David Platt has been watching over up-and-coming footballers in Wrexham this week – with some words of encouragement for the town’s young players.
The 42-year-old former England international has been leading a one-day coaching course at Glyndŵr University’s Astroturf pitch, sharing his experience and skills with a new generation of footballers aged 4 to 14.
And Platt, the star name involved with the Football Matters coaching course, was full of praise for what he saw. He said: “The primary aim of the sessions is that children enjoy them and get shown different skills which they can work on at home.
“When I got involved with Football Matters I wanted to press home that the course shouldn’t just be done as a one-off exercise but that we provide a product where we can recognise skill levels and improve our sessions week by week as we train different groups.
“The skill level of the group in Wrexham has been higher than the previous course we ran so we’ve been able to progress sessions a bit quicker than we normally would.”
Glyndŵr University’s Sport Centre is the only venue in Wales which the Football Matters coaching tour is visiting this summer and Platt said the high-standard of the facilities has aided the young players’ development.
“The facilities have got to be right for the children to enjoy and learn and they’re very good here,” he added. “The pitch is impressive, the ball rolls true and that’s helped a lot in teaching them new skills.”
Platt, who coached the England U21 side from 2001 to 2004, says he is excited about being involved with players’ development at grassroots level. He also sees the courses as an opportunity for young players to stay fit and active during the summer.
He said: “I like projects. I like things that get me up in the morning and make me focused. Football Matters is a project that can go somewhere. Unlike most grassroots programmes there’s a vision. What impresses me is that it wants to go nationwide. We’ve been to south-west London, Surrey, Edinburgh, here to Wales and we’ve got more lined up. If we take the programme further and further we can get an idea about the quality of young players up and down the country.”
Platt enjoyed an impressive 16-year playing career in the 1980s and 1990s, with spells at some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Aston Villa, Juventus and Arsenal. The Oldham-born midfielder was also one England’s stars at the 1990 World Cup. After coming on as a substitute in the second-half of extra time against Cameroon, he famously scored his first goal for his country, his memorable volley sending England through to the quarter finals.
Now, Platt is more than happy to help out coaching potential stars of the future but says the current, well-documented problems with the British game will take more than just a few years to fix.
“I hope that my involvement with the coaching course will help to improve coaching standards so the product becomes better and better,” said Platt. “But it’s going to take a lot longer for us to start producing top class players regularly. There needs to be a radical overhaul at grassroots level – and I mean radical. I don’t think the FA is doing enough. People think it’s the professional clubs but many young players don’t get to them until the age of 15/16 and they’re not of the necessary skill levels.”
