Professional Football: Chasing An Impossible Dream?

Over 13 million people play football outside of the professional game in the UK.

For some of them, the possibility of professional contracts with professional clubs is a very real possibility. But for youngsters, in particular those who idolize the players in the mainstream leagues or their home town teams, only a minority will become professional footballers.

But of those with the talent to play our beautiful game, how many are chasing an impossible dream?

Contrary to popular belief, the job of a footballer is one that starts from an early age. You can't just turn around and decide you want to be a football player anymore. Especially when it has recently become virtually impossible to get signed to a professional club after players reach a certain age.

The standard of the top-tiers in the English game now calls for clubs to catch players early in the development process. This way, they can be nurtured and adapted to a particular way of playing and thinking. 

Clubs have gradually become addicted to grooming young talent in order to make the best professionals and today it is a fundamental process of a club's production.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are the youngsters that chase the dream. A dream that not only consists of playing their beloved sport for a living, but comes alongside the glamorous lifestyle that a career in football can offer a teenager in today’s times. An irresistible combination for both players who have what it takes and those who don't.

I'm still amazed at the sight of seven year olds in a disciplined four-four-two formation, playing on half a full-sized pitch in my local area every Sunday. If any confirmation was needed that long gone are the days of kids playing football for fun, this was it.

Parents forcing their children to play Sunday League football is a risky and frequent occurrence across the UK. Unfortunately for the majority of them, they are not in a situation to realise that their aspiring stars are already part of a brutal cycle.

A cycle orchestrated by clubs in the higher brackets of professional football that will end any hopes many of them have of ever taking their football to the top level because let's face it, the amount of players in the highest category of professional football are in a minuscule minority. 

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