Hull City star on tough childhood football

Hull City’s Robert Snodgrass is fully into his comeback from injury and now a ‘first-on-the-teamsheet’ name again for the Tigers.

Finding his feet in England courtesy of Leeds United signing the winger from Scottish side Livingston, Snodgrass moved to the Premier League with Norwich City before signing for Hull. But for all the fame and glory the Scot has achieved in his career, he won’t forget his childhood experiences in Glasgow according to the Daily Record.

The Record paraphrase Snodgrass’ sentiments and mention the toughness of growing up in Glasgow’s Gallowgate district when it came to “grassroots football” saying that evidence of this was when the then youngster woke up to find the goalposts had been razed to the ground by fire.

It is the fond remembrance of these first exposures to football and the men, who helped him with his first steps away from the streets and annoyed residents, that the Daily Record say is giving Robert Snodgrass the grace to support an initiative to put those who help youngsters into the spotlight under a scheme called ‘Grassroots Awards’.

Speaking of his formative football education, Snodgrass says, “I was the same as most kids in Glasgow,” said the 28-year-old. “Tops down for goalposts, playing with your mates in the streets, playing against shutters up the closes. There was always trouble, mums coming out and complaining: ‘Yer boy’s causin’ carnage!”

For him though, it was two men who helped him on his way to where he now finds himself, a player striving for promotion to the Premier League and a player who has accumulated around £9m in transfer fees. These men were Colin Syme, who introduced Snodgrass to his first organised football and Frank Hughes, who he met when he attended sessions at Calton Athletic.

On these two, Snodgrass cannot hide his admiration, “You talk about unsung 
community heroes, these guys deserve all the credit in the world for what they did. It wasn’t an easy place to grow up. We never had much, there were gangs everywhere so you had to watch where you went. Because of the football I was always quite friendly with 
everyone but you had to watch. Football was a great leveller though, it brings people together and Frank and Colin could both see that.”

In a more light-hearted aside, Snodgrass talks about street football games for money amongst the various labourers and groups of workers, saying that they were both tough in nature and unforgiving of age. Snodgrass speaks of this saying, “You should have seen the tackles, man! But they could see I could play as a wee guy and they asked me in. I scored a few. There was nearly a full scale riot, me accused of being a ringer – at the age of 12! They were grown men, kicking you all over the place, it was unbelievable.”

Further admiration for community organisers such as Colin Syme and Frank Hughes, drips through in the words of the Hull City winger and helps highlight just how important that Robert Snodgrass feels people like these are to children like he was and the positive effects that they can have, the opportunities that they can give. Snodgrass reflects n this saying, “You need these guys there to give kids opportunities. I look at kids 
growing up with the best of 
everything in academies and I wonder if they realise how lucky they are. We played indoor on wood, on gravel and ash outside. I remember Frank slide tackling us, trying to get us to toughen up! But he was the bus driver, the ref, the physio and football needs guys like that, these are the guys who make the game’s heart beat. Where we’re from, they realise how little chance you get in life sometimes and they’re prepared to sacrifice some of what they have to help you. I will never 
forget that.”

Previous Article
Derby

Twitter reacts: Derby emerge victorious over rivals Forest

Next Article
Mowatt

5 painful things learned from Leeds United capitulation

Related Posts