PLYING THE TRADE ABROAD

It is good to read that some (quite a few) of our young English footballers have taken the decision to play abroad and are being accepted, enjoying their spell in Europe and beyond. At AC Milan is Fikayo Tomori a 23 year old defender bought from Chelsea for 36m Euros. 

Has everyone heard of Luis Binks? Born Rainham, played at Englan d level in his teenage years, went to Spurs' Academy, moved to the Club de Foot Montreal in the MLS, a 20 year old defender, signed with Bologna and loan back to Montreal. 

At Roma are the well known Chelsea's Tammy Abraham (49m Euros @ 23) and Man Us Chris Smalling (a 31 year old defender, who cost 18m Euros), both of whom have settled; why wouldn't you.

At Sampdoria is Ronald Vieira, a 23 yar old, from Leeds Utd who cost 8.6m Euros.

Do you know Marcus Edward at Vitoria Guimaraes? Omar Richards at Bayern Munich? and of course we all know Kieran Trippier at Athletico Madrid, who is one of our better known players along with Jordan Sancho at Borrusia Dortmund. Remember Aaron Ramsey, Reece Oxford and Ashley Young?There are English footballers further afield.

Name a country and there will be an English footballer earning money. Australia and the Scandinavian clubs probably attract most-have you seen their Women teams? There are 15 players in German teams (Jude Bellingham @ Borussia Dortman), 14 in Dutch clubs, 13 in French, 12 in Belgian, 8 in Austrian but then Bosnia has been an attraction, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Albania has 2....virtually name any country (Panama, Qatar, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine...haven't found any in a "Z" country YET). There will be an English footballer signed on, male or female in many countries. Helen Nkwocha, not just our male footballers, and Richard Goffe are coaching and playing in the Faroe Islands! Goffe is 39 years old. 

Have a look: https://uk.soccerway.com/players/players_abroad/england/

These few are some of the British footballers plying their trade abroad. The chances are the average football fan will not have heard of Herbert Kilpin (pictured). Kilpin went down in history as the first British footballer to play abroad professionally.

In 1891 Kiplin began his foray into the foreign leagues by turning out for FC Torinense of Italy. This was a whole seven years before the Italian FA had even devised Serie A

Not only did Kilpin play professionaly in Italy until 1907, he also was a founding member of one of the most famous clubs the world has ever seen.

In 1899, with the assistance of two friends, Kilpin founded Milan Cricket and Football Club, known today as AC Milan.

The Italian league, until recently, has seen some of the best footballers produced by the British Isles grace it. Many of the pre-war players who played in Italy would turn out for the teams founded by Britons living in Italy, teams like Genoa CFC and Calcio Padova. The post war period saw John Charles become a cult hero at Juventus during the 1960s. In 1997 Charles (central), a giant of a player, was voted Juventus’ best ever foreign player, beating stars such as Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini.

The 1980s saw Trevor Francis, the first ever £1million player, featuring for Sampdoria and Atalanta.

Kris Thackray was released by his boyhood favourite, Newcastle United when he was 16. After two years of playing part time he was picked up by second division Italian side Reggina after impressing during a tournament featuring an England Colleges XI. After a loan spell at fourth tier club Monopoli in 2008/09 and featuring in 10 games for Serie B club Ancona last season, Thackray was sold in a co-ownership deal to third division club Andria before being loaned out to Cosenza of the same league.

After making a number of appearances in the 2010/11 season, Thackray was released from his contract. A lot of players who take up the offer of playing in a foreign league will not last as long as they hoped. Homesickness can be a key factor in their decision to return to the British Isles.

The different style of play can also cause their return. Although Thackray suffered from this at first he did learn to adapt. He admitted: “Leaving home and settling in was difficult, the complete change of culture from food, people, climate and mainly the language was challenging. "The language is the most important, not knowing it isolates you and stops you from expressing your personality and prevents you from understanding simple messages on and off the pitch.”

Remember him?