Angel Gomes: My Grassroots Story

It’s always been football. I've always had a ball at my feet.

I started playing properly aged five or six at the development centre at Manchester United but my friend's dad also used to take us to play for a local team called Barr Hill.

Playing for Barr Hill produced some of the best times of my life, playing with my mates in matches and overseas tournaments. It's special to think back now about those times and remember where you came from.

The transition to academy football is very different because there's a goal at the end of it. As you get older you realise how serious it is.

It was a struggle to do local club football and development centre football at times and the development centre begun to take over. I was there until I was nine, when you can officially sign to train full-time with the club. From there I went through the academy until I was with the first team and playing pros for the first time.

I always used to play a year down because of my frame and my height. I've been small ever since I can remember and it wasn't until the Under-11s that one of the staff members there, Tony Whelan, told me I was going to go with my own age group. I was soon in the Under-13s and it was a difficult transition for me because I'd been doing well with the year below and I struggled to adapt in the first month or two. Tony always helped me, always spoke to me, and from there I actually ended up playing the year above, which is when everything escalated.

If I didn't have that encouragement from Tony it would have been difficult for me and then when I progressed into the Under-18s, Kieran McKenna came in. He's obviously Ipswich manager now and he was very hard on me, very strong, but only in a good way. He used to set little targets, make me watch videos and clips of players. He was very hands-on and in that moment that was what I needed. He helped me transition into a pro.

The most important thing for kids coming through is to have fun. There should be no age limit on that. It's so important to live in the moment because things happen very quickly. Don't take any moment for granted and always strive to be better. I loved practising skills, on the street or wherever it was, because I never lost that love of the game.