Standard Sport talks to the people behind the Liverpool and England star's rapid ascent
[article=http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/from-kickabouts-in-a-harrow-park-to-the-world-cup--the-extraordinary-rise-of-liverpools-raheem-sterling-9438404.html]It has been noted that Raheem Sterling’s squad number for the World Cup is the same that Paul Gascoigne had when the Geordie lit up Italia 90.
Gascoigne’s genius was made on Tyneside and should England’s new No19 shine in Brazil then London can claim a large chunk of the credit.
Sterling learned his trade on the streets of the capital and honed his skills in the youth ranks at Queens Park Rangers. There was a round of applause when Sterling completed his first training session with the senior squad at Loftus Road — he was only 14 but held his own among fully-grown men.
It was clear Sterling was special. Now he is better known for being a force in Liverpool’s midfield but it was in Harrow’s Roe Green Park where the World Cup potential was first spotted.
Sterling had a difficult childhood — poor behaviour resulted in him being removed from mainstream school — but football was his therapy. He spent time with a youth worker, Clive Ellington, who would take Sterling, then aged nine, to play football in the park.
“I realised straight away he had a gift,” said Ellington. “I would go and pick him up so he could start playing for our team. No matter what time I arrived at his house, he would always be outside with a ball at his feet.”
To this day, Ellington encourages his young hopefuls to use the 19‑year‑old as their role model.
Growing up was far from straight forward for Sterling, which makes his selection for Roy Hodgson’s World Cup squad an even more remarkable success. As a youngster, he could not handle defeat. Sterling would run rings around his opponents but his challenge was learning to curb his emotions.
“He was very hungry to learn but losing just wasn’t an option,” said Ellington. “There was a game when he felt he wasn’t getting protected. He was getting knocked around and he suddenly shouted to the referee, ‘you’re a cheat!’ There would be temper tantrums and we had one or two issues controlling that. He had to learn you don’t win everything in life and sometimes you have to lose gracefully. He found that a bit hard to take but, as he grew older, he began to manage that.”
Sterling quickly became the most exciting young player in north-west London. Sterling was destined for the big time and it was Ellington’s role to ensure his feet remained firmly on the ground.
“Raheem was very humble,” said Ellington. “He would never brag about where he was going to be in five years time. He went about his business very quietly. When QPR initially spoke to him, he was so busy watching a Chelsea game that he didn’t have too much interest in what they had to say!”
Sterling would catch the bus to QPR training from St Raphael’s Estate in Neasden, where he lived with his mother Nadine. They moved over from the Maverley district of Kingston, Jamaica in 2002 and Sterling set his heart on playing for England.
Steve Gallen, the youth development manager for QPR, took Sterling under his wing. The club had been suffering from extreme financial difficulty and the academy was in decline. But Gallen ensured the youngster always had the best possible opportunities to nurture his potential.
“The academy was cut in half,” said Gallen. “There wasn’t enough money to pay all the coaching staff but we decided to put an under-12s team together. We took on a load of lads from the Brent and Harrow areas and the team were an absolute mess; there were some awful players. Raheem stood out like a sore thumb. We would often lose matches by, say, 5-4 but Raheem would score all four. Raheem was the team; people called us Raheem Park Rangers.”
Sterling’s behaviour began to improve but he would still become frustrated when team-mates did not perform to his high standards.
“He was a street footballer,” said Gallen. “He would get so devastated at losing he just didn’t know how to handle it. It was my job to manage that; I needed to help him. You can’t walk off the pitch, start hammering your team-mates or be seen crying in front of everyone. We developed a rapport.
“He didn’t want to have a big sit down and a conversation, he felt a bit awkward in those situations. He just wanted to play. He would finish a training session or a match for QPR and then go and play with his mates. He wasn’t allowed to do that but that’s what he was like. He had a tough, tough mentality. He was just a player from the street; about the skill and about the flair.”
Sterling played for the under-14s as an 11-year-old and was moved up to the under-18s at 14. He was eventually given a look in with the senior players and went on to make his debut for the reserves. Sterling was no longer the hottest talent in Harrow but one of the brightest prospects in the country.
“He played in our reserve team at 14 years old,” said Gallen. “Players were trying to smash him but they couldn’t get close to him. There’s no one even in our under-16s team at 14 today.
“I sat down with him and his mum to discuss a scholarship because there were a lot of London clubs trying to sign him. I challenged him and said, ‘can you become QPR’s youngest every player? Can you go down in the record books?’ He basically said, ‘where’s the pen? I’ll sign right now’.
“Paolo Sousa, manager at the time, agreed to put some of the lads in a first-team training session. I watched it and, when the session finished, every player gave him a round of applause. Was he miles away from them? Course he was, he was a kid. But there was plenty of respect for him.”
Sterling was beginning to attract attention from some of the biggest clubs in the country. He was too young to have an agent and he became caught up in months of unsettling speculation.
“I fought tooth and nail to keep him,” said Gallen. “It’s the only time in this job that I’ve struggled to sleep at night. I did everything I could to keep him because I really didn’t want him to go. I knew how good he was but I’m delighted with how he’s doing today.”
Tottenham had shown an interest but, at the age of 15, Sterling agreed a move to Liverpool worth £375,000 with a 25 per cent sell-on clause.
Mark Anderson, now head of recruitment at Brighton, was the senior scout at Liverpool who urged the club to sign the player.
“I had not been that excited about a player for about 10 years,” said Anderson. “He was a player that I was prepared to put my neck on the line for. Straight away I said to sign the lad. Liverpool put a lot of emphasis on their scouts in London. They knew London was a hot bed.”
Sterling never achieved his goal of becoming QPR’s youngest ever player but he did make his Liverpool debut at a younger age than Michael Owen. It was against Wigan in 2012, when Kenny Dalglish was back at the helm.
Anderson said: “When the club saw him they thought, ‘wow, where has this kid come from? Why hasn’t he been tied up?’ Kenny sent me a letter saying, ‘thanks very much, let’s get another one like this’. Kenny has to take a lot of credit for giving the kid a chance but it’s all the people where he came from that really found Raheem.”[/article]
[article=http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/from-kickabouts-in-a-harrow-park-to-the-world-cup--the-extraordinary-rise-of-liverpools-raheem-sterling-9438404.html]It has been noted that Raheem Sterling’s squad number for the World Cup is the same that Paul Gascoigne had when the Geordie lit up Italia 90.
Gascoigne’s genius was made on Tyneside and should England’s new No19 shine in Brazil then London can claim a large chunk of the credit.
Sterling learned his trade on the streets of the capital and honed his skills in the youth ranks at Queens Park Rangers. There was a round of applause when Sterling completed his first training session with the senior squad at Loftus Road — he was only 14 but held his own among fully-grown men.
It was clear Sterling was special. Now he is better known for being a force in Liverpool’s midfield but it was in Harrow’s Roe Green Park where the World Cup potential was first spotted.
Sterling had a difficult childhood — poor behaviour resulted in him being removed from mainstream school — but football was his therapy. He spent time with a youth worker, Clive Ellington, who would take Sterling, then aged nine, to play football in the park.
“I realised straight away he had a gift,” said Ellington. “I would go and pick him up so he could start playing for our team. No matter what time I arrived at his house, he would always be outside with a ball at his feet.”
To this day, Ellington encourages his young hopefuls to use the 19‑year‑old as their role model.
Growing up was far from straight forward for Sterling, which makes his selection for Roy Hodgson’s World Cup squad an even more remarkable success. As a youngster, he could not handle defeat. Sterling would run rings around his opponents but his challenge was learning to curb his emotions.
“He was very hungry to learn but losing just wasn’t an option,” said Ellington. “There was a game when he felt he wasn’t getting protected. He was getting knocked around and he suddenly shouted to the referee, ‘you’re a cheat!’ There would be temper tantrums and we had one or two issues controlling that. He had to learn you don’t win everything in life and sometimes you have to lose gracefully. He found that a bit hard to take but, as he grew older, he began to manage that.”
Sterling quickly became the most exciting young player in north-west London. Sterling was destined for the big time and it was Ellington’s role to ensure his feet remained firmly on the ground.
“Raheem was very humble,” said Ellington. “He would never brag about where he was going to be in five years time. He went about his business very quietly. When QPR initially spoke to him, he was so busy watching a Chelsea game that he didn’t have too much interest in what they had to say!”
Sterling would catch the bus to QPR training from St Raphael’s Estate in Neasden, where he lived with his mother Nadine. They moved over from the Maverley district of Kingston, Jamaica in 2002 and Sterling set his heart on playing for England.
Steve Gallen, the youth development manager for QPR, took Sterling under his wing. The club had been suffering from extreme financial difficulty and the academy was in decline. But Gallen ensured the youngster always had the best possible opportunities to nurture his potential.
“The academy was cut in half,” said Gallen. “There wasn’t enough money to pay all the coaching staff but we decided to put an under-12s team together. We took on a load of lads from the Brent and Harrow areas and the team were an absolute mess; there were some awful players. Raheem stood out like a sore thumb. We would often lose matches by, say, 5-4 but Raheem would score all four. Raheem was the team; people called us Raheem Park Rangers.”
Sterling’s behaviour began to improve but he would still become frustrated when team-mates did not perform to his high standards.
“He was a street footballer,” said Gallen. “He would get so devastated at losing he just didn’t know how to handle it. It was my job to manage that; I needed to help him. You can’t walk off the pitch, start hammering your team-mates or be seen crying in front of everyone. We developed a rapport.
“He didn’t want to have a big sit down and a conversation, he felt a bit awkward in those situations. He just wanted to play. He would finish a training session or a match for QPR and then go and play with his mates. He wasn’t allowed to do that but that’s what he was like. He had a tough, tough mentality. He was just a player from the street; about the skill and about the flair.”
Sterling played for the under-14s as an 11-year-old and was moved up to the under-18s at 14. He was eventually given a look in with the senior players and went on to make his debut for the reserves. Sterling was no longer the hottest talent in Harrow but one of the brightest prospects in the country.
“He played in our reserve team at 14 years old,” said Gallen. “Players were trying to smash him but they couldn’t get close to him. There’s no one even in our under-16s team at 14 today.
“I sat down with him and his mum to discuss a scholarship because there were a lot of London clubs trying to sign him. I challenged him and said, ‘can you become QPR’s youngest every player? Can you go down in the record books?’ He basically said, ‘where’s the pen? I’ll sign right now’.
“Paolo Sousa, manager at the time, agreed to put some of the lads in a first-team training session. I watched it and, when the session finished, every player gave him a round of applause. Was he miles away from them? Course he was, he was a kid. But there was plenty of respect for him.”
Sterling was beginning to attract attention from some of the biggest clubs in the country. He was too young to have an agent and he became caught up in months of unsettling speculation.
“I fought tooth and nail to keep him,” said Gallen. “It’s the only time in this job that I’ve struggled to sleep at night. I did everything I could to keep him because I really didn’t want him to go. I knew how good he was but I’m delighted with how he’s doing today.”
Tottenham had shown an interest but, at the age of 15, Sterling agreed a move to Liverpool worth £375,000 with a 25 per cent sell-on clause.
Mark Anderson, now head of recruitment at Brighton, was the senior scout at Liverpool who urged the club to sign the player.
“I had not been that excited about a player for about 10 years,” said Anderson. “He was a player that I was prepared to put my neck on the line for. Straight away I said to sign the lad. Liverpool put a lot of emphasis on their scouts in London. They knew London was a hot bed.”
Sterling never achieved his goal of becoming QPR’s youngest ever player but he did make his Liverpool debut at a younger age than Michael Owen. It was against Wigan in 2012, when Kenny Dalglish was back at the helm.
Anderson said: “When the club saw him they thought, ‘wow, where has this kid come from? Why hasn’t he been tied up?’ Kenny sent me a letter saying, ‘thanks very much, let’s get another one like this’. Kenny has to take a lot of credit for giving the kid a chance but it’s all the people where he came from that really found Raheem.”[/article]
