Caution Is Needed To Safeguard Teen Stars

TEEN SENSATIONS: Birmingham City’s Jude Bellingham savours scoring the winner against Charlton and, inset, Wigan’s Joe Gelhardt celebrates scoring in pre-season

SEEING Jude Belllingham and Joe Gelhardt scoring goals in the Championship - it’s like going back to the past.

One 16, one 17. Fabulous. Young players today take an age to break into the first team. In my day, you were considered a failure if you weren’t playing by 18.

There are various reasons for that, but fundamentally we were just more robust. As children, our lives were about walking everywhere, running and cycling to school.

We played out until it was dark. In the summer holidays, you only came home when you were hungry.

At school, you played every sport available, which is no longer possible. For instance, I would do gymnastics, trampolining, pommel horse. I’d play cricket and athletics - the 100, 220 and 440 relay. I’d do swimming. And it wasn’t beyond me to play two games on a Saturday and another one on Sunday.

Ready

It gave me a rounding as an athlete, not just as a footballer. It meant that I turned up at Bolton Wanderers naturally fit and ready to fight for a place at 15.