The Life Of A Semi-Professional Footballer!

getting paid to play football is considered a dream job for some but outside the top 1% what is the reality of playing semi-professional football we've come to brany Town's training session ahead of their National League South playoff final match against Worthing to find out the demands of the lower levels of football we'll be speaking to the manager about how they're preparing for the biggest game of the season I expect him to train hard but as we all know cuz we all work that's not always possible the transition from full-time football to part-time with Freddy sear do you sort have that expect to do really well and sometimes it doesn't happen but like I said for me the most important thing was enjoying football and that's what I'm doing at the minute and finding out about the sacrifices you make to succeed at this level Angelo it's been a busy couple of weeks the big game's coming up how difficult is it for you as a manager to prepare for such a big game yes it's difficult you know we're a part-time football club so I run my own business we work in schools delivering Sports provision so I go from you know working with reception year one year two to Leading out this team and this Football Club difficult it's tiring but I guess it's very rewarding when you're successful at this level as well so it's been a well- win probably season really but the last few weeks been amazing what do you put that success down to I always say you do need a little bit of luck along the way I feel like in non League there's certain players that crop up at certain times and our season may have gone a different way if we didn't get those players and you know those phone calls at 10:00 at night when you're your wife saying why why you answering and you're doing it on the quiet and and I actually I chuckle to myself cuz it's been so so many of those situations where you know I may not have gone and met that player or you know because of work or some reason but I feel like the more effort you put in the lucky you get and you know we've certainly put a lot of work in but I'd say this spirit I think no matter what team I manage if it was four leagues below or or four leagues higher in the Premier League I'd always stick to to my morals and principles and that is literally desire passion work rate and I think it runs through our our team and Club make sure now we get switched on right you've had however many days of all the glory of the games and fully like you deserve every part of that but like from this moment onwards that all stops like all the attention about Monday all the ticket stuff that needs to be gone all right I said this to you about three weeks ago yes you won against chelsford yes you beat b but as you know we want to go and make sure we get promoted in tonight's session is going to be fierce really intense no one holding back and then Saturday we'll just going through detail you have to make sure that you meet the demands of what we ask you about don't be happy of just getting to the playoff final yeah I have little Visions while I'm driving of us being upset after the game that can notot happen we need to be celebrating we need to enjoy the ride we've been on don't let it fizzle out now so your expectancy might be there it's going to be through the roof does everyone stand let's be ruthless let's know what we want to achieve and make sure we achieve it yeah let's go good yellow good yellow good good oh for that we're going to be playing a team buzz on Monday that want to play everything nice and fast so we need to react from it you ready like this re wait yes reie oh ni better right everyone in together everyone in the middle together last take good take Bo what are the kind of things that people don't see that go on behind the scenes here in non leue because obviously wor play on a 3G pitch as soon as that was announced you got to go and find a 3G pitch to train on tonight there so many situations that I could go into I just say one one for example so we had a really really important game and we only we only could hire out a quarter of the pitch so when you're going into shape and distances it's not realistic to a to a full-size pitch but you know you have to get on with it you know you might have a striker that that you really rely on and then on a Friday night he says he can't can't play because he's got a cold you know there's so many situations or his Miss is about to give birth can you take my that's a fair one yeah can you can you take my phone in a Dugout and if she Rings you know there's so many so many little situations but that's that's why I specifically love the non League you know it's so honest it's great to be involved in do you have to take into consideration the guys jobs you know they're they're human at the end of the day and they might have had a really bad day at day at work and when they come to our football club I expect them to be positive I expect him to train hard but as we all know cuz we all work that's not always possible so I think you know being part-time is really difficult at this level and in terms of like preparation as well you want to run it like man united but you obviously can't and I think the last month I'd say a big turning point of our season is we started to get overnight stays so when we played YoVille last year we would have just drove up and got them with it and in this year we've stayed overnight we've prepared we've had team meetings in the morning breakfast it's made a massive difference I think anyone that watches our team now always say how fit we are and I think that's that's the do with our preparation as well as being Bran's number one what's your other job I'm a project manager at commercial kitchen company uh so I live on a farm so I'm a farmer a lot of the time it's just football I do a bit of on the side just work for Angelo's company coaching doing oneto one PE teaching summer camps different sort of things yeah so I used to deliver medicine but now I've moved into the pharmacy so I do online coaching so like online transformation coach what's your usual working day what your hours uh halfway to half four and how did you juggle that and football my M helps a lot to be fair she I just have to take my stuff of me to football um to work and go straight from world to football today I leave 7 and I will get home probably about after 10 11 and that's my day Tuesday Thursday so what kind of animals you got on the farm uh so we have a poultry farm so it's kind of all Christmas based so geese geese turkeys chickens Ducks what the biggest struggles with being a farmer and playing in non League probably the manual labor uh trying to look after your body going from game to game working but uh my dad's quite good to me so you know nothing too strenuous he knows I care about my football so I spent my scholly years at Rangers I then left Rangers ass sign for Birmingham and then failed the medical people just think it's the club that's gone but you don't forget you're injured by a yourself for four months trying to rehab yourself I like a supportive family and agent so that really helped and then lots of like private um physios that kind of help me to get where I am today and how you finding this level it's tough I mean I don't know what the clips are show but I I get bullied a lot because of my size obviously I'm a for player but just especially being around Freddy Aon just kind of showing me the waters even players like Reggie the more experienced players just helping me get through it but I'm loving it so far yeah what are the biggest sacrifices you have to make playing at this level it's family as well Saturdays you're away from your family quite a lot um straight after work you've got to go to training um so you don't see your family a lot but um it's it's a sacrifice we're all willing to make cuz you're at that step where it's conference South so it's not bad bad level and it's still a good level for non- League football it's it's tough but you know you're on your feet all day in in the pharmacy dealing with medicine and you come here and you train in the evening so yeah it's it's tough but you got to do it in you it's not too far it's about 45 minutes from work to get here so just it's literally straight from work straight here then home do it all again the next training session I don't want to make it out like some really hard thing which isn't I got loads of time on my hands which is good for football hasn't always been my La obviously yeah CH for the fence yeah i' obviously work normal jobs 9 to5 and stuff but doing this and social media has helped me do it which allows me to live more like a footballer which is great talk about the nutmeg in training what happened there you got to half some you K you've killed me you've killed me yeah I've had to Humble someone after theyve nutmeg me just a little tackle and said don't ever try that again listen in in League what you want and what you can achieve sometimes is two different things obviously after covid the bills and everything's gone up touch would we get promoted and if that happens the club's going to have to pretty much be transformed but yeah we we got to get there first yeah looking ahead to the final Worthing a team you know well you've played them twice you've beaten them twice yeah what can you take from those two games I would say we can take take a lot of confidence in it we you know we've played them twice we beat him twice yes we got knocked out in the playoffs last year but my team is completely different now so we could take a lot of confidence out of that and also the two games that we played in the playoffs in terms of they were really really tough games you know I know what all playoff games are but to go 120 Minutes with both teams I mean how I've got hair is is beyond me them two games were think about three days after I was still drained so uh but listen what what a story we've had this year and you had to give the guys an extra day off didn't you on Tuesday you couldn't train obviously the demand on the players so have you had I mean you'll always want more prepar but have you had enough time to implement what you want to do on Monday yeah I'm I'm happy of our prep preparation there we definitely no excuses about that what I'd say is if if I spoke to my players and said who's top of the Premier League who's top of the championship they wouldn't know the generation's very different now so my players you know some of them probably don't even like football they're just good at it and that's why they do it whereas what I'd say is is when I was you know I'm 37 now but when I was 20 years of age I'd watch matches a day I just loved football things are very very different now wow um I don't know why that is yeah it's just I feel like even the pressure of the games they're very different I think when I was their age I'd be very very nervous yeah my dress room is very calm and I think that works so well for us I think it's it's an absolute blessing because last year when we're in the playoffs I managed probably in experience I managed like a fan I really got them pumped I was excitable I said to them about think about your family and why we do this and we actually conceded we conceded after 30 seconds we ended up playing really well after that but this year there's such a difference like even in myself I'm very now Cala very composed our dressing room is a lot more relaxed if we want to play football you can't be too pumped yeah it's just a different way and it's really worked for for this specific group I'm marking Chey yeah everything's geared up for Monday play the ball into Chey watch this if we do that it's no good to us on Monday okay everything we do is aggressive press so watch this if it goes into your player all right I want you to go as tight as you can to go and win the ball no Shadow Boxing I mean it's massive for you massive for Dom as well no Shadow Boxing if anything on Monday I'd rather you foul all right let him know he's in for a game you can't be two yards off cuz this is what's what will happen all right all of their players Tippy tap you playing to me yes perhaps bang it R the Cor that's how they play so if that happens yeah you take the foul you've got to try and retouches so serly just go right on the right foot take the touch so watch I go here I'm reading it bang that's how we're going to score that aggressive yeah I'm warning you giving you a little preparation for it you must follow it over aggressive even now let's go we talk about some of the players you've brought in one big name for these SE yeah how much has his experience helped in the the remaining weeks that you've had of this season I was a bit worried a little bit about how he was going to be with the lads I think you do that with a lot of you know the high-profile players and he's had such a good career and I was a bit worried that I'm a manager that always like to get players on the up sort of young players and develop them with Freddy's been there done it so how am I going to motivate him but he's going to being the complete opposite I mean he he motivates me the way he trains the way he's with the lads he speaks to me about he feels nervous before games you know it just it just motivates me if someone like that can be you know bit nervous and worried then you know he's only human and that and that sort of it's quite refreshing to hear so yeah he's been excellent and I think when he scored the goal against chumford if you watch his celebration it was still quite calm and composed whereas when our younger lad Jaden scored he celebrated like the World Cup final and I think just that experience and the Ooze of class with him just sort of yes it's perfect for team Freddy you've had 15 years playing professional football how different is the preparation for big games in non League compared to what you used to very different um as you see tonight we're at a local Training Center uh we've just been kicked off the PIP so we get a 7 to eight time and it's different you know a professional football club you probably have all week to get ready especially for such a big game you'd probably have more indepth research I suppose but it's great you know everyone everyone sort of mck in here you've seen the the group tonight you've seen the staff and everyone sort of trying to pull in the right direction and since I've been here the club's been fantastic I know you've played in the National League with dagam and Redbridge how do you find the different surfaces that you come across in the National League there's been a few 4GS which is different you know obviously in the National League there are a few to be fair it's not been too bad I think I've joined at the right time you know cuz I I joined in March and the grass and everything's getting a bit better I'm sure early on in the season I bet some of the pitches weren't as great but it's been good to be fair I said I've enjoyed it I've SS out thats out that's what it's all about you know we're down here tonight and it's it's serious training but everyone's having fun as well and how do you deal with the lack of preparation compared to when you're a professional footballer to be honest there probably a lot of your own research you know I watched we play Chon on Saturday and Friday afternoon I was on YouTube watching a few CH with videos and that might just be me being Ultra professional or not but we will we will get some info you know we'll go back to the club we train Tuesday Thursday so normally the playoffs we watch a few clips and stuff it's obviously not as in detailed as you would day to day a proper football club in terms of a league club but they try their best and that's all you can do and we non League that's that's what it is isn't it and how different is the recovery cuz I'm sure you're used to the ice bars the leg compression boots and all that sort of stuff what's it like after a hardfought Tuesday night game in non League tough it's tough yeah as you'll see at the stadium the Stadium's a good stadium for what it is but recovery facilities you know you look at the professional teams now theis recovery stuff is really important and it's sort of down left to your own own devices really and for me it's it's it's good cuz I'm getting a bit more time off and I can recover properly but you know it's it's been great it's been great and I've really enjoyed it to be fair You' played in the Premier League the championship league one leer you played in all the divisions how big of a gap is it now between League 2 and the national league good question I think I think all leagues are strong you know I think League 2 is strong it's tough to get relegated in League 2 two teams go down it's quite tough to get promoted in the National League so I'd probably say the bottom end of League to top end of national league pretty similar this League's different obviously overall very strong this year this level there's full-time clubs and part-time clubs and sometimes that's hard to compete with when you've got teams full-time training every day and you've got guys like us who are training two times a week half the boys are working and you know you it's it's different cuz I've said after Saturday game you don't see any again until Tuesday whereas nor how that weird yeah it's weird it is weird it's first time I've experienced it so it's different but the boys all seem used to it and I think you know once you get get get used to what you're doing it's it's quite easy and it's quite nice having that not seeing anyone going again on Tuesday but it's been good I said like I've enjoyed it I've had a smile on my face and I think you can see tonight like the boys are good there's a real balance around the place and that obviously helps with doing well as well do you find playing in these lower divisions a lot easier how challenging is it yeah tough question cuz it's tough it is tough you know it's tough I feel on a level above him I'm honest but it's tough you know there's good teams at this level they sort of have that expectation to do really well and sometimes it doesn't doesn't happen but like I said for me the most important thing was enjoying football and that's what I'm doing at the minute what are the biggest sacrifices you've to make as a non- league manager I couldn't tell you the amount of sacrifices I've made honestly cut my own money for this team so some weeks I haven't been paid I hope my wife's not listening to this she'd be absolutely fuming but yeah money's money has never never been a reason why I've done it I think that's really important when you're working in a non League You' got to have a real passion for it and then I just think the time away from my family so I got a four-year-old son who means the world to me and my wife and I just think the amount of time I spend away from from him and I always say to our players don't waste my time cuz my time is so precious just think Sacrifice from the family times and friend you know your friends gone out for beers and you can't do that it's really difficult but then you get the rewards when you play against your chumford and you beat him and there 3,000 fans singing your name that's my reward regardless of what happens in the final what have you learned this season about yourself and about your team just to Believe In You Know believe in my principles and to what you believe in I think it's very easy to panic and change your thoughts and as you move up the leagues you start thinking oh do I need to change you know and improve but actually just stick to what you believe in cuz if you're really confident with it and the way you speak others will follow I feel like my players really believe in the way I want to play and there's a real clear identity to how I want to play as well so I won't keep flipping formations or if we're one n down really Panic just nice and calm stick to what we know Wise to wake F whose cross was met By Reggie lamb could it be could it just be the braer town the touch the header that meant it all and it is the S6 side courtesy of Angelo harup

Channel: Location Football

Views: 31,755

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Id: zErBoGCQK_0

Length: 17min 46sec (1066 seconds)

Published: Sun May 12 2024