Jordan Lussey was dubbed the next Steven Gerrard, trained with Luis Suarez and is now loving life with Marine. While the 28-year-old hopes he can return to elite level, he is looking to inspire the next generation offering football camps to youngsters this month.
He spent 12 years in the ranks at Kirkby and although he never made a professional appearance for the Reds, he has trained alongside the likes of Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Suarez. Now 28, he has enjoyed spells at Southport FC, Telford United, AFC Fylde, Curzon Ashton and now turns out for Marine AFC in the Northern Premier League.
With caps for the England U18s as well as having the armband for Liverpool’s U18s, Lussey was likened to the iconic Reds skipper by Frank McParland in a meeting with the former Academy manager.
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The central midfielder’s career hasn’t been short of experiences, memories and stories to tell - with plenty more chapters still to write.
But in 2015, Lussey received news from his boyhood club that every budding youngster in the academy system dreads as he was released.
“I loved it, it’s definitely moulded me into the person that I am today,” reflected Lussey in an exclusive interview with the ECHO. “The upbringing that I had, I was there for such a long time, 12 years of my life, the lessons and values I still hold now.
“I still try and do everything to the best of my ability, the standards that I set myself are high standards and that goes back to everything I learned when I was at Liverpool. To be honest, I didn’t realise how big it was until I left, being at one club for so long, for me it was playing for Liverpool but it was football, I’d work as hard as I can and being a Liverpool fan it was amazing.
“I probably didn’t realise how big playing for Liverpool was until I came out of it and then looking back at what I achieved, how long I was there for, you come out and it was a big deal.”
After spending a short time on loan at Bolton Wanderers, he opted to sign for the Trotters that summer.
During that time at the University of Bolton Stadium, it was far from rosy off the pitch for them as they were handed a winding-up order in the December following debuts of up to £173m.
While football careers can throw up different kinds of jubilation and turmoil, the 28-year-old now looks back on his time in Greater Manchester with different feelings after failing to make a professional appearance.
He said: “Towards the latter stages it was difficult, when we had conversations with the club, I was lucky in that I was told quite early.
“I had options to go out, I went out on loan to Bolton and to be honest, that’s probably the move that killed my career a little bit in hindsight,” he added. “Did I rush into it? Yes probably. Bolton were in a poor position themselves, league table, ownership, so looking back on my career, the one regret I had was probably rushing into my first move at Liverpool.
"If I held on and waited for a few options, took a few things into consideration, that’s probably the one move I wouldn’t have made.”
His time with the Reds saw him captain the U18s as well as establish his place in the U21s squad. As a result, he was rewarded with moving up to the first-team to train with some of his childhood heroes.
From the experiences of training alongside Gerrard and Carragher, Lussey saw first hand of the demands and mentality of players at the top of their game playing in the Premier League.
The lessons from those sessions at Melwood where you would be tested against seasoned professionals as one of the few youngsters in the dressing room is something that he still looks to do now.
But the transition from being an academy prospect one year to becoming a semi-professional, part-time footballer looking to break up back into the football league is difficult.
After Bolton, Haig Avenue was calling as then-National League side Southport picked up the former Liverpool product.
Lussey said: “I think as a 20-year-old lad who is coming out of it, 21 at the time, I’ve gone from a year ago I’m on a private jet with the best players in the world to Besiktas in a Europa League tie to then a year-and-a-half later I’m travelling to Blyth Spartans on a Tuesday night in non-league.
“Mentally, it’s difficult, things can change so quickly in football whether it’s for the good or for the bad. I had to adjust and I had to adjust quickly because this was my situation.
“I enjoyed my time at Southport, they were in the National League at the time, I was performing well but I had a nasty injury on the back of that.”
Currently, on the pitch, Lussey helped Marine into the Liverpool Senior Cup final after scoring a penalty in their 4-1 win over his former club last week as they look to make a late surge to extend their campaign.
Away from the pitch, despite seeing his time brought to an end in Kirkby, the 28-year-old lauded the aftercare of the Reds and described how not only did a chance meeting with Academy manager, Alex Inglethorpe - someone who is highly regarded by the midfielder - sparked a six-month spell with the U23s alongside Curtis Jones and Nat Phillips.
But also how they’ve paved the way to a coaching career where there is a fire that has been ignited, achieving his UEFA B license, with hopes of making the step into Academy coaching in the future.
“Football is a tough industry and unless you’re involved in it, you wouldn’t really understand the every day that a footballer has to go through, it’s cut-throat, dog-eat-dog and there’s definitely more lows than highs,” he said.
“But being at Liverpool, we’re lucky, it’s a special club and the aftercare you get from the club is really good. I know it’s not the case with other clubs, I’ve still got a good relationship with the club.
“Two years ago, I bumped into Alex Inglethorpe in the local gym early one morning and he invited me in for a chat to see how I was then he invited me back to train with the U23s, it was initially meant to be for a week and I spent six months there.
“It shows the club still cares, shows the people at the club and the lads who come through Liverpool are lucky because of the aftercare you get from them.”
The summer brought an end to his time with Curzon Ashton in the National League North but Neil Young’s Mariners were not far from the phone when they brought him back for a second spell at Rossett Park.
Marine’s astronomic rise, following their famous FA Cup run which lead to the historic visit of Tottenham Hotspur, continued when they won promotion back to the Northern Premier League with their playoff final win over Runcorn Linnets thanks to one of Lussey’s former Liverpool teammates, Jack Dunn.
Just under a year on, they are four points off the play-off places with the curtain slowly falling on the season.
At the beginning of the campaign, any Marine fan would have 'bitten your hand off' for those circumstances going into the final four games of the season. And the Ormskirk-born midfielder is loving life in Crosby.
Jordan said: ”I’ve loved it, I’ve been at Marine in the past and the difference now - Marine has always been a great club - since the FA Cup tie, it’s reaching a new level.
“The fanbase that we have for the division that we’re in is incredible, you look at the away form this season it has been amazing. We’d been in and around the play-offs all season and we’ve had a difficult few past results but if you look at the bigger picture, we’re now four points adrift of the play-offs with four games left, it’s still reachable.
“The expectations at the start of the season, not from within, people would’ve backed us to be at the bottom end of the table so if we were offered this opportunity at the start of the season with four games left to be in contention of reaching the play-offs we would’ve bitten your hand off.”
Like many, the dream hasn’t entirely been extinguished for Lussey as he looks to reach the Football League but those plans have taken a back seat as he looks to secure promotion with Young’s side.
“I’m realistic, I’ve been in the game long enough, things can change overnight, it only takes one game and the right person to watch you because football is a game of opinions,” he continued.
“I’m 28 but I’ve lost two years to COVID so there’s still two years there where I haven’t played football that I’ve lost. I’m still fit, I still back myself and believe in my ability and I’m ambitious - I wouldn’t be in football if I wasn’t - I want to play at the highest level that I have the opportunity to play at.
“At the moment I’m at Marine, I’m loving it, my goal is to try and get promoted.”
Starting on Thursday (April 6), Lussey, with the help of a few coaches, will be down at the Marine Travel Arena providing football camps for boys and girls aged seven to 13.
There will be a further two camps next week starting on Tuesday, April 11 and Wednesday April 12.
After the experiences at Liverpool under the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Rodolfo Borell - now Pep Guardiola's number two - Pep Segura, Mike Marsh and Steve Cooper, to name a few, he is looking to provide an opportunity for youngsters to get quality coaching and to enjoy playing football using his experience, this Easter.
With more pencilled in for the May half-term and in the summer, Lussey is looking to help the next generation.
“I want to pass on my knowledge, pass on everything that I’ve learned to the kids and give them a high level of coaching,” he said. “If I can help one kid get better and make his dream come true and get to an academy then that will give me great fulfilment.
“It’s something that I’ve enjoyed, I’ve now been coaching football for the past three years whether it be one-to-one or small groups whatever it will be.
“I get a buzz off helping kids, when they come for advice, coming to me and asking what I should do here, what needs help, it’s nice to be able to give your opinion but know you’re helping them.
“When you see the kids improve, it’s great, I’ve had so many experiences in football from the top end to non-league and I’ve got a lot that I want to give back to the game by coaching and helping the next generation of kids.
“For me, I’m running these football caps because it’s what I want to do as a kid, lots of fun and games, enjoyment, kids playing football with a smile, there will be no pressure.
“There will be little bits of technical advice where I can help, I’ve got great coaches lined up who are going to help me and I just want it to grow.
“We’ve had a good response for this Easter camp, we start on Thursday this week, Tuesday and Wednesday next week. We’ve got plans for half-term in May and camps running through the summer, the more we can get to the camp is great and something I’m really excited about.”
*If you are interested in the camps then the information can be found on Jordan's Instagram and Facebook page @jordanlusseyfootballcoaching.
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