Ryan Dixon. Those with a keen interest in young upcoming footballers will remember me from the mid-late 2000s. I signed a contract with Watford aged just 15 in 2005 and went on to enjoy a productive three years in the reserve setup. New manager Brendan Rodgers told me by text that I would be ready to make the leap from the reserves to the first team, and that I would be training with them on my return from my summer break. I was more excited than I had ever been in my life.
The following day, disaster struck. My taxi to the airport on my return home was involved in an accident. I shattered my knee cap and broke my leg in five places. The doctor said I was lucky I could still walk. It was little consolation to me, as my promising career had ended before it had even begun.
With no further education (post-GCSE) but Bs in GCSE Maths and English, I took up a foundation course at Leeds Metropolitan (now Leeds Beckett), in the hometown of my parents and the base of most of my family. I took Sports Science from 2009 to 2012, and graduated with a 2:1, but a degree wasn’t all I came out of uni with- my ambition ever since I found out the extent of my injury was to be a football coach- I also came out with an FA B Licence.
Since I graduated, I’ve devoted my life to coaching. The past four years have been spent coaching at Guiseley FC, and I’ve been in charge of the under-18s since 2014. The club let me go at the end of last season, stating an overhaul in the club’s youth system as the reason I had to go. Now unemployed, I’m a 26-year-old coach-cum-manager on the lookout for a chance to prove my worth. It’ll be a long hard journey, and I will literally be starting from the bottom. But where will my journey take me?...
The following day, disaster struck. My taxi to the airport on my return home was involved in an accident. I shattered my knee cap and broke my leg in five places. The doctor said I was lucky I could still walk. It was little consolation to me, as my promising career had ended before it had even begun.
With no further education (post-GCSE) but Bs in GCSE Maths and English, I took up a foundation course at Leeds Metropolitan (now Leeds Beckett), in the hometown of my parents and the base of most of my family. I took Sports Science from 2009 to 2012, and graduated with a 2:1, but a degree wasn’t all I came out of uni with- my ambition ever since I found out the extent of my injury was to be a football coach- I also came out with an FA B Licence.
Since I graduated, I’ve devoted my life to coaching. The past four years have been spent coaching at Guiseley FC, and I’ve been in charge of the under-18s since 2014. The club let me go at the end of last season, stating an overhaul in the club’s youth system as the reason I had to go. Now unemployed, I’m a 26-year-old coach-cum-manager on the lookout for a chance to prove my worth. It’ll be a long hard journey, and I will literally be starting from the bottom. But where will my journey take me?...
