Assignment

Josh Oatey, a former Academy player at Southend United, spent nine years at the club before being released at the age of 16. He discussed the sacrifices he made and the pressure he felt to achieve his goals. While he achieved his targets each year, he was not close to signing a professional contract. The news of his release was not completely unexpected, as he had noticed a decrease in playing time prior to that. It was a difficult time for him, especially when facing questions from friends and peers. He has stayed in touch with some of his former teammates, but only a few have remained at the club, with even fewer playing in the first team. Josh initially considered quitting football, but eventually found motivation to continue playing at a higher level. He advises others in similar situations to have a backup plan and give it their all, but not to solely rely on football. He believes that life goes on and there is still time for success. Hi, I'm Joe Granger and this is an interview with former Academy man Josh Oatey. So Josh, first of all, I'd just like to ask, I know you're at Southend United, how long did you spend with the club? So I spent nine years at Southend from the ages of seven to sixteen. But prior to Southend, I was playing for a local team called Rayleigh Boys. I was there for about two or three years before I got scattered by Southend. And then for a couple of years I was playing with Rayleigh and Southend. And then from the age of about eight to sixteen, I was playing exclusively for Southend. So yeah, it was a long time. Did you ever feel like when you were at Southend, like, you missed playing with your friends almost? Yeah, definitely. It was obviously, you had to sacrifice a lot. So when I hear my mates coming out with stories with all the stuff I've been doing at the weekend, you know, it was difficult sometimes, but I always had the end goal in my head of what I wanted to do. Yeah, I was just about to get on to the end goal sort of thing. When you were at Southend, obviously you were a kid, so I'm sure they couldn't let much go, but did you ever get that feeling of them telling you you were close to that end goal? Well, through the years, you know, getting into each age group, getting a contract at the end of the year, was obviously, they'd say, you're getting one step closer. But I would never say at any point I was close to the goal, unless the end goal is signing a professional contract, and I was never that close, in a way. But then again, each year they set you targets, and yeah, I definitely achieved the targets of the year. So in some ways, yes, in some ways, no. So you talk about them targets and you being successful with reaching them targets. Did that news of you being released almost come as a bit of a shock at that time? It's a strange one, really, because you go in there thinking, you know, I was optimistic, I was thinking, yeah, I've spent so long here, and I want to stay. But I wouldn't say I was completely blindsided, because at the end of the day, in my head it's almost a 50-50. But yeah, I was a bit gutted at the time, but with hindsight, probably no, I wasn't blindsided, because a few games prior, I wasn't starting, I wasn't in the starting XI, I was only playing 30 minutes. So in hindsight, probably no, I wasn't blindsided, but obviously at the time, I was gutted. Yeah, that makes sense. And how old were you when it happened? 16, just turned 16. I think it was about a week after my birthday. So that feels like, even then, that can be a difficult time anyway for a young man. Did you feel that that heaps more pressure on you moving on? Yeah, definitely, especially when I was still at secondary school, you know, coming in the next day, and everyone asked me, how did it go? You know, it's tough explaining to everyone, I've been released from the place that I've been at for nine years. So definitely, yeah, it takes its toll, but you bounce back from it. Do you still talk to the scholars now, the scholars that have now moved on? Do you know if they're successful, or do you feel like almost the chain, even if you do get a scholar, will be broken further up the line? Well, I probably stay in contact with a couple of them, maybe twice a year. I'd say the year after I got released, yeah, a lot of us would still talk, but kind of you go your separate ways. But every now and then you see things on social media, so I think only about three of them are still at the club. A few of them are doing their thing at semi-pro levels. But yeah, it shows how hard it is, because only three of them stayed at the club, but only one of them has played first team, so it shows how difficult it is. So how many were, I know because I know there was a few that were released at the time, and a few that had scholars, so how many, having got scholars, have now been released by the club? There must have been about six of them that would have been released now, because I think about, yeah, nine managed to get a scholar. So if there's only three left, there must have been six that got released. So talking about the release, how have you recovered from the release? Was it a difficult time for you, or have you just been able to move on now? Yeah, it was definitely difficult, because at first I wanted to stop playing football, just because it was a place that I'd been at for so long, and it'd just come to an end just like that. So the first steps I took was step back and just go and play with my mates, just play for fun with no pressure, and that did work, and it kind of made me realise that I didn't want to play at the lower levels. I wanted to kind of push on, so then the next year I took a step up to men's football, and that really helped to play at a better level, but still with my mates, so that was a little bit of both, and then the year after that I stepped up to a semi-professional team with the under-18s and 23 squad. So yeah, I've definitely bounced back. Obviously I'm not at the level I was, but you can never say never, there's still plenty of time. And what advice would you have for people in your position, that are now at clubs that may not make it? From my position, it's quite cliche, but life goes on. Don't have football as your only option. But then again, I could have tried much harder to get that scholarship. Give it your all, but make sure you have a backup, because you don't want it all to come crashing and burning down. Well Josh, thanks very much. Cheers.