The Story So Far...
This is a review of Tyson’s footballing career, and even though he is only fifteen years old, he has achieved quite a lot. Besides my own observations, there will be comments from Tyson, his mum Elaine, and other members of the family.Tyson currently plays for Saltbox and for Holborn.
The Beginning
Tyson first started playing football for Kembury. He started going to train with them because his cousin, Kevin Hodkinson, played for the team. He played in the Police Five-a-side tournament, but never played a full eleven-a-side game for them. In fact, he never really got much of a chance, to show his talent. I went to a couple of sessions, and when they played a game, it was like a madhouse, twenty-five a side! Tyson was getting a little disheartened and it was at this time that Kevin’s mum, Joanne, told Elaine about a team that was being run by John Bennett. He joined Southdene Boys and played his first game against Forefield Rangers. In awful conditions, the game finished 0-0; in fact, Tyson missed a great chance, right at the end of the game. Strange how things turn around…
The team went on and won the Knowsley Spring tournament. The team then entered the Kirkby Summer league, were they finished runners up in the league, and reached the semi final of the cup. There were two particular games that I remember. Firstly there was the playoff game, for the league runners up, against Keyways. Tyson scored a goal from the halfway line, in a 3-2 win.
But probably the best shot that I have ever seen him hit was in the cup semi final against Valentine. The team was awarded a free kick, centrally, just outside the penalty area. Anthony Coleman and Tyson stood over the ball.
You could see what they intended to do, Anthony to roll it, and Tyson to hit it. But I was convinced that Anthony would hit it too hard. But he rolled it perfectly and Tyson hit the ball the hardest I have ever seen him hit a ball and it flew into the net. Also during the season, Everton invited the whole team, to take part in a couple of training sessions. From these sessions, they whittled it down to the boys they were interested in.
After further sessions, they offered Tyson a year’s contract. It was very exciting, but overall, the time Tyson spent at Everton, was a disappointment. He only played three games. The training kit was 2nd hand, they never met any of the players, or were given any tickets for any games. Never did any of the coaches actually see Tyson playing for Southdene.
First Full Season
The team now entered the West Lancs. junior league, and had quite a good season, finishing runners up in both the league and cup. It was during this season that one of Tyson’s best qualities began to emerge. The team played Northfield away, and was well-beaten 4-1. What the team seemed to lack was some fight. (WUT IM BAUCH!).
The Northfield team were bigger and Tyson and the other players didn’t cope with it very well. In the return game, Tyson fought really hard, as did the whole team and they won 1-0. Now what I am talking about, is experience.
In the first Northfield game, Tyson, for the first time, came across the physical side of football and he didn’t know how to deal with it. But once he realised what was required, in the second game, he was outstanding. The same can be said for the Cup Final, at Kirkby Stadium. Tyson had played in big games before, but he had never played in front of so many people before and basically he lost it, bottled it, whatever you want to call it. He came off after about 12 minutes with a stitch. I walked around the pitch with him and tried to calm him down, as he was running round like a headless chicken. He eventually went back on, battled hard, but didn’t have a great game, by his own very high standards. But again he has since played in front of large crowds at Kirkby Stadium, Reebok Stadium and he has performed brilliantly. Tyson just seems to be able to learn from his experiences and not make the same mistakes or worry about being in the same situation twice. There is another excellent example of this, but that is in the future….
Good or Bad ?
After a year at Everton, they decided to release Tyson. Luckily, he didn’t seem to upset. I was very disappointed with the attitude of Everton. I phoned to try and find out what they thought Tyson was lacking, so he knew what he needed to work on, but couldn’t get past one of the scouts who had seen Tyson play. To this day, Tyson or I don’t know why he was let go. It was around this time, that Elaine and John (Tyson’s grandfather) expressed concerns about Tyson’s form. Elaine seemed especially concerned that he was not scoring, or taking on three or four players, was not getting forward as much etc. I was not unduly worried and neither was Tyson. Compared to many other players, I believe that Tyson had been at a different level. But as they do, other kids catch up.
Even so, I was sure that Tyson would come through and go to the next level and of course he has, and has gone on from strength to strength.
Keeping The Faith
The plan for the summer was to give the team a break. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done. One of the things that is difficult, is to keep the team together, not playing for other teams and making sure that the kids are looked after properly. So after numerous requests to play, by the team, we went into a competition at the Netherton Activity Centre. The team won both the league and the cup competitions. The team seemed to mature and some of the football played by them was outstanding.
The game which stood out for me, was the cup semi-final against St Benets. For one reason or another, the team only had ten men. Even so, they played what I consider to be one of the best performances I have ever seen. Each and every player, ran, chased, did everything and more, to make up for the man disadvantage. They won the game 3-1. Brilliant! Tyson was fantastic.
The club organised a six-a-side tournament, with the Knowsley Sports Council at Kirkby Stadium. Teams were invited from all over Merseyside, Valentine, Northfield, Crosby Stuart, Birkdale, basically the best teams around. Now with organising the competition, I didn’t get to see any of the qualifying games, but the A team reached the semi-finals, with the B team just losing out in the group section. In the final, they beat Crosby Stuart 2-1. Tyson did very well, and was made up to win. For the team to win such a tournament was a great achievement.
Planning For The Future
For the next season, the club became involved with Bickerstaffe and helped them with their successful lottery bid. They received around £72,000 with which they built a new clubhouse/changing rooms. The team entered the Barclaycard Maghull & Lydiate junior league. Also the team entered a national five-a-side competition. Tyson played in the five-a-side A team, and both teams reached the finals, which were held at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium. Both teams reached the semi-finals, but the A team lost 1-0. (WUT IM BAUCH). Talent skill, technique etc, is no good, if you are not prepared to work hard. Funnily, the B team, who went on to win the competition, brought this point home. They were, man for man, less gifted skilfully etc, supposedly, but they worked and ran themselves into the ground. Another hard but valuable lesson learnt. The season had many high points, but there are a few matches, which stand out in my memory. Out of the four games played against our main rivals Northfield, the team won three. The first game we won 4-3, Tyson outstanding. The second 3-2, Tyson scoring the winner with a fantastic shot, and finally the playoff for the league, which we won 5-1. Tyson was man marked, but again was outstanding, even after taking a bang in the face, and playing for around twenty minutes, holding a sponge in one hand, to wipe the blood from his nose! During the season, Blackpool came and had a look at some of the kids. Tyson played two games for them, against Manchester United and Everton and did very well. Unfortunately due to the travelling, Tyson stopped going to the training. He also played three quarters of a season for East Villa, playing on a saturday morning. The team won both the League and the Cup, with Tyson being voted Player of the Year, by the other players.
Going into Europe!!!
The season over, next was the trip to Soest, Holland. Originally, the idea was to compete in the Orange Cup at Arnheim. But due to lack of interest, the tournament was cancelled. The tour operator then asked how good the team was, and I told him that we were probably one of the best teams of our age. He then told me that he would be in touch. A couple of days later he confirmed that we would be in a tournament with Ajax, Mechelen, Sparta Rotterdam, Germinal Ekeren, Willem II Tilburg, Brescia and Soest! I thought I was dreaming. When the kids found out, they were over the moon. Tyson was particularly excited. Despite the excitement generated, by being in such a prestigious tournament, there was a lack of help from some of the parents, but there you are. Publicity was arranged in both the Liverpool and Pink Echo’s, local papers and on the cable channel Live TV. Getting to Holland, was a bit of a pain, as we had to travel on a coach, which had no toilet.
Once we arrived, we took the kids for a training session. The facilities were fantastic. Soest had its own clubhouse, kitchen, bar etc, eight changing rooms each with showers and toilet and four full size pitches, one with a stand and all fenced off from each other. Now one of the things we had taught the kids, was to measure their run up to the ball so they would address it properly and therfore have a better chance of connecting with the ball properly. At the end of the session, we had a penalty shoot-out and not one person measured their run-up. Naturally myself and John Bennett ripped into the kids and made them all take them again. But as Tyson went to take his penalty, John said to him," If you miss this, you will not be taking the penalties for the team, ever again." Tyson was the team’s regular penalty taker, so this put added pressure on him to score. He didn’t seem too bothered and scored his penalty. It was only when he sat back down, with the other kids, that he burst into tears. I went over to him and calmed him down and let him know that he had done really well. Now I am not saying what John Bennett did was right, because I am certain that if I had upset one of the other kids in the same way and had them crying, there would have been murder, but Tyson had been put under tremendous pressure and had come through it. Now taking a penalty is no problem for him and he has become a better player for that experience. Again this is what I feel is the main difference between Tyson and most other kids, he learns from his experiences, remembers the things he does right and continues to do them, remembers the things he does wrong and always tries to improve. The tournament was fantastic and Tyson played quite well and worked extremely hard. The first game was won 3-1 against Soest. The second game was against Ajax and the team lost 3-1. In the last game of the first day, the boys lost 1-0 to Ekeren. The boys were really unlucky, having a chance to equalise in the final minute. Tyson also had a chance on the edge of the penalty, but decided to try a pass, rather than a shot, but we have since sorted that out! The next day, the team played Sparta Rotterdam and Mechelen. Sparta were very physical, Tyson receiving an elbow and many of the kids took knocks. But they were all brilliant and ran out 3-2 winners, with Paul Brown scoring the winner. In the final game, the kids were knackered and Mechelen passed the ball really well, and ran out 4-2 winners. Even so, we scored the best goal of the match, Steven Shields scoring a fantastic header. The team finished 5th in the tournament, all in all a great experience for Tyson.
Leaving Bickerstaffe
On returning, the problems began with John Bennett, kicking lemonade across the car park at the Golden Eagle and shouting his mouth off at me for not taking more gear, even though Elaine’s car was full and that Tony Barnbrock, who was supposed to be an assistant manager, had taken nothing at all. Things came to a head during the Kirkby Summer League, when Stephen Bennett turned up late for a game. I picked the team and the referee was about to start the game, when Stephen turned up, and had to be substitute. At half time, I told the kids that Tony was going to make the substitutions. He said give it a couple of minutes and he would sort them out. But Stephen, who had been brought down by his grandfather because John was working away, left before any substitutes could be put on. John Bennett phoned on the Monday, and I explained what had happened, but he called me a liar and that Stephen was only 15 minutes late. He then asked why I hadn’t picked Stephen up. I told him that if I had been asked I would have, but normally when John worked away, Stephen was brought down by his grandfather. I then said why are you just mouthing off at me, Tony was there as well. He then said that he knew my game and that I had shit on him and his lad enough and that he and Stephen were leaving the team. Two parents then decided to take it upon themselves to go around some of the kids and ask them who they wanted to manage the team, me or John. At a training session, I was told that the kids didn’t want me as manager anymore, even though only some of the kids had been asked. I was also told that I treated one kid particularly badly and gave Tyson preferential treatment above all the other kids, something which I totally disagreed with. It was around this time that Tyson realised that he might have to leave Bickerstaffe. Many other family members and myself talked about it to him and initially he wanted to stay. It was only after I had stepped down, that he realised that he would have to leave. After I had left, Tyson played 5 games for Bickerstaffe and was substitute or substituted in all 5 games. John Bennett had told people that he couldn’t get on with me for the following reasons, I treated Ryan Kehoe badly, I left him with a load of gear after the Holland trip and that I had told Live TV to video Tyson. Dave Stewart was there when these reasons were given to me by John, and he agreed with me, that they were no reason, but a poor excuse for the reaction of John, and the way he had been. Anyway Tyson finally decided that he had to leave. He went to a couple of training sessions with Northfield and we let it be known that Tyson was leaving Bickerstaffe. Town Green, showed an interest. We also went to Stanley House, which is being run by Howard Gayle. They all wanted him to sign, but he eventually decided on Northfield. He also went for trials with Kirkby Boys, got into the team, and has had an outstanding season. At first, he struggled a little with Northfield, getting to know the player’s etc, but has settled in well and is playing some great football.
98/99 Season Review : Every cloud has a silver lining.....
After all the problems at the end of last season with Bickerstaffe, Tyson was looking forward to the new season with Northfield and, if the chance came, for Kirkby Boys.
On the face of it, Northfield seemed to be the best option for Tyson. Town Green had asked about him, but after thinking it over, Northfield were the team he went for. Unfortunately, problems soon arose early on in the season. Tyson became increasingly frustrated by the attitude of some of the players. He would pass the ball, then move/run into a good position, but would rarely receive the ball back. Time and time again this happened and it really began to annoy Tyson. We talked it over and I told him just to keep on doing what he was doing and eventually, he would get his rewards. After around three months, I spoke to one of the manager's, about the problems. I mentioned what I thought. Nothing changed and early into the new year, Tyson decided that he would not be playing for Northfield, the following season. All through the season, training consisted of the same things every week. Tyson did not see or learn anything new or different. Set pieces were never practised. In fact, one situation really showed up the poor training of the team. They were awarded four free kicks, in front of goal. Each time one of the managers was screaming for a certain player to take the kicks, even though the particular player had not played for five weeks, due to suspension. Two went well wide and the other two went for throw ins !!! After the game, Tyson asked why he had not been allowed to take a free kick. The same manager, who had been screaming for the player to take all the kicks, said that he had told Tyson to take one !! Tyson told him that he had not, and would not back down. Fortunately, the other manager was in the changing room and told his colleague that he in fact, had not told Tyson to take any free kicks.
Meanwhile Tyson had been for trials at Kirkby Boys Primary team, and had been picked for the squad. But again some strange management decisions occured, which Tyson could not understand. In one game , he was substituted, even though one of his team mates had twice shouted out that he was hurt.Another situation arose in another game, when the same player was apparently limping. A free kick was awarded to Kirkby and the player suddenly recovered and ran over to take the kick. When Tyson shouted over for himself or someone else to take it, he was told not to worry about it and get forward.
Teams, players will never improve if they are not told when they are doing things wrong, unfortunately this problem was apparent at both Northfield and Kirkby. Both teams had players who were making the same mistakes on a regular basis, but neither set of management did anything to solve the problems.
After the North West Cup win over St Helens, Tyson was approached by a scout for Wigan Athletic and asked to go for trials. Apparently, Bolton and Blackburn had shown an interest in Tyson, but nobody had actually approached him. After six or seven weeks, they offered Tyson a place at their School Of Excellence, which he gratefully accepted.
From the squad of Kirkby Boys, Tyson was picked to represent Kirkby, in a penalty competition at Goodison Park. Despite the goalkeeper saving his first penalty, Tyson scored his second and helped Kirkby to win the competition. He was presented with the trophy by Everton's manager Walter Smith.
Tyson played his last game for Northfield on the Belgium trip, against Waterloo. The team lost 2-1, but Tyson played really well. Most of the Waterloo team were older and bigger. Even so, Tyson won the majority of his headed challenges and was strong throughout.
During the summer, Tyson took things relatively easy. He played for Town Green in the NAC Summer League and helped them to win both the league and the cup. He also played in a five a side competition, which Town Green organised, and helped them to win that as well. Tyson played one game in a Champions competition for Town Green, against a team from Wigan, were they ran out 3-1 winners. Tyson was asked to play for Knowsley in the Merseyside Games. During the first day, he didn't play much, but on the second day he was given his chance, played very well and scored a brilliant goal. Knowsley eventually finished third. He was also invited to play in an international competition for Layfield, a team run by people from Huyton Boys. Again due to holidays, he could only play one game, which they won 7-1.
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