Across the 4G pitch in Stockport’s hinterlands, there were more cones than the endless M6 contraflow.
Overhead, planes were banking on their final approach to Manchester airport as Robbie Savage ensured his Pro Football Academy All-Stars under-14s kept their feet firmly on the ground.
Savage is taking his first steps in management at grassroots level – and he has found the grass gratifyingly lush, even when stroppy parents are out of order.
His team won 6-0 at the weekend, and he responded to a late flare-up near the corner flag by pleading with the referee to show restraint.
A heckler with poor manners and an even weaker sense of parental responsibility responded: “Shut up, Savage, you tosser!”
(Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
Savage has already taken his team to play Manchester United and Manchester City . And on an assignment further south, he even gave his players the full away-day experience, including an overnight hotel stop.
His crusade has reawakened the playing beast within.
At 45, Savage is contemplating signing for Stockport Town of the North West Counties League, in English football’s 10th tier, and could make his comeback within a fortnight.
Pro Football Academy have bought Stockport Town and the club will become a conduit for recycled young talent, giving them a pathway either back into the game or to further education.
Savage is familiar with the stigma of rejection. Manchester United released him from the Class of ‘92 and he took the scenic route to fulfilment through Crewe, Leicester , Birmingham, Blackburn and Derby.
(Image: Getty Images)
Just as Glenn Hoddle once ran a school to give older ‘rejects’ a second chance, and Jamie Vardy’s V9 academy does much the same, Pro Football Academy rescues the dreams of kids who have fallen off the conveyor belt at professional clubs.
“This has given me the buzz back,” said Savage. The Academy offers a chance to kids not only let go by clubs, and Savage added: “I go in the office – I’ve even got my own desk. We’ve got 36 centres, and by the end of next year we’re aiming for 150 centres for 10,000 kids.
“We look to take on kids who have been rejected by clubs, whether they are too small, too slow or whatever, give them a coaching structure to help them find other clubs and keep their dreams of professional football alive.
“I know what rejection feels like so I can help with the mental side as well as the disciplines, tactics and techniques.
“This season, five players from my team have been picked up by clubs – Liverpool , Preston, Rochdale and two by Burnley – on extended trials.
(Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
“Across all the age groups, from five to 18, we must have had 100 signed by clubs. To see lads given another shot by pro clubs is the biggest thrill.”
Five years ago, Pro Football Academy was launched by director Carlos Roca, a midfielder of no fixed reputation at Oldham and Carlisle, to bridge the gap between grassroots and the professional game, starting with half a dozen boys on a five-a-side pitch in Wythenshawe.
Today, Roca and local entrepreneur and partner Rob Smethurst are not just running a cottage industry, they are building an empire.
The team at Pro Football Academy won the Lloyds Bank New Business of the Year. It employs 100 staff, including 60 coaches, and Savage said: “People have started calling us the ‘Dream Team’ and saying it’s not fair because we are picking off the best talent in the area – but that’s not true.
“I will never approach a promising lad, through his parents, during the season and deny a grassroots club of their best player.
“If they ring me and say, ‘My son wants an opportunity’ at Pro Football Academy we can give them a chance to learn and to gain experience from professional coaches.”
The last time Savage was let loose on a desk, he was gyrating in front of the judges’ noses on Strictly Come Dancing . Now he’s a big player in a brilliant set-up making the dreams of schoolboys come true.
