6 minute read
Interview with Chelsea FC Academy’s Joe Haigh
18-year-old Joe Haigh spoke to us about his time representing England, the importance of education and how you need to relish the opportunities that you are given.
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The young Chelsea prospect got picked up by the Blues at just 9-years-old, and he has been a mainstay in the youth teams since, whilst progressing through the academy.
Haigh mentioned, “My first team was a local Sunday grassroots team, I joined at under-8s and then I was picked up by Chelsea when I was under 10’s. I then went through the whole academy to where I am now, the under-23s. When I was playing for my local team, a scout came to watch but it wasn’t to watch me, it was for someone else, but I played well. The scout approached my dad and offered me a trial. When I found out, I couldn’t believe it. I was over the moon, it’s every kids dream, and I couldn’t wait to get down there.”
Having a winner’s mentality is key for any young player, and Haigh noted who he looks to for inspiration when it comes to having this mindset, “I would say I look up to Steven Gerrard with the leadership style, when things are not going well, I just try and bring the team up and have a winner’s mentality. Since I was young, Lionel Messi has been my favourite player, the way he dribbles, that’s how I want to be. The goals he scores, the assists he gets are amazing, he destroys defences. I try not to compare myself too much to players but from a Chelsea point of view I would say an in-between of Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic. The way they dribble past players, creating goals and assists. Then outside of Chelsea I would say Iniesta. He is a team player; he links the play and tries to get on the ball as much as possible.”
Youth team interaction with the first-team players can be vital for progression, but unfortunately due to Covid-19 this has been limited. Haigh added, “Before Covid there was a lot of interaction which was good, but they have restricted it a lot. Before we used to see the firstteam players walking around the academy and they used to watch some of our games, which was obviously a huge boost to see first- team players and even the managers to watch our games. This came ➡
with a bit of pressure, but you must embrace it. Obviously, there can be a lot of pressure in football, but you have to cut it out and relish it and I tried to show them how good I am.”
In the first two weeks after coming back for pre-season, Haigh picked up a slight muscular injury, he mentioned, “I am with the physio’s day to day really, they give you certain exercises and machines for your injury, and then different gym work that you need to do, it’s very individualised and specific towards your needs. Honestly, being injured is the worst thing in the world, when everyone else is playing and you are just stuck inside, it’s terrible. You must be really strong, when you see your mates playing and you aren’t, but you have to come back stronger, and when you are back you have to show what you’re made of.”
Having the latest equipment and world class individuals to help aid your injury is vital and Haigh spoke about just how good these areas are within Chelsea Football Club, “The facilities and equipment that we have is a big advantage and the staff are great as well. They put extra time in, and they give you as many options on how to get back to full fitness in the fastest way. The physios and the movement coaches are the best around, they are very educated and know how to support you.”
Being a footballer, you have a lot of spare time. Especially for Haigh after picking up an injury, so he told us what he does to keep himself busy, “I watch and play different sports a lot. I also still study. I do Business, French, and German. It’s important to have a balanced lifestyle as a footballer, I make sure I am never just sitting at home doing nothing, I always want to be doing something. The studying comes from Chelsea and a bit from my parents, but the teachers are all from the club. I like cricket and golf, I pretty
much play anything I can.”
Studying is not something young footballers are particularly interested in, but Haigh is aware of the importance of a further education, “Football is of course the focus, but it isn’t really a long career, so you have to have something as a backup. I know that I have to keep studying for as long as possible just to broaden my knowledge, so for after football or even during football I have that knowledge to go into other sectors if I wanted to. You never know with injuries what is going to happen, so I want to keep my studying going.”
Setting goals and ambitions can be a good way of assessing your performance on the pitch. Haigh mentioned about his goals as an individual and as a team, “I try to focus on one season as it comes, so this season I want to be scoring, assisting, and playing regular under-23’s football and then hopefully try and push for a first team call up. At the end of the season, it is the under-19’s euros for England. Hopefully I can get a call up for that, I played for England at under 15, 16 then attended the last U19’s camp, and want to continue that.”
There has been an increase in young players at Chelsea being given opportunities for the first-team, and this has been particularly motivating for Haigh, “Seeing all the lads in the first-team, it pushes us all on because you couldn’t really see too much of a pathway into the first-team before, but it really motivates me now and I hope to be part of it. I want to show what I can do and get my chance so it makes me think if they can do it then why can’t I.” ◆
