South London footballers

There was an article - discussed on here a while ago - about Boro having a strong presence in this area of London and mopping up a few of the likely candidates who are not quite good enough for the Big teams but developable talent.
 
Albert Adomah - I always felt was West London - he was a QPR fan. He smiled quite a lot not a common South London trait. South London was always known as the more dodgy part of London, particulary SE London. Hence Only Fools was set in SE London. It was the cheaper part of London, the part that didn't have many tube stations or tourist attractions. The part of London that many immigrants from the Caribbean and Africa moved to when they first came to the UK. Today a lot of knife crime incidents appear to be South London. Possibly the population there feel a little forgotten or underpriviledged compared with other parts of London. These are generalisations there are pockets of wealth like Blackheath and in SW Lonodon it is different such as Putney, Wimbledon, Barnes which are all now middle class. Other parts of London particularly North East London have deprivation e.g. Edmonton, Newham etc
 
What Callum Murray appears to be saying is that the way football is played in South London (mainly) in caged environments is producing more footballers suited to the modern game. Hackney Marsh is more old style football on large grass pitches.

However I haven't read his book, I may do.
 
Redwurzel said:
What Callum Murray appears to be saying is that the way football is played in South London (mainly) in caged environments is producing more footballers suited to the modern game. Hackney Marsh is more old style football on large grass pitches.

However I haven't read his book, I may do.
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True, but I have seen cage football all over London, if you have been to QPR you see it down South Africa Road.
 
Redwurzel said:
Just read an article called "Home Comfort" in When Saturday Comes, about Clubs could do more to support players. It focuses on Jadon Sancho and Djed Spence and how they have struggled in the last 18 months. The writer Callum Murray suggests that footballers from South London can struggle to integrate and can quickly be accused of having a bad outlook, when in fact they are just being themselves. This failure to integrate can often occur when a South London player moves to another part of the country with a different culture.

He suggests South London has become a hotbed in recent years for developing talented footballers. He gives the reason as cage football culture, the socio/economic landscape and an environment that fosters resilience.

Djed Spence is from Lambeth - Murray suggests many young people have to develop an attitude as a form of defence, where any weakness is punished.

I hadn't even thought much about this with Spence. I am also not convinced one area of London produces footballers of so different a character from the rest of the UK. But it has got me thinking. I did notice working class areas of London are developing quite a high percentage of young footballers. I had partly put it down to better resources and opportunities. I was not aware that South London was that much different from say East London.

Murray says Clubs should support young South London footballers coming to their club as they would do with young footballers coming from overseas.
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We have supported jones (south london) through his horrific time off the pitch last season, I'm sure woodgate mentioned having him round his with his family one xmas day so he wasn't alone.

Spence, on the other hand, is a knob head who has brought his downfall on himself. Theres no helping him.
 
TS4Red said:
We have supported jones (south london) through his horrific time off the pitch last season, I'm sure woodgate mentioned having him round his with his family one xmas day so he wasn't alone.

Spence, on the other hand, is a knob head who has brought his downfall on himself. Theres no helping him.
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Agree with this, you can’t tar everyone with the same brush.
 
TS4Red said:
We have supported jones (south london) through his horrific time off the pitch last season, I'm sure woodgate mentioned having him round his with his family one xmas day so he wasn't alone.

Spence, on the other hand, is a knob head who has brought his downfall on himself. Theres no helping him.
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I though this was Spence at Xmas 2019 when Woody was mananger?
 
the_holgate_roof said:
True, but I have seen cage football all over London, if you have been to QPR you see it down South Africa Road.
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Its the relative amount - I lived around Chiswick/Shepherds Bush (Goldhawk Road) and there is limited caged football. There is a pitch in Ravenscroft Park, but most of the Park is dedicated to Tennis Courts (five) and Garden Bowls and open spaces and lakes and a Childrens Lido. There seems to be fewer green parks/areas in South London
 
TS4Red said:
was it? Christ my memory is horrific. even still, shows we did offer him support etc.
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Was Jones a Boro player under Woody? I seem to think his debut was at Fulham in 2001 under Warnock.

Woody did the right thing with Spence, but Woody was sacked 6 months later. In a recent BBC Tees interview Scott said "we sold Spence because two Boro managers didn't fancy him?" I suspect that was Warnock and Wilder.

Of course he does not explain why Spurs and Leeds struggled with Spence.

I am starting to think there could be a potential Moneyball style player with Spence (good quality but tainted by what others think and what he has done/not done which makes him cheap and unwanted).
 
Redwurzel said:
Was Jones a Boro player under Woody? I seem to think his debut was at Fulham in 2001 under Warnock.

Woody did the right thing with Spence, but Woody was sacked 6 months later. In a recent BBC Tees interview Scott said "we sold Spence because two Boro managers didn't fancy him?" I suspect that was Warnock and Wilder.

Of course he does not explain why Spurs and Leeds struggled with Spence.

I am starting to think there could be a potential Moneyball style player with Spence (good quality but tainted by what others think and what he has done/not done which makes him cheap and unwanted).
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Warnock was probably right .. " playing premier League or non league" depending on his attitude / work ethic.
There's 100s of players like that in and around most clubs.
Look locally, one minute Chelsea are scouting you , few years later your at stokesley or alike.
Work ethic isn't just how he might perform for 90mins , it's the professionalism that goes with it outside of that.

There's a "money ball" option with the likes of Spence , but unfortunately the market is restricted to a handful of clubs that can spunk 10 mill on a ' might sort his attitude '
 
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It must be the Peckham Spring!

I think the term 'South London' is used very loosely here. For example, the Sessegnons, mentioned above, come from leafy Roehampton in the affluent SW, but there are also large council estates with very diverse occupation.
You don't hear about the 'inner city' so much nowadays as gentrification has squeezed out social housing to outlying areas like Croydon. 'South London' is also associated with West African migrants, who are now well represented in football. Aspirational parents may be a bigger factor here than deprivation.

Cage football:
The England team in 1966 and 1970 was mostly from mining communities. The only 'inner city' player I can recall was Alan Mullery.
In the early1960s, there was talk of an urban style of football coming through. Kids growing up playing on bombsites, giving rise to the 'wall pass', one touch, triangles etc.
 
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