FROM MODEST BEGINNINGS

When Duncan Whatmore, of Sunderland, played for the England U20s in the Toulon tournament last summer, he told his team mates that bought his own boots. This surprised the rest of the squad, who were used to being looked after in the top flight.

Whatmore has a first class degree in economics and business management from Newcastle University, so you think he would know better and milk the system; no, he was dumped by Manchester United at 12, played Sunday football, got involved with Altrincham FC, was loaned to Clitheroe, and in 2013, eventually signed for Sunderland, where he was last season's PL Young Player of the Year. He is one of many of our homegrown players who either have had modest beginnings and should make it in top flight football, given the chance.

(It's a pen not a ciggy!)

Look at James Vardy (here I go again, see yesterday), Charlie Austin from Poole Town to Swindon and Chris Smalling- Maidstone to Fulham. What happened to Ricky Lambert, from a beetroot packing factory to where?

In Aidy Boothroyd's England U19s recent squad only 3 players came from outside the Premier League; Lewis Cook of Leeds and captain, Taylor Moore of Lens (France!!) and Rico Henry of Walsall. Everybody has to start somewhere, don't they? The point is that many of our young players get gobbled up by the PL academy system and are soon rejected when they near the top, as foreign players arrive, regarded to be better investments and barge onto the team sheet.

The English lads fall by the wayside, though some might recover and work their way back through the pyramid, but others get disillusioned, don't get much attention paid to them, lose contracts and go shopping on Saturdays.

The full English team playing France recently had only 6 players who had spent most of their development outside the PL clubs: Hart at Shrewsbury, Clyne at Palace, Stones at Barnsley, Alli-MKDons, Dier-Sporting Lisbon, Sterling at QPR but these are at least "proper clubs"and have respectable academies and therefore provide a decent stage for development.

There is a "Class of 92" or a "Golden Generation", bigged up by the press in every decade and these players were meant to be the catalyst for England's great drive to global success; we are still waiting for this to happen.
In the modern game our footballers have never taken the World by storm. Read the history of English international football back to the post War period, the 1950 World Cup finals and the emergence of the Hungarians, this was when it all started to go wrong.
(ok, that theory was murdered briefly in 1966, but what happened to English football prior to that year and since? Our only other tournament success was winning the Olympics in the early 20th Century?

Our Premier League is very exciting, but the PL clubs struggle to do the business in Europe and their national team players have not been able to impress at the top level. Why is this? Lack of FA DNA, poor pitches, the climate, too many foreigners?

Let us carry on with hope that our latest crop of home grown players, Roy's boys, can take England, where it has rarely been before.

Here's a list of past internationals who started from modest beginnings:
Stuart Pearce-Wealdstone to Forest, John Barnes-Sudbury Court, Middlesex, Ian Wright-Greenwich Borough, Les Ferdinand-Southall, David Sadler-Maidstone Utd, Kevin Phillips-Baldock Town, Steve Bull-Tipton Town. England didn't exactly thrive with this lot playing did we.

Anyone got any ideas?