Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen & Me is the story of Mike Yates journey through football. Mike, who played in the same youth sides for Liverpool at Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen, tells the story of realising his dream to play for Liverpool as a kid but ultimately fall short and not quite make the grade.
Following being released by Liverpool Mike spent three years chasing his dream of playing professionally. Sadly, like the vast majority of players who fall out of the game – only 2% of players who sign professional contracts are still playing by the age of twenty one, Mike fell into that gap. Thanks to help from Liverpool – and specifically Steve Heighway – he has forged a career in an array of youth coaching roles at the club and has seen him work around the world.
Throughout the book Mike illustrates a life which only had one goal in mind - to play for Liverpool. Years of practise would all lead to one moment of truth – to play for Liverpool’s senior side or be released. The harsh reality of football here is described here in brutal honesty.
As Mike tells us about his journey many anecdotes of his early days at Liverpool enlighten up the book to provide a unique insight into the everyday life of a youngster at the academy of one of the biggest clubs in the world. We hear of one specific incident where a youthful Mike was walking around the Liverpool’s Melwood training ground in amazement of the murals of the clubs when he suddenly felt a sudden bang. Dazed and confused of what he could have hit to be so hard he looked up to find a bemused John Barnes.
These anecdotes are what just one factor which separate this book from your average biography of a footballer. Mike doesn’t tell a story of conventional success, but what many would deem to be ‘failure’ – although Mike’s journey turned out to be anything but. Through repeated notes from both his parents lots of brilliant advice for parents with children in the game is provided to accompany Mike’s own advice for both players and parents. Dealing with possible ‘failure’ isn’t the only theme here, but how to become successful to. Having grown up playing alongside two of England’s finest players produced in generations Mike knows first-hand what it takes – both physically and mentally – to succeed.
Another aspect of the book which proves to be as much a collective guide to going through an academy system as an autobiography is the contribution of many different influential people both in Mike’s own journey and general youth football development in Britain. Jamie Redknapp, who Mike spent years cleaning his boots as a scholar, features heavily in many sections provides anecdotes of Mike and general advice to young pros on what to do right and what practice to avoid.
Mike’s book is an honest one, a book which details his journey through football, where he lived the dream and where ultimately he fell short. Mike doesn’t hold out just because he still for works for Liverpool today, in one instance he bemoans a remark made by Steve Heighway prior to him leaving his coaching role to pursue a chance to play professionally in Scotland for Dundee.
There’s resentment too, resentment at the world and how one broken arm meant he missed the chance to go on a pre-season tour with the senior team, a missed opportunity he ultimately points to why he perhaps never truly made it at Liverpool. These thoughts don’t cloud Mike’s mind though, later on in the book we’re told the harrowing stories of travelling to a war-torn Armenia and some years later a poverty-stricken South Africa.
Towards the latter stages of the book it drags a little admittedly, with some sections not fitting into the overall structure. For example there’s parts where Mike will give a Top Ten Tips for Parents, which seems to be out of place in a book which for the most part tells a biographical story.
This is tells the story of Mike’s journey, of the great club that is Liverpool, and the stark reality that very few footballers will ever realise their dreams. In over three hundred pages every detail imaginable of the trials and tribulations which a young footballer facing their dream could face is covered. Although it can be seem a tedious read at times it is certainly different than your everyday sports biography and one which is certainly worth checking out. Haven’t we all dreamed Mike’s dream, after all?