Football
web chat |  | "We
should still be up there聟but look at the England team today and it's virtually
a Geordie free zone. Why?"...
Joe Allon | Read
the web chat |
Football's beating heartland?Alan
Shearer, Jackie Milburn, Gazza and Bobby Charlton are just some of the North East's
football legends. Our region has traditionally been a hotbed of footballing
talent. The stands are alive with passion at every Newcastle United home
match, but the number of people actually playing the game is in decline. For
decades English football's beating heart belonged in the North East of England. So
why is the England team virtually a Geordie free zone? And where are the
Geordie legends of the future? Inside Out asked former Newcastle United
striker Joe Allon to investigate what's going wrong. The big
web debate - read
the web chat
Legendary
roll-callLook at any history of North East football and it reads like
a roll call of England greats... Milburn, Shearer, the Charlton brothers, Gascoigne,
Beardsley, Waddle and many more. Their role at the forefront of England's
international campaigns has also been crucial - Geordies have led the way both
on and off the pitch.  | | The
famous shirt and tears - Gazza breaks down. PA Images |
Ashington
born Jackie and Bobby Charlton will forever be remembered as part of England's
triumphant World Cup winning team in 1966. Whilst who can forget Gazza's
tears in 1990 as England came so close to World Cup glory once again? Football
commentator John Motson acknowledges the influences of these Geordie greats: "Looking
back to Italia '90 there was obviously a very strong North East influence there
with Bobby Robson as Manager, and Bryan Robson - certainly in the first part of
the tournament as captain. "And Peter Beardsley and Chris Waddle were
part of a Newcastle United side at the time - they didn't win any trophies but
they as individuals made a contribution to the England team."
But
look at the England team today and there's hardly a Geordie to be seen so why
has there been such a change? Joe Allon has been searching for the answers
on and off the field: "I want to find out who's really
responsible for the future of the game in the North East? I want to find out if
we can be great again." Joe Allon.
Grass roots football | | Starting
young - Joe Allon as a teenage player |
So does the problem
lie at grass roots level? When Joe Allon was a boy, you didn't need very
much to get started - just a football and somewhere to kick a ball, whether it
was a back yard or the street. The small patch of grass next to Joe's mum
and dad's house was his "little Wembley". "We
didn't need teachers. We didn't need coaches, we didn't need anybody in authority.
"All we needed was to organise it ourselves. We loved playing football.
"We used to use jumpers for goal posts, and sometimes it used to
be 21-20... and we loved every minute. "Nowadays if you were to play
football around here, you're more likely to get an ASBO than a footballer award."
The
game has changed enormously since Joe was spotted by football scouts as a talented
14-year-old.
Today it's all very different. Joe believes that the
fun and enjoyment of football is increasingly losing out to ranting coaches, obsessive
parents and eight-year-olds pigeonholed into specialist positions. Football
academies The big clubs, like Newcastle United, now breed their own talent
in multi million pound purpose built academies. Football
photo gallery |  | "For
decades English football's beating heart belonged in the North East." Joe
Allon | |
The academies
divide opinion but one man who believes in the system is Newcastle manager Glenn
Roeder: "Well, without doubt if you were to produce one first team
player per season from your academy, you would be absolutely flying... "Obviously
a lot of boys come through the academy - with a dream at six and seven - and unfortunately
it doesn't happen for them. "But we give them every help we can and
hopefully one or two of those god given talents will pass through our academy
and go on to be great players for Newcastle United." But is one player
a season a good enough return to ultimately see the England team benefit? Boys
Club bonanza
Before academies were around, the North East relied
heavily on Boys Clubs as a seedbed for new talent.  | | Breeding
ground for Geordie greats - Wallsend Boys Club |
Run on a shoestring
by volunteers, these charities became synonymous with a success rate in the national
team most academies would envy. Wallsend Boys Club is steeped in tradition
and has produced legends like Alan Shearer and Peter Beardsley. Beardsley
still believes that boys clubs have a crucial role to play in modern football: "This
was massive for me and I think it will be massive for kids of the future. "You
know I think academies are great but boys clubs obviously are the places where
kids get started. "Academies start eight-nine but boys clubs are -
for me - the main route into football."
He acknowledges
his debt to the Wallsend club as his route into professional football: "I
owe a lot to Wallsend. That's why I'm still involved. Luckily they are going to
move to new premises in about 18 months which is fantastic. "They
have never had their own pitches before and they are going to do that so that'll
be a big bonus."
Participation
is key Some experts believe that if more people play the game
at a grass roots level, the better the chance of creating more stars. But
the latest figures aren't encouraging. The number of people playing league
football in the North East is below the national average. Joe Allon is
shocked by the statistics: "It seems unbelievable. The
11 a side game I know and love, which made this region great聟 is in decline."
So
what should be done to encourage youngsters to develop a a passion for playing
football from an early age? Trevor Brooking, the FA's Director of Football
Development, has his own views: "We need to improve facilities
such as changing facilities, certainly the pitches... "We've got to
make it affordable to everyone. Certainly the hire of local authority pitches-
for youngsters who aren't earning a lot of money - is a big issue."
Most
of all Joe Allon believes that football should be fun, and we should encourage
natural flair.  | | Fears
for the future - Trevor Brooking |
Trevor Brooking agrees: "I
certainly think technically we've fallen behind a lot of countries such as Spain,
France and Holland. "Just over 40% of all starting line-ups in the
Premier League are English. "In Italy - who just won the World Cup
last year - they're up to 70% now... Germany and ourselves are still stuck in
the low 40s. "I don't think we are producing in depth the technical
skills that clubs require at the very top." Encouraging skill and
flairNewcastle United Manager, Glenn Roeder, is a big fan of good coaching
which encourages skills amongst young players. He says he's keen to "encourage
flair, to encourage skill". So what's the prognosis for the future
of North East football? Joe Allon is cautiously optimistic: "I
feel the game is in good heart聟 but if we are going to be great again, then
we have to be patient. "However, somewhere among all the organisation
and systems, we have to have that natural desire to want to play and enjoy the
game聟 and that's something we must never forget."
Read
the web chat with Joe Allon Links relating to this story:The
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听听Inside
Out - North East: Monday February 9, 2007