How do semi-pro players prepare for a new season whilst balancing other commitments?
When you think of pre-season, you imagine footballers running in the blazing sun all day long as they rebuild their fitness following several weeks of inactivity.
It's enough to bring anyone out in a cold sweat just thinking about it. Now add in the fact that you've been doing a day's graft in your workplace before heading over to do a running session during pre-season training for the team you play for.
Then, those cold sweats become ice cold.
Well, that's the reality for nearly a thousand goalkeepers in England who play for semi-professional teams.
One such semi-professional club is Whitby Town. The team from the Yorkshire seaside town compete in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, three leagues below the Football League. Their first choice goalkeeper over the last decade has been Shane Bland, who spoke to Goalkeeper.com to tell us what life is like as a semi-professional goalkeeper during pre-season.
As well as keeping goal for Whitby, Bland has been working in a school in Middlesbrough for nearly two years, and explains how easy it is for him to get motivated for training and matches after work.
He said: “You do get your good days, your rewarding days, but some days can be tough.
“Some days you get those tough hard grinds and it can sometimes be difficult to get yourself motivated.
“I think I’ve always found a way to get motivated whether that’s for training or a game because I enjoy my football. So I think the training and playing side of things becomes a bit of a release from my day job for me.”
Bland continued: “I’ve loved it at Whitby Town, and I have been there for ten years. I did have short spells at Spennymoor Town and West Auckland Town.
“I think playing for a team like Whitby, playing games, seeing people, seeing your mates and getting to know the new lads who come in year in and year out have their benefits.
“The older I get and the more I play I see more of the social side of things to football especially in non-league.
“As I say, football is my release from my day job. Some days at work can be quite rewarding while some days can be tough, but that can be any job.”
The other main aspect of pre-season is the friendly matches that take place in the build-up to the new season. Fans sometimes deem these games tedious due to their lack of competitiveness as we wait for the upcoming season to start. Some fans don't even bother turning up to see a game until the first match of the league season when something is riding on it.
Bland, who was recently honoured with a testimonial against former Football League side York City, understands supporters' frustrations about the lack of a competitive nature to these games.
He commented: “For me, I think even in my Middlesbrough days I hated the first couple of weeks.
“With me being a goalkeeper as well with all the running, I will admit I am not the best of runners. Endurance and long-distance running are just not for me, I have never been a great runner.
“I enjoy the short sharp intervals, etc. I have done a fair bit of that this pre-season, and fully enjoyed it. I do like the game's programme and the social side of getting to know the new signings and seeing what we can do in the games. I agree with the competitive/non-competitive side of games.
“Sometimes pre-season can be a little bit false about how the season is going to pan out. I have been involved in pre-seasons where we have been unbeaten through pre-season and then it comes to the real thing, and you end up not doing as great as you think you will do.
“It has that bit of feel about it, but I think with pre-season it is about trying new ideas, experimenting with game plans and the big part is the fitness side to things.”
Another part of what can make pre-season friendlies mind-numbing is the fact that managers use all of their substitutes during the games, including any backup keepers, which can make it a very stop-start sort of match.
To some goalkeepers, it might annoy them not to get 90 minutes each game. However, the former Boro youngster is at ease with coming off during friendlies.
He declared: “I don't mind it; I know the situation now.
“The first few games, I'll do 60 minutes and then let our second choice get some minutes in because you never know as a goalkeeper when you are going to pull up with an injury or anything like that during the season. So, whoever is on the bench needs to be ready and prepared to do a job.
“For me, I don’t mind on that level because I know the more pre-season goes on and we get towards the season I will get one or two 90 minutes in so I think it’s only fair that you play your second choice in the pre-season games because if the goalkeeper is on the bench then what is the point in coming? For pre-season games, you might as well come and get some minutes.
“So yeah, I’m quite fair on that point.”
For most teams, pre-season training officially starts in the first week of July. However, Bland alongside the goalkeepers at Whitby and goalkeeper coach Neil Ince, has been doing light sessions since the middle of June.
These extra sessions are something Bland has enjoyed and is hoping to continue next season.
He said: “We’re always speaking, all the time, Ince is a top bloke. We did a bit of a ‘pre pre-season’ shall we call it, so we got a bit of work in before we went back. He is very professional in what he does.
“He asks us what our targets are for the season, how can we deal with tough situations and how we go about our business. It is one of them, we will do one fitness training session a night and then we will do a technical/tactical session before going in with the team.
“I think pre-season this year so far has been a good one because we have had a bit more with the goalkeeper coaches and the whole goalkeeping department. It has been quite a successful one so far and long may it continue.”
Bland added: “I like my break during the off season.
“I have got two kids now, so I like to spend some time with them. It is vital to have that break but it was important for me to get back.
“Even though it was one session a week we did that for three weeks. It was important to get the cobwebs blown off and hopefully go into pre-season with more of a fresher mind and knowing what we need to work on and, blow even more cobwebs off shall I say.
“I think it has done the trick to actually get that in and then go into pre-season a lot fresher and feel a little better in myself and a little bit fitter as well.”
