LESCOTT ON GRASSROOTS

Thinking about it now and having kids in the system, the responsibilities of the parents and the coaches were huge when I was growing up. To get me to training, to meet me somewhere, pick me up, drop me off, get me to games, make sure I had my kit. I wouldn’t say there was one person in particular - it was a team effort to get me to where I am. A community. Playing as a kid was special. Travelling with your mates, their families, all together. Even as a professional, the best teams are the ones that are a team of mates. Ones where you don’t want to let them down.

My first team was at nine years of age. It was a nationwide league called Little League. I’m not sure if it went north of Birmingham but definitely south. I lived in a place called Quinton outside Birmingham and we had six teams in our league, then we’d represent the league and our community against other leagues. That was my first taste of travelling with football and recognising that there was talent all over the country. It was an unreal experience.

After grassroots, I was scouted at about twelve years old. I wanted to be a midfielder and actually scored a few goals! Wolves brought me in and this was when academies were getting serious, so you weren’t allowed to play Sunday League. So I left! Back to grassroots. All I wanted to do was play with my friends. I’ve taken that enjoyment of it into my career. I’ve loved every day. I love training even more than I do matches. My school was lucky enough to get funding from the local council and have an astroturf put in, so every local team would train there, and I would just head up there three nights a week, sit there and wait for someone to drop out so I could join in. It was the pure enjoyment of it. Whatever your background, you could get out there, train hard and be on a level playing field.