Being a footballer is all I ever wanted to do

David Artell / David Artell / 25 October 2007 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Morecambe's no-nonsense defender on making life choices, trips to Chester zoo and spinning classes

Theo Walcott appears to be maturing into the player that everyone expects. After his two goals in Arsenal's flawless performance on Tuesday he seems destined to be a star and have a long, successful career. At only 18 he has already had to make big decisions on his future. Whether or not to move to Arsenal for £12million
when he was sixteen was a massive decision but for me he is at the club that plays the best football in England.

The only decision I had to make around my sixteenth birthday was whether to accept or decline an apprenticeship offered by Rotherham. It wasn't a decision I took lightly as I also wanted to carry on studying. There was only ever going to be one winner though. All footballers have one thing in common, they love the game and that's all I've ever wanted to do.

Carrying on my education was possible though as once a week we went to a college in Leeds to do a GNVQ in Leisure and Tourism. Youth scholars can now choose what kind of further education they undertake alongside their football but we didn't get the option of what course to do, but it was certainly better than doing nothing, as the percentage of footballers that don't make the grade is extremely high.

I don't think there was one defining moment where I thought I'm going to be a footballer, it just sort of happens and at sixteen I didn't have another career in mind. I'm sure Theo Walcott wasn't that bothered what course he was doing when Arsenal came knocking on Southampton's door.

As we haven't had a midweek game last week or this, training has been slightly different the last two Tuesdays. Last week we had a 'body sculpting' class in which the woman taking the class was far stronger than any of the lads! Then on Tuesday we had a spinning class (a high resistant exercise bike session for an hour) that was extremely hard. The gaffer's thinking behind this is to break up the routine slightly and get something different from training. Both sessions were excellent and both instructors knew exactly how far to push us.

While some managers swear by shape and team formation on the training pitch, we do very little of it. The gaffer would rather put on a high intensity possession session or small-sided game which most players enjoy a lot more. Although we've scored plenty of goals from set pieces this season we've never practised them on the training pitch. Last week we scored a goal against Bradford that looked like it came straight of the training pitch but in fact it was just two players that made eye contact with each other and were on the same wavelength. There was certainly no deceit from the rest of us! When we were telling Craig Stanley to cross it to the far post we actually meant it.

This week heralded another trip to Chester zoo as we live less than two miles away. We have a family membership so we can visit as many times as we like which proves invaluable when you've got a four year old. It's also handy, as you don't need to rush round to see all the animals in one day and can go at the quieter times. I never get tired of going and sometimes get my daughter to pester the wife so we can go!

Last Saturday our game saw another ex-Manchester United dugout battle. It is the fourth time this season our gaffer has come up against a former Manchester United player. One of the latest ex-Manchester United player to become a manager is Roy Keane at Sunderland. He seems to have mellowed since he became a manager although I'm sure he's got his own version of the 'hairdryer' in his locker if things aren't going too well having learnt off the originator. Sunderland's game on Saturday against Fulham might not allow Keane to showcase the hairdryer as Fulham haven't won away all season but only five teams have conceded fewer goals on their travels. With Sunderland only scoring four at home then the 4.5 offered for a Fulham clean sheet looks very appealing.

David Artell plays for Morecambe FC:

http://www.morecambefc.com/community.htm

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