The banlieues of Paris, the street footballers in Sao Paulo, the academy talent factories in Lisbon – all of them production lines for a steady flow of talent – but to the list can be added a small triangle just south of Manchester that might be called upon to help rescue England’s Euro 2024 campaign in Germany tonight. For 18 minutes against Slovenia on Tuesday, the grassroots clubs around Stockport accounted for three players representing England at a major tournament. After their impact, the trio of Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden could all be involved from the start for the last-16 tie against Slovakia. Mainoo and Foden were born in Stockport and Palmer in Wythenshawe and just five years separate a trio of Premier League stars that are bringing a degree of technical excellence to the England squad. Had Marcus Rashford made the cut then it would have been another Wythenshawe wide man to add to the pack.
ALSO READ: I turned down United twice to become a City cult hero ALSO READ: United’s FFP situation explained amid early deadline day The geographical links are unmistakable and Mainoo, Foden and Palmer spent time in the England camp chatting about the local teams they had played for and who they had played against, rolling back the years to when the sport didn’t carry the pressure for them that it does this weekend. Mainoo’s journey began with Cheadle and Gatley, Foden’s with Reddish Vulcans and Palmer’s with NJ Wythenshawe. Mainoo, 19, ended up at United as a boyhood red while Foden, the elder statesman at 24, was loyal to City as a boyhood blue. Palmer, 22, was the United fan who signed for City but has since moved to Chelsea. Together they are raising eyebrows, sending talent spotters and scouts flocking to South Manchester’s pitches to find the next generational talent to come out of the area.
“It’s a hotbed of junior pre-academy football because of the growth of private leagues,” said Joe Makin, football development officer at Vulcans and Foden’s first coach, as well as the academy recruitment co-ordinator at Manchester City. “This is my 30th year at Vulcans, so when I started there were probably two or three junior leagues, maybe four at the most across the whole of Greater Manchester. Now they’re popping up all over the place, the levels are higher, which means that they’re training in a more professional manner, even though it’s the local junior clubs. The coaches are getting invited into academies, they’re copying the methods right back down to the grassroots.” Steve Vare was Mainoo’s first coach at Cheadle and Gatley and he can remember the five-year-old beginning in the indoor soccer school. Even in the 14 years since, the level of development has shot up.
“A grassroots club can give an opportunity to come and play football, enjoy it in an environment and if they’re good enough and they want it enough then hopefully some of the professional clubs come in and take them on to that next level,” he said. “It just gives them a good foundation in terms of starting out. I think at the time that Kobbie finally signed for Manchester United there was a queue of scouts that had noticed his talents and were looking to sign him up.” The development of private leagues and soccer schools in the area is due to the explosion of youngsters wanting to play football. One can’t survive without the other. The soccer school run by the Vulcans has gone from 15 to 20 boys to 50 to 60.
“And they all want to be footballers,” said Makin. “Then you get the likes of Phil, I mean I can remember the day I first saw Phil and I can remember Cole and Kobbie. “City were after Kobbie just as much as United were but it was obviously always going to be a United player, just like Phil was going to be a City player. But they just stand out, they’ve just got this little bit of something. But what’s happening now is the whole bubble is going up. It’s a generational thing.” There are links everywhere. Makin helped take Foden and Palmer to City and they tried to sign Mainoo as well. Vare coached a grassroots club that had some of Palmer’s mates in and he used to come down to watch the under-16s play after training with City.
The emergence of talent from the area has led to an increase in scouts on the touchlines on a Saturday and Sunday morning. New rules governing academies mean youngsters can only sign for a club within an hour of their home, but in the north west that still leaves plenty of options. Scouts from United, City, Liverpool, Everton, Bolton, Preston, Blackpool, Crewe, Stoke and
