John McGinn Quotes

In India, the key is to start at the base and start very young. We need professionally trained talent, talent that wants to make football their career, and people must see football as a strong professional career option.

I run an academy in Spain for young footballers who are released by their clubs and who, in my opinion, deserve a second chance. It is a rewarding job for me, but one that also reveals many of the faults in the English game.

Little details about young footballers catch your eye when you have been around a big club for a long time. At first, it can be minor things, like the way certain young players stand out from the group when the academy lads cross paths with the senior team on their way to training in the morning.

Me being at Coventry, instead of a big Premier League club, probably helped me develop. You don't get put in the academy system, playing Under-18s and Under-23s.

I can remember when I was a 17-year-old at Swansea and Terry Yorath and Tommy Hutchison were in charge.

I got my first taste of real professional football on loan at Northampton. I was 18 at the time, and I played only nine games, but it was a massive opportunity for me.

For the fans, for the club, for the young players, I want to show there is a pathway at Fulham for young players to go through in the first team.

When I left Carlisle United for the first time at the age of 16 in 2000, I hated football.

West Ham have a great academy.

We should integrate the quality of ex-players at the highest level more in football, especially in the youth sector. That is absolutely crucial for me.

I learned so much during my time at United. Sharing a dressing room with Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Ryan Giggs at such a young age was an amazing experience. I didn't play as much as I would have liked, but it was a master's degree in development both as a player and a person.

When I first arrived at Napoli, I was the ball boy, which meant that I got to watch as the legends trained. Then, once I joined the youth team as a young teenager, I was a midfielder just like Tardelli.

For me, playing through all the youth teams at Borussia Dortmund was a really good experience because I was able to play against talented opponents at a relatively early age.

I was a promising keeper as a kid and, at 15 and 16, was on the books of Crewe Alexandra.

I started playing full-equipment football when I was 6 years old. My mom actually got me started in it.

When I was young I used to watch the Premier League and of course I knew of Tottenham because of Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa. I speak more with Ossie because I see him more at the training ground than Ricky.

I began my journey as a 16-year-old boy at the Arsenal's academy, trying to one day become a first team player, going out for evening runs in East Barnet with Jack Wilshere.

Liverpool give young players a good opportunity.

Coming through the youth ranks at Fulham is a great honour to me.

It's about getting experience and developing. The best way to do that is to go out on loan to play first-team football.

Obviously, everyone looks at whether we bring young footballers into the first team, that's one of the goals. But I wouldn't discard someone who is successful in life, that's big. The hall of fame in the academy should be a wide variety of stories.

I think England has to change the way they are teaching football because football is changing, and the method isn't changing as much.

I got scouted at six by Everton. My parents said it was maybe a bit too young. A year later, I went down to trials at Everton and have been there ever since.

I guess my earliest football memories are of playing in the street and also the little pitches at school. I joined the local football team in my village when I was small, but we would play only once or twice a week. I honed my skills just by playing for fun with friends after school.

All of my football, even my introduction, even my coaches, most of them came from Europe, particularly England. So pretty much my whole footballing education and introduction was through English football.