£100M COACH
Bellingham, Lingard, Butland, Ibe, Redmond, Gray and Morrison... Richard Beale has nurtured some of the finest talent in the country
RICHARD BEALE doesn’t know the exact market value of the talent he’s nurtured.
The suggestion is that it exceeds £100million – by some distance.
He smiles and replies: “Academy coaching is a labour of love – you don’t go in it for the money.”
A shame that, for the former Birmingham City coach (below) who has helped realise that potential.
But what price can you put on the pride it gave him to see the latest from his personal production line – Jude Bellingham – elevated to England’s provisional Euros squad?
Beale worked with the Borussia Dortmund teenager at St Andrew’s. Along with Nathan Redmond, Jack Butland and Demarai Gray, Jesse Lingard, Jordon Ibe and Ravel Morrison also passed through his hands.
As for Bellingham, he said: “Jude came to me after he had just turned 15, in the reserves. We knew he was special. We’d actually come in on our days off to work with him.
“We did lots of technique work. Finishing, manipulating the ball in tight areas. Heading drills, lots of work with his weaker foot – repetition around that weaker foot.
“He’d been with the Under-23s for about four games. I remember a cup game at Fulham. And they had a good side. It was tight.
“He received the ball on the edge of the box. He’s chopped, turned and curled one into the top corner with his supposedly-weaker foot. As a coach, it gives you a buzz, knowing he’s worked on that.
“That was his fourth goal in as many games. He’d been training with the first-team but to do that at such a young age. Well, you know you’re looking at quality. If I’ve helped him down that path, even just a little bit, that’s great.”
What enabled the coach to recognise that talent was having seen young players such as Southampton’s Redmond and fellow
Three Lions star Butland come through the same process.
He said: “I knew what elite players looked like at that stage. I’d worked with Nathan and Demarai, so I knew. Jude stood out.
“They find solutions to problems. And they find them quickly.
“We tried to give them an environment to flourish – go through video clips with them, ask them what they could have done differently, where they might improve the outcome next time. But the defining characteristic is humility.
“We all know lots of professionals, some talented ones, who stand in the pub, telling the world what good players they were.
“The difference between those who reach a level and the ones that push through it are those who are receptive to learning.
“A lot do not possess the humility to listen. Jude, Nathan, Demarai, Jack all did. But it comes with its moments. Like the time Nathan cried four times during an Under-13s match.
“He scored a wonder goal and he’s windmilling in celebration, crying with delight. A few minutes later, still pumped with the adrenaline, he’s committed a nasty foul. The referee gave him a right talking-to. So, the waterworks started again.
“Then the opposition scored. He starts again because he’s frustrated. I brought him off because he was getting wound up. He started again.
“His mum, Michelle, starts walking towards me. I’m thinking, ‘Uh-oh, here we go’. But she couldn’t have been more supportive.
“She said, ‘If he needs telling off, you do it’. Backing like that enabled Nathan to move on.”
Beale smiles at the memories. He’s hoping Bellingham might provide a few more to savour with England at the Euros this summer.
If he does, somewhere in the heart of the country, his old mentor will be sporting another grin at yet another graduate making good.