Lifting people isn’t anything new for Nicky Banger, he was used to the thousands of Saints fans leaping up when he scored at The Dell as he lived his boyhood dream playing for Southampton. But just years later after being forced into retirement, he found himself struggling to lift his disabled daughter out of her aeroplane seat and carry her to the closest toilet. For the former striker and current CEO of The Knights Foundation, transitioning from bringing joy to football fans to changing the lives of disabled children has been a difficult journey. A devoted husband and father of two, Banger’s career as an ex-professional first division footballer transformed into his current position as CEO of the Knights Foundation, a charitable organisation that successfully aims to help families with special needs children and give them the opportunities that many have been unable to afford. The reason for Banger’s passion and determination to see the foundation succeed is due to his first hand experience as both a driven worker and loving father. “My daughter Sophia was born three months premature and nearly died, later on she was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy,” explained the ex Saints striker. “To cut a long story short when I decided to walk away from football I had some business experience so I was looking at how I could generate business and raise money for something I care about. “I wanted to help children with special needs, to buy positive equipment, take children out on sensory experiences because they don’t understand what it feels like to have the hairs stand up on the back of their necks. “I wanted to take them on a speed boat or a motor bike or do something that is out of their comfort zone and I wanted to give them that incredible feeling.” As well as helping raise money to support children with disabilities and their families, Banger is also passionate about the future careers of those he supports. “I wanted to help children with special needs get into work placements because all of the things that I talk about that are work related, I know that my daughter will have to do eventually. “I want to help disabled kids get apprentices, and figure out how to get them real jobs where they get paid in work placements, but for that you have to change the way that business people look at disabled people. “You have to look at accessibility for toilets, you have to change their mind sets and ask why wouldn’t they employ a disabled person when there are so many benefits of doing that. Whilst many ex-professional footballers may be enjoying their retirement in luxury hotel resorts and travelling around the world with ease, Banger has learnt that travelling for families with a disabled child is far from luxurious. “More importantly, whenever I wanted to go on holiday with my family, whenever we wanted to go to France or Spain, I was always getting charged a hell of a lot more money than if I was taking abled kids. “It started to annoy me that if I wanted to go away for a week and rent a mobile home in Lymington or New Milton the price would go up by either double or triple the original price. “If I wanted to go for an accessible facility, I would always be put in the worst part of the area of where I wanted to go away, it was almost like you were tucked away in the corner. "You get companies and businesses charging excessive money for families with children with disabilities to go on holiday, if anything they should be making it cheaper not more expensive. “These families have had a tough life already and all they’re doing is making it harder. “I went on holiday to Florida and I had to carry my seven year old daughter up the stairs, through the aisle sit her down and when she needed to go to the toilet I had to carry her to it on a moving aeroplane. “Anyone who has been on an aeroplane will tell you that you can just about swing a cat in that space let alone get in there on your own. Well imagine if you’ve got a little disabled girl and you need to get in that same toilet to help, it’s impossible. “This started giving me a negative experience about holidays and I started thinking that I didn’t want to go on holiday any more, especially when I went to America because when I needed to rent a car I had to rent the bigger and more expensive car because we needed a wheelchair for my daughter. So in the end going on holiday just added more pressure because you had to spend more and companies wouldn’t help or subsidise you.” As the United Kingdom is home to over 13.9 million people with a disability, with ten per cent of them being children, Banger decided to act on the poor support for families with disabilities who struggle to enjoy a holiday. “I decided to do is that The Knights Foundation are buying a lodge for a quarter of one million pounds and its located in a place called Shawfield by New Milton. “I’m buying it and I’m going to give it to families who have kids with disabilities, they’ll either pay a subsidies for them to go there or we’ll give it to them for free. “It’s one of the newest, most exciting lodges in the area, you’re not tucked away in the corner, you’re right at the front where everybody wants to be. “It’s going to give them the best experience, they’ll get the spa, the golf they’ll have absolutely everything. The worst scenario is that they have to pay a donation which is heavily subsidised or they go for free.” Focusing on children with disabilities is important however Banger and The Knights Foundation aim to focus on caring for the entire family and supporting those who struggle with the pressure he has experienced personally. “I do all of this because I’m passionate about helping families with disabilities but I also want to look after the siblings of children with disabilities because sometimes they get left out because of all the focus and stress that goes around the disabled child. “Divorce rates are up with parents of a disabled child and we’ve found that dads tend to walk away because they can’t handle it as it’s a very, very stressful scenario. “When talking about families being affected by disability it’s like a car crash happening, you don’t know its going to happen and it will change your life but you don’t predict that you’re going to have a car crash so that’s the scenario that changes your thought process.” As well as learning from a financial perspective of the struggles families with a special needs child can cause, Banger’s football connections have allowed The Knights Foundation to work with many people close to their families and the community of Hampshire. Banger will be the first to admit the importance of his footballing career for the success of The Knights Foundation as his transition from scoring goals at the Dell to retiring at Eastleigh Football Club allowed him to continue living his dream. Born in Southampton and raised as a devoted Saints supporter, Banger was fortunate enough to experience his boy-hood dream at the young age of 16 as he joined the Southampton youth academy in 1987. He would eventually go on to mark his debut for the Saints at the age of 18. Playing against Rochdale in 1990, the away side must have thought themselves lucky to be lining up against a 5ft 8inch teenager, still nervous in front of a Saints crowd 6,754 strong. Despite his age, Banger soon demonstrated why he had forced his way into the first team by netting a hat-trick on his debut and continuing to create his image as a driven and determined individual. “It became like a goldfish bowl for me” described by Banger who even 27 years later still remembers his debut vividly. “I felt pressure because I grew up, lived and went to school in Southampton and then making your debut and scoring a hat-trick put a little bit more pressure on me due to the expectation. “However I have never been more proud of playing for the club that I loved. “I remember being 13 years old and seeing Kevin Keegan at Trojans training and he was my hero, so to go one and play like he did at The Dell with the likes of Alan Shearer and score a hat-trick on my debut, it was something that I was immensely proud of.” As Banger’s career saw him leave his boy-hood club in 1994 for Oldham Athletic, followed by several moves to other teams based in the South of England, his business acumen and valuable connections would become an immensely useful tool during the start of The Knights Foundation. “When I set this up three years ago with nothing in 2016, I basically went on a whim and spoke to the business people that I’d known for so long. “But you start talking to fathers from a business perspective rather than from a football perspective because football is very demographic, if you live in Southampton you support the Saints, if you live in Portsmouth you support Pompey but if you speak to a father about his child it doesn’t matter where he’s from. “I didn’t want the foundation to be a charity where I was filling it with volunteers, I wanted to run it as a proper business. “I wanted to use my football contacts to raise some awareness, generate revenue and do events, which I’ve done with Michelle Keegan, Sir Geoff Hurst, Gordon Banks, Ray Clemence, Peter Shilton, Matt Le Tissier, James Beattie and Graeme Souness just to name but a few. “This was really useful because people wanted to see these famous individuals but it also allowed us to connect families to all these businesses and educations so we can buy positive equipment.”
“The funny thing is I never aimed to go into business when I was young but here I am, after using the commercial experience and skills I needed to learn to now be at the age of 45 and be the CEO of a foundation.” Since taking his position as CEO, The Knights Foundation has raised over £500,000 for families who struggle with disabilities and Banger is focused on achieving his one million pound mark. Evidently displaying his passion and determination when he focuses on the organisation, Banger will be hoping to not only continue raising money but to raise the joy for disabled families across the country.
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Being struck by lightning, getting bird excrement dropped on your head twice in one day and finally winning over £10,000 on your dreaded football accumulator. All of these have a greater chance of happening than the 0.012% of young footballers making it to a professional level. In a world of big money transfers and foreign investments, the fairy-tale of a young child rising up the ranks of his local team and being transformed into a Premier league legend is exactly that. A fairy-tale. Nevertheless, thousands of bright-eyed young footballers continue to be plucked from Britain’s joyful youth leagues and thrust into the difficult and occasionally cruel environment of academy football.Statistically, nearly all of these players will not make it to the fame and fortune they are promised when joining the clubs, with hundreds of ambitious footballers being released each year as they are no longer considered a valuable financial asset. Former Southampton and Premier League legend Matt Le Tissier believes that this rejection from professional clubs can not only be upsetting for young players but harmful too. “In a world where we talk about mental health, to be messing around with those kid’s heads is a big risk” After rising through the Southampton youth set-up and making 443 first team top-flight appearances, a lot has changed for young players since Le Tissier’s first league appearance in 1986. The world of football has been transformed from a beautiful game into a financial horror show. Now 50 years of age, Le Tissier reflects on the drastic change and difficult challenges that young players have to face for their own unrealistic climb to the top level of fame. “For me, I believe professional clubs sign up players a little bit too early and I think its difficult to put an exact age on it,” Le Tissier adds, with a concerned look on his face. Developing young players at an early age is something the saints legend is very familiar with having helped set up the Matt Le Tissier Natural Coaching academy in 2012. Le Tissier has been able to help hundreds of young footballers develop their skills in a relaxed environment, an area that he feels should be replicated by some of the country’s top clubs, “I wanted to give young players a chance to be coached in an environment that wasn’t overly oppressive and to not be criticised when they make mistakes. “I think there’s times when players are programmed a little too early in formations, keeping the ball and to pass, pass, pass. The art of dribbling and being different has gone out the window a little bit.” Freedom, passion and experimenting. These are words you will hear often on the frosty cold nights down at the Toynbee School, the humble base for MLTNC, where one adult sized 4G pitch is the starting point for hundreds of young footballers development. A place of understanding and kindness towards adolescent players with encouragement made at every turning point, and Director of coaching at MLTNC, Jody Rivers, believes that these are the most important words that young players should be hearing. “When training with these young boys and girls we try to keep as positive and enthusiastic as we can because football for players at this age shouldn’t be about playing a structured style or keeping to certain formations, it should be about enjoying the sport and having the freedom to express yourself on the pitch. “You see how many young players are released from academies after years of playing in a tough environment and dedication to the club and it’s understandable that some of them can unfortunately take a big confidence knock from it which might affect them as they continue to develop.” Despite the arguable negative opinion towards modern day youth development, the story is not all black and white regarding the treatment of young players, a statement made even more evident at the top level of English football. It’s late November at Motspur Park training ground, development complex for Premier League side Fulham Football Club. The academy has been home to many young players who began their journey sitting across from Fulham Academy Director Huw Jennings in his development meeting room. The décor of the room is not eccentric and does not imply that the young players who represent this top tier club are guaranteed professional player contracts. The room is simple, with two small classroom chairs, a standard wooden table and a half open creaking window that echoes the coaches whistle from the training ground just meters away. The simplicity of the room is a representation of what makes Jennings and his academy structure so successful and his attitude towards the development of young players emphasises why he has been so influential as Academy Director. “The best players will always get opportunities on merit, Ryan Sessegnon is a great example for us,” Having undergone an impressive few years it’s no surprise that Jennings reflects on his former academy graduate as Sessegnon has gone from a 17-year-old youth player to one of the most exciting young athletes in the country. Despite Sessegnon managing to break into the Fulham first team, Jennings still believes that more can be done to give opportunities to the system’s aspiring players; “I think sometimes shareholders just need to take stock with their youth, more often than not they will reinforce a weakness with a short term approach of a stock-gap experience, players who may come from another country compared to encouraging your manager, your head coach or your sporting director to say ‘why don’t we look to see if there is a young player who could step up to help the first team out? “The perception is, and there are no stats to prove this, that you can’t trust young players because they’re inexperienced and they might make mistakes and to be honest I don’t think that’s completely true.” In a tough environment where young players are often criticised more than praised, the passion for football may be heading parallel with rejected players as they are thrown towards the exit doors. Drop-out rates within youth football are increasing with suggestions that players between ages 13-16 are 76% likely to stop playing football due to academy rejection. A concerning fact, but one that Jennings believes is determined by the strength of each individual player and not just an age bracket. “The rejection from academies shouldn’t be harmful mentally for youth players”, Jennings sighs, a sign that he has dealt with this worrying topic before, “Because the experience should, in itself, be able to provide a basis for self-development. What I mean by that is if you go into the academy journey with realistic expectations that at the end of it you’re going to be a better player and better person, then you can benefit from that. “ Although most professional clubs agree that the rejection is unfortunate for these ambitious youths, many fail to realise the seriousness of the danger that is at risk for the young players. It is an important area to take into consideration when debating the impact academy football can have on a young person mentally. With players being purchased from other clubs at ages as young as seven, it’s easy to see why BBC Sport’s Chief Football Writer, Phil McNulty, believes that academies could be a disastrous reason why children are falling out of love with the game. “I think it’s just too early when you hear that players are being scouted at ages such as seven or eight because I think they’re just in the first stages of enjoying and playing the game. “I do understand that the academies will try to treat them carefully and try to look after them the best they can but I think its just the result of competition for players and what clubs want to achieve now as they’re trying to find the best talent as early as possible.” With millions of pounds being invested into the modern game, the thought of high profit margins over a child’s welfare is proving to be a dangerous element. This business-orientated focus is also something that McNulty believes is further damaging the future of English football. “I would prefer them to have more time to just enjoy playing football and loving the game but that’s the way modern football is now it’s a competition to find the best players.” “In the end it goes back to business because academies are there so people can grow their business as a football club and if that means releasing these kids further down the line or when it’s quickly decided that they’re not good enough then that is very disappointing for the player. “I do think the pressure for success that professional clubs face is the main reason why young players are being scouted at such a young age.” Although many professional opinions from different areas of the sport have highlighted the negative affects that academies have on young players, the development of youth football in these academies is still an important factor for the future of English football. Despite the questionable methods used by academies, Football Association Officer Flo Lunn believes that youth development is more important now than ever before. “I think it’s really important now that the focus needs to be shifted to the younger age groups in football and really build from the bottom up.” Lunn has worked as both a coach and development officer in youth football, this is emphasised through her understandable view in regards to this focus on the youth game, “This will obviously take a lot of time for clubs but the focus on improving youth players needs to keep growing. “Young players, both girls and boys, see their role models on television and social media at the top level and that can be the driving factor for these kids, it really depends on the individual.” Flo’s attitude towards the development of young players is certainly something that is shared amongst the highest levels of English football. This was made evident back in 2012 when the Premier League and Football League supporting the Elite Player Performance Plan, a structured system that aimed to help players aged from 16-18 in terms of welfare and education. However, six years later and over one hundred million pounds spent on youth programmes and development strategies, the heavy investment from some of the sports highest levels has disastrously left England’s youth football short changed.
This short change isn’t reflected in the clubs profit margins as the Elite Player Performance Plan uses legal requirements and high fixed fees to demean a child in the youth set-up to the status of a basic product. If a young player, even as young as eight, were to sign on to a professional clubs academy they could instantly have a fixed compensation price placed on their heads. This compensation fee can be in the range of thousands and can even prevent other academies from registering the child in the future unless they pay this outrageous fee. With many different aspects being considered from a journalists view to the coach training the future generations, the overall thought is that the country’s youth development structure is desperate for a change regarding the safety and care for the sports youngest. Academies from the Premier League to the non-league set-up have been transformed from promising wonderland spectacles, to money-orientated businesses that statistically cause more harm than good. These business outlets generate profit through the sweat and tears of their local children, but they will soon face the cruel reality once players would rather sit on their X-Box than play at a top level. In an attempt to promote future English football, the sports highest organisations are killing the love for the game quicker than parents and coaches can nurture it. Consequently, as the dropout rate of young footballers follows the equally devastating figure of players released, it won’t be long before children would sooner take the odds of having bird discharge run down their shoulder rather than risk the harsh world of academy football. |
AuthorJames Worthington Archives |