I was raised in England and grew up like most young kids playing football at school, in the playground with a tennis ball and on weekends in the park with all my friends… we swam, played cricket, tennis and other sports but football was always #1!

I collected soccer cards and stickers, played subbuteo, watched Grandstand and Match of the Day on Saturdays nights and The Big Match on Sundays religiously – and, when I was old enough, started going to Chelsea home and away games when I could. From Rotherham to Swansea. From QPR to Leyton Orient. And, of course, as many Home games as possible at Stamford Bridge and The Shed End!

It was really exciting in those days as there were terraces and seats and just to stand watching a footie game was just the best…the whole day from traveling up to the game, watching the game, dissecting the game after was just natural!

I played for my Junior and Secondary school football and University teams.. had tryouts for the first division team Crystal Palace – whose youth program was the best in English football at the time – but turned it down as my mom and dad felt I should focus on education as there was not much money in football as a career.

When I moved to Hong Kong I played for the 4th X1 Hong Kong Football Club team and when I moved to Vancouver in 1995 I started playing for the West Side Strollers Point Grey Team in the Over 40’s league and for Widex in the Vancouver Engineering league. I played on a team until I was 51 years old. Footie for Life!

I have supported Chelsea all my life and when my Uncle became a Director of Chelsea Football Club in the 90s, just as they were starting to become successful, I was able to meet with Ken Bates, the chairman of Chelsea at the time, after we lost the Cup Final against Manchester United in 1994, 4-0. He challenged me to set up the first official Chelsea Supporters Club overseas, which I did! The True Blues Chelsea Supporters Club Vancouver is still going with an active membership of over 700 fans across Canada.

My wife’s uncle passed and left us an amazing catalogue of Legendary Football Ground photographs – collected over 60 years all the way across England, Scotland and Europe! I made these available online to football fans worldwide. My passion for football continues to be a never-ending journey of excitement.

In 2005 I started on my journey of coaching youth footie in Canada with my son Oscar – where we played great footie, had some wonderful players on our team and won tons of tournaments and cups! I then moved on to coaching my younger son, Hugo. Hugo was then scouted by Chelsea, Portsmouth, West Ham and Tottenham at UK Football Trials in 2018 at age 12.

I could write a LOT about what’s wrong with youth soccer in Canada – and maybe someday I will – but for now I’m putting my energy into creating opportunities in Canada and the U.S. for kids with talent. And hopefully creating another pathway where kids can be nurtured in their brilliance and increase their chances of being able to play footie in Europe… the beautiful game.