Your own football ability - how good are/were you?

[gbandit]

Think there’s a few playing themselves down a bit in here. Played with @El Prontonise and he’s got a nice finish on him, @ponsaelius is also a good finisher and can work space for shots well. @AyeDubbleYoo is also a good player, links play really well

[madras]

Just now, Holloway said:

A few years aftet I'd finished up I came up with Dave Thomas,remember him ? Talented but a headless chicken ultimately 

Bit harsh on Dave Thomas that like. Great look as well, the socks down by the ankles and no shin pads. Looked like a character from Roy of the Rovers.

[Holloway]

1 minute ago, madras said:

Bit harsh on Dave Thomas that like. Great look as well, the socks down by the ankles and no shin pads. Looked like a character from Roy of the Rovers.

Aye might be being a bit harsh, and the look was ace, good strip as well. And Stan ?

[Jill]

I was born a bit too early to take advantage of the growth of girls' football  - it wasn't an option all my way through school apart from the occasional after school club that never really gained traction. 

 

Joined a Sunday team at around 13 for a few years and was never as good as I thought/hoped I was. Mostly played centre/right back at first until they realised I had pace and stuck me on the wing. I had a stinking attitude as well but grabbed a few goals and was captain on the odd occasion. Team was shit but I enjoyed it until it started becoming more serious when a new coach joined. Or that's what I said at the same, looking back I actually think I bottled it entirely as some of the new girls who joined were far better than me. 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2023 by Jill

[HaydnNUFC]

Was okay and quite quick before I discovered beer.

[Mahoneys Tache]

25 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

Was okay and quite quick before I discovered beer.

Didn’t do Mick Quinn any harm. 

[Weezertron]

Played one weeknight game for my middle school at right back. Got man of the match. 

 

Then got told our next game was on a Saturday morning. That ended my playing career. I wasn't about to give my weekend 

 

Ended up hating football/team sports, and got into alternative sports and music. 

 

So, aye. Shite.

[cowlie63]

Was a canny fullback at school, in the days when your job was to kick the tricky winger within about 30 seconds. Unfortunately the lad who played right back was a cracking player so I always got stuck at left back and not having the ability to kick the ball more than 5 yards with my left foot all I could do was kick it out of play. 

I did however get goal of the season with my only ever goal, I won the ball and started running up the field ( the rest of the team stopped, cause it was me). I got about 30 Yards from goal ran out of steam and hit the ball as hard as i could, mishit it and managed to chip it over the keeper into the top corner.

 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2023 by cowlie63

[relámpago blanco]

I was a decent left back, sometimes played CB, sometimes left wing, My best position was probably left back though, the games I played as a striker I scored quite a few.  I ended up being a keeper in later years for no real reason and I was a good shot stopper but probably average other than that.  Once got man of the match in a 5 a side game I lost 13-0 whilst being in nets.

 

I also saved a penalty from Steve Bowey when he was at Gateshead when he was showing people how to take a penalty.  I was 16 then.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2023 by relámpago blanco

[McDog]

Was terrible in my half season as a midfielder in the early 70's as a 10 year old. Knew bloody nothing about the game and just ran around then quit as there was also no coaching.

USA has far more support these days for your football. I did play Baseball all the way up to age 17. Played American Football for several years too.

[leffe186]

Was really rather good when I was young. Played for the Borough (Enfield) and then for Middlesex. I loved playing but just never took it seriously enough - never really worked at being a proper footballer, either fitness or technique.

 

Manager at my Sunday morning side took me aside once and said the scouts had been. Told me that I’d have been picked up years before if I’d learned to use my right foot - I just never did. Asked my Dad years later why he’d not made me learn and he said I’d just flatly refuse to do it

 

Played as a sweeper for years then at higher levels I moved to left-back. Then when I went back down to pub teams I started to get bored and ended up left mid or up front. Known for being a bit languid and lazy  but could still be a bit special on my day tbh.

[Guest]

Was a half decent CB played a bit of Sunday League but that's about it.

[Yorkie]

Always been annoyingly shite among my peers... B teams at Junior level; occasional run-outs for the school team; played with the no-hopers at lunch times. The odd memorable moment here and there; a Euro 2004 Henrik Larsson-esque diving header in Year 9 which I'll never forget. 

 

Up to January 2020 I'd played 5aside every week for a couple of years and felt capable, but if the last Lockwood is anything to go by, it's disappeared now and then some.

[buzza]

Much better at rugby, but when I did play at centre half used to enjoy roughin up any centre forward who was up for it.

Best stuff was when I was studying at Leeds and playing the sunday leagues against fully grown men, some good tussles!

[Tisd09]

A very quick striker, lived offside despite the pace and a terrible goal ratio. Did nothing of note. 

 

Coaching a shite U16'S team at the moment ?

[Coffee_Johnny]

7 hours ago, Big Geordie said:

 Just wondering about this a wee bit earlier - how good were/are you at the beautiful game? For me, I wish I could look back on something be be proud of, but playing/managing in a inter-departmental league whilst a student, was as good as it got for me. Being really tall - I wasn't blessed with pace - couldn't head a ball to save my life - but I did have something of a fairly ok ability to pass the ball over long distances, as well as being able to cross quite well. Haven't had a kickabout in 10 years or so - having younger lads whizz past me back then, did nout for me when I had the turning circle of a super oil tanker!

 

So - over to you - anyone have trials or maybe be on youth forms/turn pro? Or maybe semi-pro/Sunday league?

 

 

 

Pretty much the same. But with better turning circle ? Always fancied myself as a tricky winger but really should have listened and learned how to play centre back properly. Highlight probably playing against Gazza as kids; taught him everything he knows (…about coping with life). 

[El Prontonise]

4 hours ago, gbandit said:

Think there’s a few playing themselves down a bit in here. Played with @El Prontonise and he’s got a nice finish on him, @ponsaelius is also a good finisher and can work space for shots well. @AyeDubbleYoo is also a good player, links play really well

 

You're being too nice.

[Skeletor]

I was very good at taking set pieces but that was about it. When the ball was moving in a live game, forget about it.

[Kid Icarus]

I was alright among the average people you'd play with. Played up front (badly) and midfield (better) for my first and middle school team and was top scorer at some regional school tournament thing at Blue Flames when I was 12 (along to the soundtrack of Tina Turner who was playing over at Gateshead Stadium on the same night no less )

 

I was very much a confidence player though, even on the yard, and there were some seriously class players at my school, so it didn't take much for me to lose confidence. think I was shit and as soon as I thought I was shit I would play shit.

 

I was fast and had a decent finish which is just about the only thing I still have left along with my cba attitude to tracking back and inability to resist trying some insane Ginola type move when receiving the ball with a defender up my arse.  Can hardly play now, used to play 5-a-side but I suffer terribly with shin splints so essentially had to resort to walking around like Andy Reid.

 

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Kid Icarus

[r0cafella]

I was pretty decent, we won the schools league and cup in Leeds at u16 level with a very small pool of players. 
 

facilities matter a lot, we had an astroturfed pitch 2 minutes walk away which made a big difference. 

Grew up playing with Aaron Lennon and who was insane pre teens

[GEFAFWISP]

Played for the academy from 8-13, mainly old Benwell training ground, late 90s. Didn't make the cut when it started to get serious, being a CB didn't help me stand out either, only casual 5/7s since really. Played with/against a few lower league players but my age group was kack for NUFC level talent.

[wiseman]

Was pretty good as a teen, was blessed with lightning pace and incredibly fit,  I played for our schools Football, League and Union teams, but I squandered it unfortunately. I played for my region, and ended up breaking into my towns First team in the mens when I was 16. That year I was invited to go to South IAmerica to play in a youth tournament, I got to play against Gremio, San Lorenzo and Penarol. It was quite the eye opening experience, managed to put one past Gremio as well. While there, we were doing a training session at a military base fields, and we had Real Madrids scouts come along to watch us. That year i ended up scoring 46 goals in 21 games, and I was invited to come trial at QLD Roars youth team during the A Leagues early years, I was playing with them the following season, getting the chance to train alongside players that were on trial for the senior squad, while also playing for my home towns senior team and district rep teams when i probably dhoulfny have been.

 

Unfortunately that year I injured my knee pretty badly, in what would end up being a long running recurring problem for me, and I also had a bit of a mental break down, which involved giving up the game entirely for the better part of 6 years. I still play a little bit here and there, but 2 ACL reconstructions and not looking after my health, I now tend to play as a target man, then an advanced forward because my mobility isn't what it was 20 years ago

[Mike]

The next time I juggle the ball two times in a row will be the first time.

 

Are there picks in soccer? Cause I set some mean ass picks.

[McCormick]

Mike’s gonna play football like a white basketball player .

[ryanegg]

All I remember as a kid was my Dad shouting from the sidelines “RUN PROPERLY YOU FUCKING SPAZ” with the other parents just staring at him with open mouths? 

 

That was my football career over and done with at about 6 years old.