Jay Spearing’s new role at Liverpool: ‘I’d say this is the best decision I’ve ever made’

Jun 30, 2022

 

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For Jay Spearing, life has come full circle. The vastly experienced midfielder is back where it all started for him at Liverpool’s academy.

Fifteen years after he captained them to FA Youth Cup glory, this week he embarked on an innovative hybrid player-coach role at his boyhood club designed to help ensure the conveyor belt of talent at Kirkby keeps rolling.

It’s the brainchild of long-serving academy director Alex Inglethorpe. Spearing, who left League Two club Tranmere Rovers at the end of last season, will coach the under-18s alongside manager Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and play for Barry Lewtas’ under-21s as one of the permitted over-age players.

“I feel like a kid at Christmas,” Spearing tells The Athletic. “It’s surreal to be back but an amazing feeling. This is the place I called home from the age of seven before I moved up to Melwood and then left at the age of 23. I’m a Liverpool fan so to have the liver bird on my chest again is extra special and it’s such an exciting time to be here with the success the club is enjoying.

“It was always my dream to play for the first team and I managed to achieve that before going on to have a great career. I loved every minute of it. Now it’s time for the next chapter of my life and trying to help these boys achieve their own dreams.”

The Wirral-born 33-year-old is already a familiar face to some of the youngsters at Kirkby. In recent years he’s been juggling the demands of a professional playing career in the Football League with doing sessions with Liverpool’s under-15s and under-16s on a voluntary basis as he worked towards securing his coaching badges. He has already completed his UEFA A Licence and Inglethorpe is convinced he will prove to be a valuable addition to his staff.

“I just think it’s a really good fit,” Inglethorpe tells The Athletic. “Jay is a quick learner and he’s someone who is just as passionate about the club now as he was at 15 years of age.

“It’s certainly not my job to suggest to anyone when their career should end in terms of playing in the Football League and I’m sure he had options to continue playing. And in essence, he’s not finishing his career as he’s still available to play for our under-21s and some under-18s games if we think that’s right.

“I’ve rarely seen anyone so enthusiastic to take up a role and attack it in the way that Jay has attacked it so far. I think this decision has been driven by where Jay sees the next five to 10 years of his life. If he applies himself as a coach in the same way he did as a young player, getting every ounce of potential out of himself, then I’ve got no doubt he will transition into a really good coach.

“If Jay hadn’t been available, I don’t think it’s something we would have advertised for. It just so happens that the most obvious candidate was at the stage of his career where he was willing to consider this.  It’s the right man at the right club at the right moment.”

Spearing was weighing up his options when a meeting with Inglethorpe led to the surprise job offer. There was a new one-year contract on the table at Tranmere and interest from other clubs in the Football League to consider.

“When Alex first explained the opportunity to me, I was a little bit taken aback,” he admits. “I was like, ‘Wow, what a privilege’. For someone of his calibre, with the name he has in the game, to believe I was the right man to come in gave me a lot of confidence. I needed a bit of time to think about things as I’d always wanted to carry on playing as long as possible.

“But the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that this was the ideal next step for me. It was a no-brainer. I’m delighted that Alex and the club believed in me and I’m determined to repay that faith.

“When it was first announced by the club I was viewing a house and my phone went crazy with messages wishing me all the best. Former team-mates of mine like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Pepe Reina have been in touch and that means a lot. Three days into the job, I’d say this is the best decision I’ve ever made.”

The idea stemmed from Inglethorpe seeing how much the club’s youngsters benefited from Steven Gerrard joining in training when he was in charge of the under-18s before he moved on in 2018 to launch his managerial career, firstly with Rangers and then at Aston Villa. Bridge-Wilkinson, who played for Derby County, Port Vale, Bradford City and Carlisle United among others, has also previously been in the thick of the sessions.

“When Steven and Marc joined in I felt there was a level of coaching that the boys got from within that could never be replicated when someone coaches just from the outside,” adds Inglethorpe.

“Of course, you can coach from the outside. But coaching isn’t just about putting the balls, bibs and cones out, setting up a session and managing it.

“I’ve got no doubt that if you spoke to Trent (Alexander-Arnold) or Curtis (Jones), they’ll say they’ve been coached by senior players like Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Virgil van Dijk, within games and in training sessions, day in day out.

“There’s an awful lot of learning that can take place where you’re in the right environment with the right people. Every single session Jay’s role will be very much being in and around the under-18s and coaching from within.”

Handed his senior Liverpool debut by Rafael Benitez against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League in 2008, Spearing went on to make 55 appearances for the club. The academy graduate won the League Cup under Kenny Dalglish in 2012 and started the FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea later that season.

Following loan spells at Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers, he joined the latter on a permanent basis in 2013. There was also a temporary stint at Blackburn Rovers before he signed for Blackpool in 2017 and he then moved on to Tranmere three years later.

He’s always been a leader on the field and Inglethorpe believes his journey means he’s perfectly placed to connect with the next generation coming through.

“Jay started life as a scholar at Liverpool, he made it to the first team and he went on to play in every single league from the Premier League through to League Two,” he says.

“I think that gives him a really good overview of what football is and what it could be. He’s well versed in the realities and the truths around trying to become a footballer and being a footballer.

“I think that not only gives him lots of experience, it also gives him huge empathy for what the boys are going through having been there himself.

“More importantly, at 33, he’s still young enough to have that kind of impact during training sessions that I saw with both Steven and Marc have when they joined in. That’s the rationale behind it. I feel very fortunate to be working alongside him.”

Spearing adds: “I just love being out on the grass and being involved. I’m concentrating on the next couple of years and being a sponge, learning everything I need to know about how Alex and the academy want things done.

“If any of the boys need any advice on anything, I’m an open book for them to have a chat. It’s my job to guide them and help them progress to the first team. Long term, my aim is to take my own team like Stevie did and ultimately become a first-team coach but that’s for way down the line.”

Manchester United have done something similar with former Republic of Ireland international Paul McShane, who played for them in Premier League 2 last season. However, most of Spearing’s time will be spent with the under-18s where it’s felt he can have the biggest impact.

“I don’t know of anyone else who has done this within the under-18s,” explains Inglethorpe. “I just think it’s arguably a better, more interesting age to do it with.

“When you get to the under-21s, most of them will have been around the first-team set-up anyway. By then I don’t think senior involvement is anything new or surprising.

“I think with the under-18s that’s where they really see the benefits in terms of someone who sets the standard in training on a daily basis and is able to connect with them on a footballing level.

“Having someone of that calibre to play alongside them and organise them, and help them from within the session, is arguably more useful to them than when they’re a bit older.

“I think that transition from schoolboy to scholar is a tough one and the quicker they can adapt the better.  That’s where having someone like Jay can make a real difference.”

Spearing won’t be a permanent fixture in midfield for the under-21s. But with Lewtas’ options certain to be depleted over the course of the season by senior call-ups, loan moves, injuries and fixture clashes with the under-18s, there will be plenty of game time for him.

For example, his experience and physicality should be invaluable when they come up against senior Football League sides in Accrington Stanley, Rochdale and Salford City in the group stage of the Papa John’s Trophy. Liverpool have struggled in the competition since they first entered in 2019.

“Of course, you can’t block a youngster who needs a game, but if we feel it’s good for Jay to be playing in certain games alongside certain players who would benefit from his presence then we’ll do it,” says Inglethorpe.

“There are an awful lot of games over the course of the season and it’s something we’ll assess week on week.

“The Papa John’s games are a good example and there will be other times when the first team need players, the under-21s are short and it’s not the right time for some of the under-18s to step up. There will be opportunities, I have no doubt.”

Premier League 2 has changed to become an under-21s rather than an under-23s competition this season. However, clubs will be allowed to use five overage outfield players (up from three previously), as well as a senior goalkeeper if they wish.

“The average age of the league last season was 18.94 so actually it’s an under-19s league and making it under-21s won’t really make any difference at all,” says Inglethorpe. “The stats show that it’s primarily used by most clubs as a footballing experience, games programme for the younger players.”

Liverpool’s under-18s and under-21s reported back to Kirkby for the start of pre-season training on Monday — a week ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s senior squad.

The prize for those who catch Pep Lijnders’ eye will be spending time with the first team over the coming month. Tour games in Thailand and Singapore will be followed by a training camp in Austria.

“We’re very lucky that we have a manager and a first-team staff who don’t need any prompting in terms of promoting youth and giving youth its chance,” says Inglethorpe.

“Traditionally, pre-seasons after World Cups or Euros are great because it means senior players come back late and that means opportunities for younger ones.

“That’s not the case this time around but at Liverpool, I don’t think we necessarily need that. There’s an appetite and an openness to look at them and give them a chance no matter what the situation and see what they can do.”

Liverpool trio Jarell Quansah, Luke Chambers and Harvey Davies are still away with England at the Under-19 European Championships in Slovakia. Quansah headed home the winner against Italy on Tuesday and they will face Israel in Friday’s final.

The academy ranks at Kirkby have been bolstered by summer signings such as Ben Doak from Celtic and Trent Kone-Doherty from Derry City. It’s a sign of the shift in focus recruitment-wise post-Brexit with Premier League clubs no longer able to sign under-18 players from outside the UK.

Stefan Bajcetic, who can play at centre-back and in midfield, was brought in from Celta Vigo shortly before the rules changed in January 2021 and has made rapid progress since. There are high hopes for the 17-year-old Spain youth international.

Last season saw youngsters Kaide Gordon, Tyler Morton, Conor Bradley (who has been loaned out to Bolton for 2022-23), Owen Beck, Max Woltman, Harvey Blair and Melkamu Frauendorf all handed first-team debuts by Klopp. The challenge for them now is to kick on and prove they belong in the senior squad on a regular basis.

“Like anything in life, when you are given a taste of something, it makes you hungry for more,” adds Inglethorpe.

“The only danger is impatience. The appreciation has to be that the level of the first team is really high and the depth of Jurgen’s squad is arguably better than it has ever been. So the challenge is greater, but that’s not to say it can’t be done.

“Those boys who had opportunities last year, some will get the chance to capitalise on that this year and hopefully make more of a mark. Some might have to go and get games elsewhere to prove they are capable of playing more games for Liverpool. Others might have to sit, be patient and be ready. That’s the nature of the game.  It’s not easy to get in and it’s not easy to stay in. The hard yards start here.”