Once, football was more than just a game. It was the lifeblood of communities, a common thread that brought people together, from bustling cities to quiet villages. It was a symbol of unity and resilience, where underdog stories inspired hope, and local clubs were the beating hearts of neighborhoods.

But over the years, the soul of the game has been slowly eroded. The promises made when the Premier League was founded—to level the playing field, to strengthen grassroots football, and to invest in the future—have faded. What remains is a system that prioritizes profit over people, leaving young players disillusioned, small clubs struggling, and fans yearning for the game they once knew.

The System That Steals Dreams

Picture this: a boy named Jamie, aged nine, is playing for his local club. He’s a bright talent, running circles around defenders on a muddy pitch. Scouts from a Premier League academy spot him and dangle an irresistible carrot before his family. “Your son has what it takes,” they say. “With us, he’ll have the best coaches, the best facilities, and a shot at his dream.”

Jamie joins the academy. The local club loses its star player, but the community beams with pride. “He’s one of us,” they say. But Jamie’s dream doesn’t unfold as planned. By the time he’s 14, he’s deemed surplus to requirements. Maybe he’s not fast enough or doesn’t fit the mold of what the club is looking for. Released without ceremony, he returns home, where the local club has moved on without him. The dream he once chased now feels like a cruel joke.

Jamie’s story isn’t unique. Every year, thousands of kids are released from academies, their dreams shattered. For many, football was more than a game—it was their identity. When that’s stripped away, the emotional toll can be devastating. Studies reveal that 90% of released players experience mental health issues like anxiety and depression​

The Independent

Tragically, some, like Jeremy Wisten and Joel Darlington, have paid the ultimate price, highlighting the urgent need for reform​

Sky Sports

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The Ripple Effect on Grassroots Football

The impact doesn’t stop with Jamie. His departure destabilizes his local club. Without their star player, they struggle to compete. Other kids lose interest, and some leave to join rival teams. The club, once vibrant, now teeters on the brink of collapse. Multiply this story across the country, and you see a picture of grassroots football in crisis.

Grassroots football isn’t just a pipeline for talent—it’s the foundation of communities. It’s where kids learn teamwork, where parents cheer from the sidelines, and where lifelong friendships are forged. But this foundation is crumbling. Premier League clubs siphon away young talent, draining the lifeblood of local teams. Meanwhile, promises of financial support for grassroots initiatives remain largely unfulfilled. The Premier League, awash with billions in revenue, contributes only a fraction of its wealth to the lower leagues and grassroots projects​

The Monopolization of Talent

The hoarding of young players by elite clubs further skews the balance. Chelsea’s model—recruiting young players en masse, loaning them out, and selling them for profit—is now replicated across the league. It’s an efficient business strategy but a devastating blow to the game’s integrity.

Consider players like Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah. Both were deemed not good enough for Chelsea at one point and were loaned out. Today, they are among the world’s best, but their development came despite the system, not because of it. What if they had stayed at smaller clubs, lighting up the lower leagues and inspiring the next generation? Instead, their talent was stockpiled, their potential undervalued​

The Impact of Over-Regulation

In an attempt to consolidate power, the Premier League imposes stringent regulations on clubs, often under the guise of “raising standards.” For example, Brentford FC successfully operated without a traditional academy, scouting talent overlooked by other systems. Their model saved costs and created opportunities for players who might have otherwise been ignored. But in 2022, the Premier League mandated that all clubs must operate academies, effectively dismantling alternative approaches​

The introduction of Premier League 2 and competitions like the National League Cup further highlights the imbalance. These initiatives benefit the big clubs, giving their reserve players valuable match experience while undermining the competitive integrity of lower leagues​. This was a dark and shady deal that involved the removal of FA Cup replays without the consent of the National League. 

The Way Forward

Reclaiming football requires bold action and systemic change. Here’s how we can fix the broken system:

1. Restrict Academies for Younger Players

Premier League academies should focus on players aged 16 and above, allowing younger players to stay with their local clubs. This would strengthen grassroots football, keep communities engaged, and reduce the emotional toll on children who are released.

2. Redistribute Wealth

The Premier League generates billions annually. A significant portion of this revenue must be redirected to grassroots football. This isn’t charity—it’s an investment in the future of the game.

3. Limit Player Hoarding

Introduce strict caps on the number of players clubs can sign and loan out. This would force clubs to make more thoughtful decisions about talent acquisition and create opportunities for smaller teams.

4. Celebrate Alternatives

Encourage innovative approaches like Brentford’s scouting model. By breaking away from traditional academies, clubs can create new pathways for talent development that benefit the entire football ecosystem.

5. Celebrate Alternatives

Scrap the EFL/Prem2 Cup and give us back our replays.

Reclaiming Our Game

Football isn’t just a business. It’s a shared passion, a cultural cornerstone, and a vehicle for community building. But the game we love has been hijacked by corporate interests, turning it into a machine that benefits the few at the expense of the many.

Imagine a world where young players like Jamie can thrive at their local clubs, where grassroots teams are vibrant and competitive, and where fans feel connected to their communities. This isn’t a pipe dream—it’s the game as it was always meant to be.

The time for change is now. We must demand better from the Premier League, the FA, and every stakeholder in football. This isn’t just about fixing a broken system—it’s about reclaiming the heart and soul of the game.

Join the movement. Speak out. Together, we can give football back to the people.

At just 18, Caicedo had quickly become one of soccer’s most talked-about talents.

She began her professional career at 14 with América de Cali, finishing that season as the Colombian league’s top scorer.

At 15, Caicedo faced a major challenge when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Keeping her battle mostly private, she underwent surgery to remove a tumor and completed her treatment before being declared cancer-free. She returned to the game stronger than ever and went on to win her second Colombian league title in 2021.

** Language warning**  (If you’re easily offended by swear words, maybe don’t watch!)

Let me explain, in case you don’t already know, what The Hong Kong Soccer Sevens is. The clues are in the name, yes it’s played in Hong Kong (annually) and yes this is a seven a side football tournament (not the sport with odd shaped balls that is so commonly connected with Hong Kong), played on a regulation 11 a side size field at it’s spiritual home The Hong Kong Football Club at the heart of Happy Valley (maybe more famous for it’s horse racing) on Hong Kong island.

The tournament is split between the main tournament and the Masters. The masters has seen numerous world stars of football come to show off their talent (albeit at a slower pace). All I can say is that to see some of these players it epitomises the anecdote “form is temporary, class is permanent “. The tournament has been graced by Didier Six, Lothur Matthias, Jean-Marc Bosman, Andy Cole, Peter Beardsley, Des Walker the list goes on and on.

Rumors are always rife before the tournament about which teams will come and play. In years gone by the regulars were always Rangers and Celtic of the Scottish league and Aston Villa of the English Premier league. Due (I am lead to believe) to financial constraints, this year we would not have the Scottish representatives at the tournament and they would be replaced with some other teams. Other teams that have participated in the past are Manchester Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, The Kaiser Chiefs, Boca Juniors, Urawa Red Diamonds, Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai SIPG, the Australian National U21’s it’s a long list of quality teams from all corners of the globe.

After you run through this amazing list you go down to the lesser known (to the world outside of Hong Kong) professional teams of Hong Kong’s Premier League, BC Rangers, Kitchee FC and then going down another level, teams made from players at the Hong Kong Football Club who participate in the professional leagues of Hong Kong but maintain their amateur status, after this is the second Hong Kong Football Club team The Captains Select made up of those “left over” (for want of a better phrase, no disrespect) first team players and then players from their amateur league teams.

Then last but not least, bringing up the rear of all of this are the whipping boys of the tournament, the no hopers who come to make up the numbers and play for the privilege of being on the same pitch as future football legends, The Yau Yee League Select. A team comprised of players from Hong Kongs longest serving amateur league. School teachers, bankers, insurers, desk jockeys, publicans, bar staff, bar “proper-uppers”, players from every walk of life there is in Hong Kong and general lovers of the peoples game.

I’m not entirely sure how the coach selection process was done by the Yau Yee League before, but this year it was agreed that the process to find a coach(s) for the coming sevens tournament for the Yau Yee League Select team would start with an advertisement on the leagues website.

The request for interested parties to make application for the unpaid position to coach the Yau Yee League Select team went up on the leagues website with only a couple of weeks left of the season.

I’d like to think that my experience and coaching qualifications from the Football Federation Australia and the English FA put me in with a chance. The other string to my bow, as I suggested in my application, was my experience of coaching sevens football to numerous youth teams over the last many, many years of my professional coaching career. It might be little league, but believe me when I say the standard is very high, both technically and tactically.

A week later and I received an email from Matt Seddon (Yau Yee League representative and Select team manager) telling me the good news that I had been selected, along with James Dean (another coaching professional) to plan for and coach the team that would compete in this years tournament. Tommy Vincent (Yau Yee League representative) completed the Yau Yee League Selects management “dream team” for the coming tournament.

James and I were brought together supposedly to pick out some “canon fodder” for the pro teams arriving in Hong Kong in around 7 weeks time. Obviously this was due to the outstanding resumes, credentials and experience both James and myself possessed. I was later to find out (true or not?) that we were the only two people who had applied, so I guess we were the perfect candidates for the job.

It was then released which teams would be coming to the tournament and among the expected Aston Villa (five times champions) West Ham Utd, Leicester City, Newcastle Utd there were some new big names to the tournament, Stoke City and Athletico Madrid. We were ecstatic when the draw was made.

So trying to cut this (what is becoming a longer than expected) long story short, we had around 6 weeks to cut down a squad of over 40 nominated players to a squad of ten and coach them for what we wanted to try and achieve in the tournament (preferably something a little better than “cannon fodder”).

#believe

After day one of the tournament was complete, we took some praise from the tournament organisers on their social media page.

We had defied the odds and through victories over Stoke City and Hong Kong’s National U20’s Team, we had shaken off our “cannon fodder” status, had knocked Stoke and Hong Kong out of the Cup competition and we were through to the next round along side Athletico Madrid, who had a lucky 2-1 victory over us after coming from behind with the aid of light penalty (my story, my poetic licence!)

The results :

Yau Yee League Selcet 2-0 Stoke City

Athletico Madrid 2-1 Yau Yee League Select

Hong Kong National U20 1-2 Yau Yee League Select

So this put us into the Cup competition to play West Ham Utd, which although we had a few chances, West Ham took an early lead, sat on their one goal lead for most of the game and deserved their 1-0 win. (https://youtu.be/rgM53HQ5nmY?t=1357)

This put us directly into the Shield competition and set us up for a dream semi final against Aston Villa, the one team that had won this tournament more than any other team and we took them all the way to extra time and penalties where our goal keeper (Eugene Kan) has earned himself legend status and received an honourable mention at the post tournament dinner https://youtu.be/sw1_6SeHPcE?t=4810

“The Crazy Gang have beaten the culture club”

Would you believe it, the part timers from the “friendly league” of Hong Kong have knocked out the five times Champions of the Hong Kong Soccer Sevens and the one club that has produced more England Internationals than any other. The Yau Yee League Select marches to the final of the Shield competition.

The final proved to be a bridge just a little too far. Although we stayed in contention throughout, had a couple of good chances denied on the line, had a good penalty appeal turned down, we just couldn’t quite beat the professionals for the winners medal. BC Rangers played well throughout, had strength and experience in their team (along side some up-coming youth) and had scored a couple of good goals.

Yau Yee League Select 1-3 BC Rangers

Our guys gave everything they had left all the way to the end and the final 3-1 score line flatters to deceive our opposition who scored their final goal deep into added time when the game was already won.

I could not be prouder of our all round team performance and looking back at training on hill tops in thunder and lightning storms, standing in one inch deep of “black rain” water, I am now 100% sure the football gods were smiling on us all the way back then.

During a long a painful Covid lockdown in Hong Kong, I pieced this little memento together of the fun we had.