Liverpool FC have been hailed as a Premier League pioneer for their help in offering young footballers a new career path in cybersecurity.
A partnership between Phoenix Sport and Media Group (PSMG), an organisation founded by three former top-flight footballers and CompTIA, the world’s leading provider of vendor-neutral IT certifications, is helping former academy players earn qualifications to pursue new roles.
Liverpool have been praised for their work that has seen three of their former youngster get a foot on the ladder towards a career in cybersecurity as the football industry aims to tackle the issue of getting those who don't make it to the professional game into education and employment.
Jack Dunn, Josh Dobie and Josh Sumner were all three former academy players who earned certificates from their remote learning course at the AXA Training Centre on Friday in an event that was overseen by Liverpool's head of education, Caitlin Hawkins, and academy coach and former midfielder Michael Thomas.
The legendary John Barnes was on hand to present the students with their certificates and he hailed the club for their support in helping the former players continue their education.
"Of course, as we know, about 90% of the kids who come through the academies aren't going to make it, so what do they do after that? It gives them another opportunity from an educational point of view to maximise their potential, so I think it is a great idea," Barnes told the ECHO.
"Years ago when I was at a club, if you didn't make it, there was nothing else you could do. And while this may be a cybersecurity opportunity, specifically, there may be other opportunities to go into further education as well, so as I say, it is a great thing.
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"It's a much more well-rounded industry now in terms of taking into consideration 'the human being' as opposed to 'the player'. Whereas years ago, the footballers were the ones clubs cared about and took care of but if you didn't make it you were left on your own.
"So they do look after them now and these lads aren't lads who have only left the academy in the last one or two years either. So it really isn't a case of them looking after you for a year after you finish. They do it now for quite a while and support them right the way throughout their journeys. So clubs now are much better in supporting the ones who don't make it."
Latest figures suggest that less than 200 of over 1.5m in youth football make it to the top level and after-care and education are still elements that not every player receives once they leave the books of elite clubs.
Marine forward Dunn, who was at Liverpool from the age of seven until his mid-20s, says he looked into the cybersecurity industry after earnings as a personal trainer and semi-professional footballer were paused during the pandemic.
"I was fully invested and I didn't see any other avenue I wanted to go down," he says. "Playing for Liverpool was my dream. I am still a supporter now and I was a supporter going through it, so I was basically living the dream. I didn't get to play competitive games but I got the taste of playing with the first team and the end-of-season friendly.
"I didn't have a backup plan. So what I learned going out of it, especially during part-time football when I was a personal trainer too, when COVID happened, I had two revenue streams that closed down.
"I was a new father too so I thought 'wow! I need something.' Cybersecurity with it being remote, you can do it from anywhere, so we're getting in early and it might give us an edge on the competition."
Josh Dobie, who plays for Prescot Cables alongside an admin role at Ashworth Hospital, added: "It's massively hard to get back in love with football [after being let go] and I remember making that step down to play non-league at 19. I was getting elbowed by all these old fellas and it's hard to get your head around. You're used to playing out from the back and they'd never heard of it.
"I'd say [for younger players] to always have a Plan B. Always. The whole industry is so cut-throat, isn't it? But when you've got tunnel vision it's so hard to understand it. I told my little brother who is in a similar situation to always have something in the back of your mind if that does happen."
"It's having nothing else apart from football, isn't it? That's the hard thing," Josh Sumner says. "[You're thinking] what else am I going to do now? And you're not qualified to do anything else. This is brilliant what they're doing for us here."
Ben Franklin, who is the course leader at Blue Screen IT, said: "Looking at other clubs, Liverpool know what they are doing, certainly from an alumni perspective.
"Josh is on the course and it's been 10 years since he left the club. They are still in touch with, they are still bringing him on this programme, engaging with him and I think that is testament to Liverpool Football Club, certainly from my perspective. This is a family, right? That's very much what Liverpool are about."
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