Tag Archives: Brighton football

Brighton football, Montpelier Villa Women FC, Skip Kelly, Women's football

Skip Kelly on Montpelier Villas Women FC

Leave a comment

Pre-season is my favourite time of the year. It’s all about getting players ready for the season ahead which means I can plan substitutions in advance knowing that the result has no consequence. All results are treated with a healthy dollop of skepticism because of the simple fact that it is pre-season. 

Last season, one of the earliest talks I had with a player was because they were worried about relegation. A week later I was having a conversation with another player who said their dream was to play at Wembley in an FA Cup final and waxed lyrical about how at that moment it was a possibility for us. During pre-season there are no such conversations but once league points or a place in the next round is at stake, it drives everyone mad and ultimately out of control.

‘Control the controllables’ is advice I repeatedly encounter and although it’s straightforward, I keep coming back to it. My mind is often racing with how to allocate tickets fairly if we did reach the FA Cup final or how I would keep players motivated through a relegation battle. 

 There’s a lot to worry about every season but arguably this season more than most. This will be my sixth season and I have announced to the squad it will be my last which naturally begs the question how will it all end? With silverware and plaudits like Alex Ferguson or an awkward and acrimonious like Arsene Wenger? Another one of those uncontrollables. 

This time next season, the team will be preparing for life in a new stadium with a new coach and hopefully will mark the beginning of a new successful era whereas I will be getting to grips with fatherhood. 

It’s always been a privilege to be responsible for a football team or a class in my actual job but the reality of being entirely responsible for an individual is both terrifying and exciting. 

There are countless stories of pushy parents being justified in their seemingly insane methods by the vast riches and glory that only sport offers and I can’t help but feel if we get a good start then there’s no reason that Skip Junior can’t be the person to lead Ireland to World Cup glory. 

Equally, I’m now more acutely aware of how parents can be disappointed by their offspring and I’m struck with the fear of Skip Junior being one of the greatest footballers in the world eclipsing Maradona, Messi and Ronaldo with billions of people imitating their skills on the pitch, copying their hairstyle and buying their shirt but then ruining it all in the eyes of their father by choosing to play for England. 

I have enjoyed asking current parents for advice which has ranged from ‘get sleep while you can’ to ‘don’t be afraid to say no’ but my favourite has been from the person who said people are very quick to tell you all the bad things but they never tell you how much joy they will bring you. 

Part of the reason I became the coach of Montpelier Villa was because I wanted my prospective children to have no barriers to playing football. I have never drunk alcohol because I was exposed to the effects of alcohol dependency at an impressionable age and didn’t want my prospective children to experience the same. 

Neither of these things will make me a better father and there are far more virtuous people than me out there but I share this with you to give an insight into the level of preparation I feel I have done. 

The child is due in January and by that time we are likely to know how well we have done in the FA Cup and if Wembley remains a possibility, we will know roughly where we are going to finish in the league. If the previous five seasons are anything to go by, we will win matches we shouldn’t win, lose matches we shouldn’t lose, players will get injured, and players will surprise themselves by surpassing their own expectations. 

At the moment, I feel calm and in control but my mind is racing with everything that we’re going to face in the season ahead. 

Uncategorized

Another tale told by an idiot?

Leave a comment

Skip Kelly, Montpelier Villa Women’s own Ted Lasso, has an existential crisis

In my role as a football coach, I’m far more inclined to think about who’s going to follow in my footsteps not from an egotistical point of view but rather an awareness of how quickly institutions can change and how if that isn’t managed correctly you end up with Frank Lampard in charge. Or Sam Allardyce. 

In my role as an educator I occupy a classroom that’s much older than I am and although my name may not adorn the door frame, it is colloquially known as my room. I often think of the educators who claimed ownership of that room before me, and how there’s no record of that beyond the memories of the students who sat there. The conclusion I often draw is that no matter how important you think you are at the time, life goes on regardless. “Out, out, brief candle!”

When I first became the coach at Villa, I was reluctant because I was convinced there were better female coaches than me. Nothing since has dissuaded me from this view and I can now name people who are better coaches than I am but the sidelines in women’s football are still populated by people like me. 

It’s no coincidence that women’s football has grown exponentially since I became involved with it. However there are attitudes that still exist where coaches see womens football beneath them which in turn leads to a reduced talent pool in the coaching side and means a lot of womens sides are in the position of hiring substandard coaches. 

This isn’t a reflection on the many volunteers who give up their time, energy and often money to facilitate football for the growing womens game but rather a comment on the likes of the NWSL abuse scandal which led to five coaches resigning because of a systemic culture of sexual harassment and abuse, it’s a comment on the fact that this led to both the Venezuela and Australia national teams spoke about the abuse they had encountered and finally a question that if it can happen in these national organisations then what’s stopping it from happening at grassroots level? 

This isn’t a letter of resignation but the person that follows me needs to be capable and needs to ensure a safe environment for all who play the game. I have no doubt that our squad will be able to adapt to these changes when they come and appoint someone more capable than I am, however I am concerned about the apathy that still exists in some quarters to womens football which ultimately leads to horrendous experiences for people. 

Sinead Farrelly is likely to play for Ireland against Australia in the World Cup this summer, that in itself isn’t noteworthy but the fact she is coming out of retirement is. She retired at the age of 27 and now at 33 arguably lost her best football years struggling to deal with the trauma of being sexually coerced by a coach. How many other players have had to deal with similar issues and miss out on the game they love because of people abusing their power? 

Solutions are difficult but perhaps the FA could lead the way and make spending time in the women’s game mandatory for any aspiring coaches who want to coach in the professional game. This would have the effect on certain dinosaurs that these people are individuals who are impacted profoundly by what their coaches say and do. 

Not for the first time, women’s football is growing at a level that no-one is prepared for and decisions that will be made over the next few years will have impacts that will be felt for generations to come. 

What football as a whole can’t afford to happen is this story to be “a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”