a senior county team has less to do with Cornwall and more to do with the other counties.

With the advent of the step system more players are now confronted with the problem of having to get released from club football to play for their county as the rules don't permit clubs to postpone their fixture to release county players.

Cornwall were basically left with no counties to play as most of the rest decided time had come to pull the plug as they couldn't put a team together.

When you consider it, who's going to bring forward a fixture to accomodate a team with county players so that they can play for their county? Clubs would naturally prefer to play them with their county players missing.

When it comes to getting players into pro football, travelling and opportunity are real problems. Despite what anyone says, travelling to Ivybridge two or three times a week from the middle of Cornwall is a hell of a commitment. Players in the cities do have more players to compete with but also many more clubs to play for.

Just my opinion.

[Smudge]

Noted, but I still think you do a great job Tommy :D

[silverfox]

I think some of you forget the commitment of the players themself's,it is hard for lads to be dragged around 3 nights a week and then again on a saturday. Yes we know this is something they have to do to make it to the level of a pro but you try telling these lads this week in week out its not easy.

Then there is the way a club plays and the truth is if you are not big and strong,quick is handy, then your chances at plymouth will be slim as this is a guide they go by, that is why you see young players with very good technical ability and vision but to small in stature "in plymouths eyes" in local cornish clubs.

Then there is always the possibility that bigger clubs don't send scouts down over the bridge, so once released form southwestern clubs the only other oppertunity is u18's county football, as scouts do tend to watch these games as it is seen as the cream of the crop not signed and possibly the one's that got away so to speak.

[Tommy Matthews]

Not many scouts will watch our U-18's, if you haven't made it by the time you're 16 you're normally out of the race.

I did speak to Plymouth scout John James after our final but it was to check the form of an Oxfordshire player not someone from Cornwall.

Fact was I didn't even remember who this player was as our lads ran the game in midfield.

Clubs do miss the odd player but once you're gone 16 that's normally it.

That's life.

[Night Hawk]

like many people have said it mainly due to the lack of pro clubs around the area ! and unfortunately not many of the non league clubs in cornwall like Falmouth , Blazey , Newquay etc.... have the money to progress up the football pyramid or the ambition ! if more teams in cornwall had the money/ambition to move up the pyramid then there would still be chance for the lads that have been released from pro clubs to make it at a high level, say for example if there where cornish teams in the conference or southern league then there is more chance of getting noticed as your playing a wider range of teams !

[Xembla]

Hopefully the re-emergence of Torquay and Exeter might see more opportunities for Cornish youngsters....fingers crossed.

And maybe the continued climb of Truro City? I don't want to rehash the whole "doing it for Cornwall" thing, but the original comments surely made it sound like having a higher standard much more centrally located is what Cornwall needs?

Not City as an end destination, maybe, but surely as a stepping stone to Exeter, Torquay, or Plymouth and beyond? Once City settle at a level, it'll be in everyone's interest to have a productive youth set up, won't it? (Yes, City doubters, even if you will only acknowledge total self-interest on the part of City, it is still valuable to have a youth pipeline -- a happy coincidence of self and community interest . . .)

[nabbot]

There should be a mid week flood-lit youth league, players could still play for

there local sides at weekends or snr sides. Thursday nights would be ideal to give

recovery time for Saturdays, also snr managers would probably have more time to

assess them on this night.

The FA seem to have forgotten teams at Penisula level with excellent youth set-ups,

we develope, nuture and spend endless free time developing the boys for these three

local Pro clubs to come along take them at 14/15 and basically ruin 90% of the lads,

they have got to be partially to blame. To many old ex pro's (and some on the back

of pretty ropey careers) trying to make a buck out of football for turning up. I watched

one particulr club youth teams last season and a couple of teams were terribly poor, but

they have to have them to apply & get funding, some of the coaches have FA badges but

with regard to the ability of relating to children, giving advice etc forget it. One

coach was approached about giving kids advice on local teams when they released players

for players to continue playing football and the coach retorted 'he didn't give a _ _ _ _" he

now gone thankfully. Let local clubs have academies etc & run good youth set ups because

they have football at interest in producing players for the future, where as alot of these "elite"

type set-ups are pre occupied with money.

[Tommy Matthews]

Good idea in principle but not all clubs have got floodlights, clubs would not give their pitches up on a Thursday if the weather was bad, and all the colleges play their games on a Wednesday so no time to recover.

When I get county players on a Saturday some have played 2 or 3 games that week plus training.

Quality before quantity please!

[Dave Deacon]

Tommy - Good to see another of your former players doing well:-

"Hopcroft double sinks Taunton"

Billy Hopcroft scored both the goals for Bideford in their 2-0 win at Taunton Town Monday.

Bideford: Ryan Draper, Matt Downing, Nick Barker, Dominic Rivans, Danny Harris, Chris Brown, Ian Down, Matt Hockley, Matt Andrew, Glen Armstrong, Ellis Laight. Subs: Jamie Densham, Billy Hopcroft, Clay Bond, Craig Duff, Sam Scott.

[nabbot]

Tommy agree with the quality part rather than qty. I have preached for years that kids should spend some time understanding football, more of class/club enviroment teaching kids about systems, health etc, how many kids at 13,14 & 15 have got player improvement plans, no what there stats on match games are with regard to completeed passes, shots, tackles, body conditioning etc etc. School football ranges from shocking to ok and time will tell about the newish GCSE sports o level. There enough clubs with flood lights to start midweek league, and if they only play 18 games a season it would still help local talent and could even catch some boys that will probably never don footy boots again because they are not ready for adult football. Bttm line we need to work on the technical and psycology side and stop being obsessed with size, strength and speed, our whole thought process is the wrong way round. are MOM are people who win 5 tackles (should of not lost ball in first place), covered every blade of grass (always out of position) its madness.

Kids are there but set up isn't. The FA play lip service, schools & elite schools are obsessed with money, Pro clubs do more harm than good with high fall out numbers.

[Tommy Matthews]

Nabbot, check the FA's website for the 4 corners development model. The things you have mentioned are all in it. All the top coaches are using it now, and if you go on the FA Youth Coaches Course it's one of the underlying themes. It's been taken and revised to fit from the Long Trem Athlete Development model used by the athletics coaches.

Dave great to see Billy doing great things, spoke to a Bideford player at the end of the season and thought he'd go there. Also Sam Scott and Matt Andrew from the year before! All great players and really top lads who I am privilidged to have worked with.

Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am to work with these guys.