Beyond The Box: Goalkeeping’s Untold Mindset, Mistakes and Madness
The mindset. The mistakes. The madness. This is football’s last line of defence - unfiltered. From iconic saves to brutal setbacks, Beyond the Box ® dives into the stories goalkeepers rarely tell, and no one else dares to.
Beyond The Box: Goalkeeping’s Untold Mindset, Mistakes and Madness
Dean Russell: Half a BILLION Views Before 10 - The Pressure of Being a Football Dad in a Viral World
A phone propped against a spare goal. A brave smother, a missed hug, and millions of eyes watching. That’s how Dean and his son Ollie went from a simple plan to film training to a global audience and how they learned to keep the joy of football at the centre while the internet roared around them.
We dive into the real work behind the highlight clips: parenting first, coaching second, and social media last. Dean shares how he avoids touchline over-coaching, turns the car ride home into a safe reset, and uses video to teach without labelling a child as the problem. He opens up about deleting hate, blocking bad actors, and why protecting a nine-year-old’s headspace matters more than engagement. There’s candour about culture wars too... Long hair, keyboard experts, and the strange certainty of strangers critiquing every cross.
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Just another parent trying to get his fight through his kid. You could be shining light of social media, and you could do nothing like someone will still find something wrong. We get some hideous stuff going through it sometimes. But I'm not a man that lives with regrets. The one thing I'd sound more curious about than regretful is in today's episode, we're joined by Dean Russell, also known as Ollie's Dad.
SPEAKER_03:Ollie's dad, how are you, mate?
SPEAKER_02:Um, yeah, let's just have one nowadays. Ollie Russell's dad. So if someone just says that at a bitch, I'll just turn around automatically. Oh, that's Ollie Russell's dad.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Also known as Dano. So you're you guys obviously massive on social media, like you're doing a lot of stuff, a lot of work with the OG squad. And um, I think you have a really nice dynamic because you're obviously still playing at the moment. Ollie's obviously playing as well. Give people listening and watching some insight into how that journey started, how you guys started getting big on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok.
SPEAKER_02:So it's a long story. I'll I'll keep it as brief as I can. But Ollie started his football journey playing futsal, as every little kid does, with a dad that played football as well. So they go and play footsal and then he joined a local club. Under sevens is when they make a team, which obviously needs a goalkeeper. I think that's changed now. They do three versus three now, so there's no goalkeepers at under sevens anymore. But he decided, like, no pressure before anybody calls me out on that that I pushed him in goal. Um, he decided he wanted to be a keeper. Um, and he wanted to be a keeper. He'll tell you that like I inspired him to be a keeper. He wanted to be like his dad. So I was like, well, okay, if you want to be a keeper, let's let's go for it. So we put him in a team over at Cuford. And we I wanted to really wanted to show Ollie when I was a keeper, when I was his age, but there's nothing. There's no videos, there's no pictures, um, it's just me describing what it was like to be a keeper when I was younger. But I thought, do you know what? So that he doesn't have that when he's older, let's document his journey. And we'd just come out of lockdown, obviously. So everyone had downloaded TikTok, and I saw that on TikTok there was a few like young goalkeeper accounts, and there's a nice little community of goalkeepers. So, like we started on a little TikTok page, and we had a Instagram and YouTube called Father and Son Goalkeeping, and we're literally just going to document his training from very, very beginning to saying, I want to be a goalkeeper. So, in years and years to come, he could look back, see his progression. If he ever has a kid that wants to be a goalkeeper, he can go, Oh, yeah, look at me when I was younger. This is how I grew up, and he'll have that then. So that's why we started it. Um, and we started like filming little clips and video session um training sessions so that he could learn from seeing his clips because I'm a very visual learner and Ollie's very much like me. So I thought that would help him out. And just started filming his games, and it really took off when I had to run the line at one of his games. So I put my phone against a goal post from a goal that wasn't a goal that wasn't being used at the side of a 4G. Just lent it up, put it on record, and it captured him making a save. It was to his left. He made the save and then jumped on it afterwards, just as their striker's foot came flying in, and then everyone was like, Great save. And his like defenders came over, patted him on the back, all that sort of stuff. We thought, oh yeah, that's a great save. We put it up on TikTok, and it just that one blew up. And I I can I can still remember it. We got home and I was like, I was saying to my wife, Kate, I was like, this is ridiculous. Like the numbers were coming in, it got to a hundred thousand, then it got to 200,000. I was frantically trying to flip in reply to everyone's comments to say thank you because everyone was being like really nice, saying like great save and all that sort of stuff. And then I put it down for dinner when it was on 250 after dinner. I picked it up, it was on half a million. And I was like, this is just like, and it was like glued to my phone. I was watching it, I was just watching the numbers come up. All these comments come up. I was like, I can't keep on replying to people's comments now. And it got to bedtime, we went to bed, and I said to my wife, I said, I got to put my phone down, put my phone down, it was on a million views um on TikTok. Next day, pick my phone up, two million, and it just kept on going and going. I think it got to about seven or eight million in the first week. Um, and our TikTok grew to 12,000 followers, and it was it was great fun. Do you know what I mean? It's good fun watching the numbers come in. Um, Ollie didn't quite grasp, like it was only seven. Like he couldn't grasp 12 million views or anything like that. So we thought we had our little five minutes of fame, like a couple of blue tick accounts, like sharing accounts came in. Um, I think that first one was ESPN and a couple of others, and uh they shared it. It was all it was all good, it was really exciting. We thought, yeah, we've had our little five minutes, we'll just carry on doing what we're doing. So I kept on training him, and obviously Ben Foster had his GoPro in a goal. I had a GoPro, so instead of getting my phone out every five seconds, when the ball went near Ollie, I thought I'll just put a GoPro in a goal and uh push record, then I won't have to keep on being distracted by filming him. So I think it was like the second game that we had the GoPro in the goal, and it got his yes Ollie. So like it was 2-2 the last minute, and they broke forward, took a shot, he saved it, got up, booted the ball off the line, proper yeeted the ball like miles away instead of just picking it up. He just ran up and booted it, and then his defender was come up to you. He's like, Yes, Ollie! And there was a whole load of elements to that video, like it was the awkwardness of the fact that Ollie missed the hug and then went for it when his defender was walking away, and um, the camaraderie between the team, and obviously he was seven years old, and the sweetness of it all, and but that one just went ballistic. I think that one hit like three million in the first day, like it just went crazy. Woke up in the morning and everyone was in our inbox. Um ESPN, sports center. I think the Olympics shared it. Uh, 433, Sport Bible, Lab Bible, Memes R, everyone. Um, and it just kept on going and going and going and going. Um, and to date now, I think that video across the platforms has got over 200 million views.
SPEAKER_03:Bloody hell.
SPEAKER_02:Um, it was just mental.
SPEAKER_03:I can see like when you're describing it, like there is a bit of emotion there. Yeah, 100%. And I can sense that there's this overriding sense of pride, not just in what you guys have built together as a as a family, but also as well of him documenting his journey and he'll be able to look back on all these great moments. And I think a lot of parents, when they're watching their kids play football, particularly parents who are goalkeepers, because goalkeeping is such a hard position to watch emotionally as a parent. Yeah, when you look at his journey from the age of seven through to where he is now, and I've been lucky enough to work with him as a coach, he's a great kid. What are what are the feelings? What are the thoughts that come to your mind when you think about his journey and what are some of the things that you've had to contend with as a parent, but also now both of you as social media personalities?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, there's a there's a lot in that that we can go into. So I love watching him develop, um, which has been amazing. Um, so from watching him, from my point of view as a parent, like I'm still learning my place as um as a parent, but also as his coach, because like you say, goalkeeping is a very individual and specialised position. I've been a goalkeeper for over 32 years, and it's really tough when, like, obviously, Grassworth's football is a couple of dads that run the football team and they've played out on pitch. So naturally, I know more about goalkeeping than the coaches do, but I don't want to stand on their toes. So kind of find finding that balance as a parent from the sideline and not overly coaching Ollie because that doesn't help him during a game either. Um, they were kind enough to let me like do the warm-ups for him and stuff, so I could do a proper warm-up with him, um, appropriate to his age, obviously. Um, but also finding that balance of my place as a parent on the side, um, it's really, really hard because you're emotionally invested, especially the goalkeeper when they've got nothing to do and then all of a sudden everything to do. Um, so I'm still on that journey. It's a journey for me as a parent to not bark stuff at him and find that balance of positive, constructive criticism. Um, and not even criticism, like if he does something in a game, I won't say it to him at a time. If the ball, when the ball's gone clear, I might say from the side, like Ollie, like just at the last one, maybe you could have done this instead of that. And and he knows it now as well. Like, but that's something that we've built together through two and a half years of him being in goal, is that understanding how to talk to each other. I know how to manage Ollie, I know how he responds best to doing something better. If I shout and bark at him, he'll shut down. Um, there's a there's a certain way in which you need to address things with Oli for it to go in and for him to take it on board and and actually um put it into his game. So as a parent, I've been on the journey, and watching Ollie develop is just it's hard because week in, week out, it's you see it all the time. Like I see it every single day. So I only ever see like the small improvements a bit, but then we go and see someone that hasn't seen him for a while, and they're like, he's improved loads, and he's done this and that. And but watching him take things in, learn, and then put them into his game is is amazing. I love seeing him grow, I love seeing him grow as a person in himself, um, his character coming forward. Um, he watches me play sometimes as well. And if I do something or if I say something in the dressing room, I've seen him then copy that and say it to his players. Um, which when I hear that, I'm like, Flippineki, he's he's listening to everything I say. Like I went to a charity match, I'd never played with these lads before. And in a team talk at the beginning, I said to him, Look, lads, like I don't mind having it back to my feet. Um, just make sure that if you do pass it back to my feet, that you're dropping into space so that I've got somewhere to pass it out to. Um, and then Oli joined a new team, and that was one of the first things that he said to his new team. He literally said, like word for word, um, exactly what I said to them. And I was like, if Beneki listens to everything um and takes it all on board, and because I'm so close to Ollie, we know each other, I know how to talk to Ollie, how to coach Ollie, and what's best for him to listen. But it's not all about me. He also has a goalkeeper coach who's learned over the over the times of coaching him how to talk to Ollie. Um so watching him grow has been amazing. Um but then on the social media side of stuff, um, obviously I manage all the accounts, so we get loads of people that have been following Ollie's journey that are really, really positive. We do get the negativity as well, and I'm sure we'll go on to talk about that. Um but Ollie genuinely couldn't care less about reading comments, like he never reads comments, he never looks at how many bad views his videos had or anything like that. He just a nine-year-old kid literally couldn't care less about like the the social media stuff. It gives him unreal experiences that we've that we've been on, and social media or no social media would still spend the same time together because we both share a passion. Um but he he literally couldn't care less. But yeah, I manage the the comments and I don't engage with negativity. Like I'll say thank you and talk to people that are positive, that are on the journey. We've had loads of people say some really positive things about um about our channel, um, and any negativity. If it's if it's just a negative comment, I'll delete it. If they're bang out of order, then I'll block them. Like I'm we're not here to entertain trolls. Um, I don't get in an argument with them, I don't bite back at them, I just get blocked. Um but yeah, that's uh that's how I'm seeing Oli's journey. It's brilliant. I love it.
SPEAKER_00:So a lot of question. There's so many different angles we can hit this from, from being Ollie being on social media and press pressure and expectation, views, self-worth. But I think a really interesting point to look at this is so KP was just in Bermuda doing a parents' workshop. I've done it in Sunderland parents' workshops, and one of the things that we see in football is sideline coaching. Yeah, like coaches, they they sideline coaching parents shouting from the sideline.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so how do you find it like on the side? Because my dad used to stand behind the goal, literally breathing behind me like fire, telling me, coaching me, and then the car journey home was hell. Yeah, like it was hell for me. So, how do you address like the car journey home? Let's say he's he's not done so well, ES and the car. How do you approach that situation?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so like I said, it's a journey for myself as a parent. When he first started playing, it's I think the most frustrating thing is when you see him training something and doing really well, and then in a game like doesn't do it, it's I think it's impossible to emotionally detach yourself from your son or daughter playing football. Um, it's an emotional sport, but I think as a parent, I've grown to control those emotions a little bit more. I think there's only been one game really where Ollie had an absolute stinker and like I got upset with him. And then afterwards I was eating myself up about it and kicking myself like is it's under sevens football, is it really worth getting like that upset about it? And um like the the car journey back, like quiet. Um and since then I've learned from myself um about being positive with Ollie. Um if he has a bad game, I I even put a a a post out which I'll I'll talk about in a second.
SPEAKER_01:But like if he has a bad game to be positive with him, to keep his chin up, um and then when he's calmed down, then we can talk about things that he could have done better or not even talk about them.
SPEAKER_02:Like I'm watching him, I know what he could have done better, and then I will incorporate that within any sort of like training that we're doing that week um to look at addressing what he could have done and making it better. Um, without him knowing so much about it, without him saying that you you were rubbish at this this week, let's let's do it. I'll just incorporate into whatever little training sessions that we're doing to try and make him better. Um I try to be responsible as a parent and not be that one shouting from the sidelines. I mean, I've been stood next to some horrendous parents um in the game, like one parent that made his kid cry um after the game, and it was literally because a girl uh because there's a girl that played in Ollie's team, she was really, really good. She still is really good, she plays for an academy. Um and she skinned this one lad and her dad made her made him cry about it. Um I was like, I don't want to be that that person, and I don't want Ollie growing up with me as the dad that was too harsh on him. I think it's very much about a balance of positivity, but not being too airy-fairy about everything, it's all sunshine and roses, but not the the he's so young. I want him to enjoy football. Um I don't want him to come out thinking oh my dad's gonna slaughter me from that. Um I want him to still enjoy it. Um, but also addressing what he could have done better and working on it in a way that's n that's not gonna make him feel degraded or um or negative in a way that will build him up. Um I try and stay very much Ollie led like um because I don't want him to be that person that that dislikes the game because because I was going at him all the time. Um but it's hard, it's it is hard. Um and it's finding that balance as a parent and and having a young lad. He's only nine and he's been playing in golf for two and a half years, um, he's got loads of time. Um I'll start I think as he grows, then we can start ramping up the pressure a little bit because you can't pretend like there isn't pressure, uh you can't pretend like the mistakes aren't being accountable, but that can come when he gets a bit older. Um, I think at this young age, I want to try and develop him as much as I can whilst he's young and but whilst also maintaining his enjoyment and excitement for the game. Um and that's my job as a parent, learning that balance um without it affecting Ollie too much.
SPEAKER_00:So you said about balance, so as you're talking there, obviously you're a parent first, and then you you're a goalkeeper coach, yeah, and then kind of you're a social media manager, right? He's not paying director, yeah. So, how do you find how do you find that balance and getting that balance right? How hard do you find it? And then the other question is you said about ramping up the pressure. I want to know what that pressure is, yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_02:So the balance, I'm very fortunate in the fact that I own a seasonable season water sports business. So in the summer we have our high season, in the winter, obviously, it slows down. So because I own the business, I can kind of dictate or I can manipulate when I'm there, when I'm not there, all that sort of stuff. So I am available for doing a lot of those tasks. Um, it's a lot to take on as just a parent taken into football. The parents across the country can sympathize with that and the fact that like it's a commitment. As a goalkeeper coach, obviously it's a specialised area. Most of the coaches within his grassroots teams are outfield players and they don't really have that much of an understanding of the position. Um, but to be honest, a lot of them have been very gracious in the fact that they understand the fact that I've been a goalkeeper for 30 years, so they're happy for me to kind of like do the coaching with him. Um when he has his coaching, his team coaching on a Tuesday, I'll leave him to it. Um, and then when they do like if they take him away and do some specific goalkeeper coaching, they're happy for me to have a little input from the side. But I also want his coaches to be his coaches, do you know what I mean? Um social media manager um is a full-time job in itself, um because we get uh thousands of comments. Comments are the main things that you kind of gotta watch. Um and uh I literally see every single comment that comes in. Um like my wife will tell me that I'm glued to my phone too much, my screen time's ridiculous, but it's because I'm checking every comment that comes in because I think that hate breeds hate. And if if any, and people will put hate comments on, you could you could be shining light of social media, you could do nothing wrong, and someone will still find something wrong. It doesn't matter, like or someone will still rage bait or say something that they don't believe to try and get a reaction. Um, that happens all the time. But if a hate comment comes in, I'll delete it because I think if you leave it, someone else will see that comment and then think that it's okay. Oh yeah, they've said that. I can say that as well. And then you get more of them and more of them, and then they start thinking that it's okay to jump on that bandwagon and start hating and stuff like that, even though Ollie doesn't read the comments, his friends might. Um, he might when he's a bit older. So I'd kind of nip it in the bud before it gets too bad. So, social media manager is very time consuming because I sanitize everything that comes through. Um, we get some hideous stuff come through sometimes. Um, and sometimes it's directed at Ollie, sometimes it's directed at me, but I don't engage in arguments because that's what they want. They want the rise, they want other people to agree. They want to drop a comment criticizing something and then see how many people like that comment.
SPEAKER_03:What's what's some of the worst stuff that you've had? Oh, because I think I don't think people appreciate how toxic it can be.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, it's really bad. Um, just recently, are we allowed to swear on this? Yeah. So just recently, we had a middle-aged bloke who's a father himself because you can see his profile picture on his Facebook and everything like that. Um, he said he will never make it as a pro. Um, his parents are deluded retards, he is shit in capital letters. And that's a middle-aged bloke who's sat down, watched a video, and thought, yeah, I'm gonna comment that. And not once. He then put another comment underneath saying he is shy in capital letters. What to an eight-year-old, nine-year-old kid? To a nine-year-old kid. Um, and I don't know what he thinks he's going to achieve with that or where or what's going on in his life. Um, but whatever it is that's consuming him in his life that he's got to be that hateful towards a nine-year-old, that's his issues. Um, my page ain't the page to wear it, mate.
SPEAKER_00:So saying hurt people, hurt people.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, it's it's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00:Um when them comments come in, yeah. I'll just be like, you obviously got some problems in your own life and projecting.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Like it's a really hard. So as I'm you're talking about this and saying, like the filter in the comments, I'm like, is it because it's all about balance, right? Is it really hard balance to be like, well, yeah, do I do I protect him from the bad and only show him the good? But then if he only sees the good and not the bad, yeah, am I going to do you find that conflict quite hard? Like to get the the balance right? It's like the constant praise, praise, praise without the criticism. Does he know he does he even know he gets it? Does he have it?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he knows, he knows that I delete comments and he knows that some comments come in, but like I said, he doesn't read them. And where we're saying about the balance is that he's nine years old and he doesn't read the comments, so it doesn't matter how many positive comments we keep on and how many negatives, he'll have plenty of time to deal with that in his life. Wherever his career takes him, whether he makes uh something of himself as a goalkeeper, or whether it's a social media goalkeeper, whether he doesn't want to be a goalkeeper at all and wants to do something else in his life, that's that's up to Ollie. Um, but I think as he grows older, we can start addressing those sorts of things. Um where at the moment at nine, I'll protect him as a father. Um and as he gets older, obviously he's gonna start reading comments. Uh there's gonna be a point where like he'll be in and on our social media as as much as uh as much as I am. So it's kind of I will prepare him for that, but I think at nine it's just a bit too young.
SPEAKER_00:Does he have a phone or not?
SPEAKER_02:Not not with a SIM card. Um so he has a phone um that he just uses as like a tablet. He connects to the internet. We we kind of like we watch what's on his phone and stuff like that. He doesn't have access to TikTok or YouTube or anything like that yet. Um that will come with age. Um so I mean, call call us a little bit old school with parenting and stuff like that. I think I think nine's a bit too young for kids to have access to the internet. Um my wife works a lot with young people and and their online activities as well. So we're kind of we're quite clued up with kids and internet and access, all that sort of stuff. And so that time will come when they'll have access to that sort of thing, but not yet.
SPEAKER_03:That's a big point though, because like if for example, whenever I go out to dinner, I don't know if you see this as well, whenever I go out to dinner and I look around the restaurant, you always see kids around Ollie's age where they're just sat on a tablet, they're not interacting with their parents and not developing any social skills, and they're just on an electronic device. I've worked with Ollie, so I know what he's like as a character and as a personality. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, let me tell you that. But he he is a larger-than-life character, and I think a lot of that's probably the consequence of how you and your wife probably are at home with him in terms of that conversation. So obviously he's in the social media world, and that has its pros and its cons. But are you actively educating him on these things in terms of the reasons why you're doing the things that you do with him and the way that you do them with him?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he he's heard me talk enough about why we're doing what we're doing. Um, he understands it. Um sometimes I'll I'll I'll have an idea for a video, and he'll be like, nah, that's embarrassing, dad. So we won't we won't do it. So he knows that it goes out there. Um, he has an understanding of how many people watch his videos because of how many times we get stopped in public and ask for a photo um wherever we go, um, Orton Towers, a football mat, Egypt. Um, like he'll get recognised. So he understands it. Um he's he's happy with it, like, because I do share with him the really positive comments that come in. So we get a lot of kind of testimonies from people that will say how much Ollie's encouraged them. Um we get a lot of we get a lot of comments and messages from older boys that said that it's lovely to see our journey because they've been through it. Um we get comments from people around my age that are going through it. We get comments from a large spectrum of of age groups that have all been through the journey. And I think it's because a lot of our social media stuff we keep very organic. Um, we I hold myself accountable to friends um outside of my life. So when we started social media and started getting big, I spoke to a friend in Canada and I was like, mate, can you just watch our channel? And if we start, if I start becoming a bit of a social media wanker, then let me know. Um, because that's not the direction that I want to go. And I just wanted to be held accountable that I wasn't taking it in that direction, getting caught up in everything, and uh everything that we do is actually just me and Ollie, our relationship, goalkeeping. We do a couple of little social media posts like every now and then, but the crux of it is is me coming to the end of my playing career, handing the goalkeeper batten over to Ollie in the family as long as he wants it. Um, and at the moment, he flipping loves it. Um he loves being a goalkeeper, but it's very, very Ollie, Ollie focused. Um I'm directed by how he's feeling another c another comment that we get all the time is oh, just another parent trying to live his failed dream through his kid all the time. We get it all the time, and I think there's two things to that is one. Is that maybe that that's their projection of how their parents have been with them or how they are, um, or also maybe that's what they're getting from our videos, but it couldn't be any further from the actual case. But like you could you could tell people that that's not the case, they won't believe you. So I just I just let it go. Um, like we we tried loads of hobbies with Ollie, it hasn't always been football, it hasn't been like you will only play football, you will go in goal, you will do this. Like, he's done gymnastics, he's done CrossFit, he's done all sorts of different hobbies. He comes back to football, he just loves football. With I don't know what it is with with English lads, they just love football. Um, they just keep on coming back to football. It's just ingrained in the culture, I think. Um, but I'm there to support Ollie and as he grows as a footballer, but I'm also there to support Ollie if he doesn't want to be a footballer. If you don't want to be a footballer, then I'll talk to him about it and make sure that he's making that decision for the right choice, right reasons. And we're rolling I just want Ollie to be happy, whether that's playing football or working in McDonald's or any other fast food restaurant. Um as long as he's happy and making the right choices about what he wants to do, then I'll support him. Um and it's probably stemmed from my childhood and um my experiences, um, why my career never took off. Um one, probably because I wasn't quite good enough, and two because like I I I came that 18-year-old that as every 18-year-old probably comes to at one point in life where you can either take football more seriously or you can take the easy route of getting a job, going out and drinking and chatting up girls. And my my family life was a bit chaotic at the time, and I chose the easy route because I didn't have at the time a strong father figure or any sort of like strong male role model around me that could have talked to me about my decisions and my long-term coin uh plans or anything like that. So I just want to be to Ollie, maybe what I never had at the time.
SPEAKER_03:What what was that?
SPEAKER_02:Steady family life, um a a father figure that was there. But my my dad I have a wonderful relationship with my dad, but now but through like my parents separated when I was younger like five and my mum got remarried. My dad is a publican, he's moved around different pubs and everything. And we at times we've lived a long way from each other, so um wasn't there all the time. But he's like he did the best that he could do given his circumstances and where he was. I went and lived with him when I was 13 for a year. Um but it was just my my mum had a stepdad, uh my mum remarried, I had a stepdad. Um but we never really clicked. He tried um to be um as involved with my football as possible. He wasn't a goalkeeper, um and he and he did try. But uh it was when my mum and my stepdad um separated, it got really, really messy. My dad wasn't uh in my life as much at that time. And I was playing for Dover Athletics Academy. Um it was called the Pace Scheme then program for academic and sporting excellence. So we did like college and full-time football. Um but I had no one to turn to, so decisions were just made off my own back at 18 years old. Um I stand by those decisions, like I've had a wonderful life because each decision has led me in different ways. Um where my footballing could have gone, I don't know. Like maybe I could have played National League level um somewhere around there. That was probably the peak of my talents if I'd have stuck with it. But I didn't. Now when I explain it like that, then I can see how people will come to the conclusion that I'm trying to live my failed career through the bad decisions that I made through Ollie. But it's not if Ollie ever got to that age where he faces that crossroads, all I want to be there is to I want to be there for him to help him make an informed decision about what he wants to do, what he wants to achieve, where he wants to go. It's his decision though. Um if he decides not to play football, then that's up to him. It's he's not living it for me. It's all good.
SPEAKER_00:So it sounds like what you want for him is like a strong male role model. Yeah. And something I picked up on, you said about like helping him make the right decisions. And as a parent, this is one thing people struggle with because we want to do the best for our kids, right? But how do we ever know if we make the right decisions? Right? So that's one thing you we don't, we never know. And you said about your decision, your decisions have led you on the path to where you are now. So you obviously made some good decisions, bad decisions. But if you could here's a question, if you change any decisions to change to where you get to now, would you change them?
SPEAKER_02:It's a great question. Um no, so because I like where I am now, but I'm not a man that lives with regrets. The one thing I'd sound more curious about than regretful is where my goalkeeping could have got if I'd have stuck with it. But then I it's it's easy to look back and say I regret making that decision. And if my life wasn't what it is now through decisions that I've made as a consequence of making that decision, then I could look back and regret regret it. Where I think if my life hadn't turned out as it had now, if it was a bit crap, then I could look easily look back and regret that decision. Um but I think I've made some good life choices, which has led me to where I am now. Um and it's all experiences. Um we live through experience. I don't want to make decisions for Ollie. Um I just want I want him to make his decisions. Uh in the future, obviously he's nine years old at the moment. We're talking like when he's in his teens. Um and I want them to be Ollie's decisions, I'll just help him to make informed decisions about what he wants to do.
SPEAKER_00:Like a support, yeah. Yeah, so it's a I find it's really hard. It is being a parent, and being a parent's hard.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, really hard.
SPEAKER_00:It's really hard because you're always trying to do what, like the right things, but you never the thing is, you never know, do you? It's a hindsight thing, and then we look back and we're like, and there's a really good point I wanted to pick up on. It's like sometimes we're looking to make the the right decisions, but we never know, and we sometimes have to make them decisions right, yeah. So they lead us down the path because we're always going, what's the right decision, what's the wrong decision, and we end up making a lot of time no decisions, so we just stay stuck. But it's about I think as a parent, and it's just sticking out like the main thing for you is it's it's supporting Ollie, it's supporting him, it's being there for him, it's being a like a role model, a male role model for him that you didn't have, so it's like a void that you had, yeah, which you want to now fill. So it's you doing the the best that you can for him, and it's I think it's really, really cool because sometimes we can go, oh, you see the bad side, right? Yeah oh it's a like you said, the yeah, it's this parent doing this and it's doing that, but actually you're just enjoying the journey with him. You're trying to enjoy the journey with him and have a shared shared experience. Yeah, does that about right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and like the whole thing about decision making and everything like that is very deep, and that's very much within my mindset, where my relationship with Ollie at the moment isn't as deep as that because he's only nine years old. So my relationship with Ollie is all about fun development with all of this stuff going on in the back of my head, um, and all of that, and just letting Ollie enjoy what he's doing at the moment and with goalkeeping, and because of our social media and how much it's blown up, the experiences that we've managed to experience together as a father and son are unbelievable. Um, and I don't know if he realizes it now or whether he'll realize it a bit later on, like how fortunate he is to get these experiences that we're getting. Um, like Sign to One Glove is just incredible. Like he comes down and does photo shoots, he's done an advert with David Raya. Um, we get invited to Arsenal to do a video in their hospitality, like all these amazing experiences that we get because of what social media's kind of given us, um, because of our following. And we just have a blast. We have the best time doing it. Like, and I think he will recognize it when he gets older. But at the moment, I just want him to enjoy the experience, enjoy the ride. Like, I always say to people with social media, we never played for this hand. Like, if you see it as a like a game of cards, we never played for this hand when we started our social media, but we've been dealt it. This is the hand we've been dealt. We're gonna play it and have a bloody good time doing it as well, which is what we are. We're having an absolute blast. Um, like we just have fun, like genuinely have fun, and um the experience, and I think the experiences grow us closer as far as we're we're so close, me and Ollie. Um, like we just we just enjoy hanging out together. Um, and it doesn't matter whether it's playing football, goalkeeping, or going to the cinema, or just messing around doing something, like we we just have a great time like hanging out together.
SPEAKER_00:Has it kind of become his normal now? Because I have this with Callum as well. So Callum obviously we work with professional footballers, and he like let's let's say he goes to meet all these players that we I work with and we work with, and then he goes around the stage around their house, yeah, and then after a game he's on the pitch playing football, and I'm like, You do not realize you have no idea, like that people would pay money for like these experiences, and that it's just become a not it's just become a normal. Like sometimes I'll be like, Do you want to go to this? Do you want to and then go to there? Nah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I'm gonna play on Xbox.
SPEAKER_00:I'm like, Are you serious? Like, you're serious, yeah. Like you you do not understand how lucky you are, like you get to spend time with a Premier League footballer, nah, yeah, because it's become then which is a really good thing as well. Oh yeah, because it's it's become the normal, they're like overawed by celebrities, or it's just like, oh, it's just that person. Yeah, and we realise it's just people, so it's it's really cool that you get that. I 100% get that about the ex sharing the experiences together. So the last kind of question I've got for this is do you find it hard? Because we do want to be friends with our kids, right? And then we have that balance again. Talk about balance. A lot of it's about balance, right? Yeah, there is no such thing as balance, yeah. It's a balanced sin. We are juggling many balls, right? So we're juggling many balls. How do you find the balance between being that Ollie's friend and having experience, and then being a parent and the discipline side as well?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, oh with that, it's I do discipline him, I'm not just his mate. Um, and I try and learn from every experience. So as growing as a parent and learning Ollie as he grows, I understand his boundaries and I understand my boundaries as a parent when because we're all emotionally driven, and if I find myself getting too emotional, I will step away from something. Um but as much as being his friend is great, he's a good kid. Like he doesn't need disciplining too much, but he does overstep the mark sometimes, and I do rein him in. Um I've never I've never gone, I've never had to go full bore shouting at him. Um but he's done he's done stuff before which is need disciplining, and I do discipline him, and because we've got that respect as parent and child, as well as just mates, because I don't think it is good just to be a mate. Um, I think your child has to see you as a parent as well. And because we do have that understanding and that relationship, if I do tell him off, I know exactly how he's going to respond. He'll go quiet, he'll think about what he's done, and he will apologize. And that is just Ollie's nature. He will do that. Um, he just needs a moment to think it through. Um, and then gather himself, and then he will come. Like, he hates doing wrong. Like, his moral compass is ridiculous. Like, he is a bit of a goody two shoes. Like, and if he has done wrong, it will chew him up. Um I can tell you a funny story actually, just from Nationals this year. So I left him with a GoPro to shoot some like behind the scenes, and I told him, like, obviously, don't shoot in sensitive areas. This is like when you're going to and from the football or like having dinner or something like that. And I think he got a bit carried away with his friends, and he dropped the S-word, and it and I think he thought it was on the camera. So he came home from Nationals and we and he was acting weird. And we was like, something's not right with Ollie. I was like, mate, has anything happened? Has anybody said anything to you? No, no, no, no, no, no. A week he played up to this, and he was like, Oh, dad, have you watched the footage back yet from the nationals? Have you done this? Have you done that? And I was like, something is wrong here. Like, and I had we it was like, mate, has something happened? He's like, no, no, no. And honestly, we were on our way to a football match. He was in the back of the car, threw up, wasn't ill, he was just sick. And I don't know if it was through anxiety of knowing what he had done. And we cleaned him up and everything like that. He went and played his foot match, come back. And he finally, like, this was like a week and a half later, he came out, he was like, Dad, like when I was at Nationals, um, where had the guy, and I'm I might have said shit uh on the camera. And mate, it was chewing him up inside, absolutely chewing him up. Um, and at that point, it was really, really hard to discipline him because with me and my wife both just was like, was that it? Like you you physically, like you've been sick with the anxiety of worrying about this. Um, so we sat down and explained to him that he knows about like bad words and he hears them and like not to repeat them and all that sort of stuff. Um, but he's getting to that age now where his friends are starting to swear. Um, everybody has different parenting styles. Some parents are absolutely fine with their nine-year-old swearing, some people aren't. Um again, that will cut, especially playing football, that will come up through through his ages of playing football and stuff like that. But at this age, we we try to steer him away from it. And because we steer him away from that, and they know that they're bad words, but they're not to use them. Um, when he did use one, getting carried away with the lads at nationals, I imagine, um, it's chewed him up, absolutely chewed him up. Um, but yeah, I think it is important to be a parent as well as a friend.
SPEAKER_03:Um, it sounds like that moral compass though comes strongly from from you and your wife. And I just wonder, it is really strong moral compass because most kids are that age, they've heard swear words, they're saying them all the time. Let's let's be honest here.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100%. But Sophia saw the other day and she's free. It's not gonna get me on Facebook. She could be confident me.
SPEAKER_03:I wonder though, like, do you think you are so mindful of of that relationship that you have with him and and you are very nurturing of his behaviour because of the relationship or or the lack of relationship that you had with your dad at that age?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, um, I think so. In regards to like with the swearing, like I'm a I'm born-again Christian at 19, I stopped swearing. So swearing isn't in my everyday vocabulary anyway. Um, like like we said on this podcast, like I say it if I'm repeating something, but I genuinely don't go around swearing, and we don't swear in front of the kids, um, which is where that comes from. Um, obviously, and I'm not criticizing any parent that does. Um, everybody has their different parenting styles. I'd choose not to swear in front of the kids. Um, but that's just where me and my wife have both fallen with regards to like how we conduct ourselves around our kids. Um, we don't like like Kate barely swears anyway, and like, and I don't swear in my day-to-day vocabulary. So I think the kids see swearing as more serious than some of the other kids do.
SPEAKER_03:Um, is that gonna change though as he gets older? Because naturally in football, you're gonna be exposed to it, aren't you?
SPEAKER_00:And YouTube videos, like I listen to Carl's YouTube videos, and I'm like, I know sometimes I swear on stuff, hence why Sophia swore the other day. Yeah, yeah. Matter of learning, yeah. You go, here's one for you. I kicked a table, went F it. Yeah, right. And she was on a little Kindle, which is how she can have little game times, and she was with her granddad, and I was in the kitchen, and he went, I've got something to talk to you about. I was like, what's going on? She's on the she's on a little game, and then she gets it wrong and she went, oh and then she brought again. She's like, oh I'm like, I was like, where did you get that from? It was when I kicked the table the other day. You're saying about children being sponges and they uh yeah, they they take everything in.
SPEAKER_02:And I think as they grow as well, and their friendship groups and their peers that they get stronger, they will start to learn things from friends other than just parents. Like, obviously, as they're growing up at the younger age, they get a lot from their parents, and then when they form their friendship groups and move into teenagers, especially with football teams. Like, I grew up in a football team like from under 11s to under-17s. I was in the same team, and we grew really, really close. And you take more from your friendship groups than you do with your parents. Um, and then obviously swearing he's gonna come in. Ollie's gonna start swearing. I like I'm not delusional to think that he's gonna be a little like goody two shoes, halo over his head for all of his life. He will, as he grows up, he will get that. Um, but that's again as he grows up. Like, I've heard some kids, even at Ollie's age now, swearing on a football pitch, like aggressively swearing as well. I'm like flipping heck, and he hears TV programs or films or YouTube or stuff like that that will have swearing in, he knows what swearing is. Um, he just at nine he's at that age where he knows not to not to do it at home. Um, but as he grows up, especially in a football world, um, I mean, my manager was the worst for it. And then like managers nowadays don't seem as bad. Well, like my manager would test strips of us under 12s.
SPEAKER_03:Um that's what you had in the car journey home, though.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I loved our manager. Timmy Todd, his name was he's absolute legend of a bloke. But you wouldn't, well, it was like very much from the Alex Ferguson sort of school of managing, and like you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him. Yeah, the coaching back then is a lot different to the coaching now. Um, even from a goalkeeper, like goalkeeper coaching now. Like I tell Ollie, you don't know how good you got it. Like with the availability of good goalkeeper coaching, specific goalkeeper coach. When I was younger, we didn't have none of that. Uh like even at the level that I played, like folks in Invicta was what step three at the time. And I grew up from under-11s to under-17s, and the most goalkeeper coaching I ever had was training with a first-team goalkeeper. And like, we never had the level of goalkeeper coaching that we got now, so readily available as well, um, be it online or just like finding a local goalkeeper coach. Um, it's so much better now. Um, I'm learning. I've been in goal for 32 years and I'm learning stuff now that never got taught to me. Um, and I think it's brilliant. Um, but maybe the game of football has changed, and the way that people manager and manage, uh, especially teenagers, um, is a bit different to that era. But I mean, I had a great time growing up playing in that team. Like we were all so close, and we had such a good bond from being. And if there's one thing that I do want for Ollie, it's to be part of that team where we can grow with a really good group of lads and experience that camaraderie and um that togetherness as a team. Um, because I'd I'll take everything from that. I absolutely loved it when I was growing up being part of that team.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I 100% agree. Like, that's my best core memory, is love like being a part of a really good group, yeah, especially in football. Yeah, but you'll find that when players struggle, they're not in a good environment and put them in a good environment and they thrive. So it's all about your environment. Have you got any for doing this? Have you got any fears for Ollie in the future? So have you got any worries about the social media side or like discussing with your wife? Is there any any you got any apprehensions or fears or worries about doing what you do?
SPEAKER_02:Social media wise, I think my I think my biggest worry is that one day he'll turn around and just think that I'm really cringy and like stop doing stop doing socials with me. Um, but I mean if he wants to go and do that, then that's fine. Um, with regards to the world of social media and it being like and the hate that I gotta say, like 99% of the stuff that comes in is very positive, and only one and a very small percentage of it is hate. And that I think that's part of our job as his parents, mine and Kate, is to educate and make Ollie aware that that stuff exists, and also be compassionate towards the fact that we don't know these people at all. You don't know what's going on in their life, why they are, what they are. Um, and it's just a comment um that you can choose to affect you, or you can choose not to let it affect you. Um that comment that I told you earlier, that was the first time that I got really, really angry over a comment. Um, all the others I've just kind of like like we we get we get silly ones all the time. Like um a lot of people calling Ollie a girl because he's got long hair. Um it's totally his choice. He wants he he likes his long hair. Um, obviously it stemmed from the whole Haaland thing, but now I've talked to him about having it cut off and he's like, no, I like it. Um like he gets it braided and stuff like that, and he's he's happy to keep it. Um but because social media goes around the world, there's lots of other cultures that aren't used to a boy having long hair, and it really offends a lot of people the fact that Ollie's got long hair, um, to the extent where they feel like they've got a comment, and we're just like, mate, just let it go. It's just you don't know how popular long hair is with boys in the UK. There's loads of boys that have got long hair in the UK, um, and it all stems from like look at like Haaland and stuff, like they're the people they look up to, they want their hairstyles. Um, but Ollie loves his hair, we get a lot of comments about his hair. Um, but I always say to people, with regards to comments and people that do, in your everyday walk of life, you will meet people where you think, oh, he's a bit weird, or like I don't like his character or his vibe or anything like that, and you choose not to spend time with those people um because you just you don't like their vibe or they're a bit weird, or people just generally sometimes are assholes. Um those people exist online, they have a profile, and it could be them that's just dropping one of these messages or one of these um comments. Um so you're better off just ignoring it and moving on with your day and choose letting it and choosing not to let it affect you. Um instead of letting it if you if you sit there and just and it eats you up, then um then maybe social media isn't the place for you. Um if Ollie, when he grows up, sees those sorts of comments and he really, really doesn't like them, then you got options, turn the comments off or stop doing social media. Um, and if he wants to stop doing social media, then then that's up to him. Um if he doesn't want to be that, then but I think he does see all the stuff that he gets from social media with regards to like the experiences and stuff like that, and it is generally all positive. Like when it when he meets people and they want his photo, they're photograph with him and stuff like that. And like it's it's funny because he does have his little pose that he does for photos, so if someone asks for a photo, he'll always stand there and go with his little thumbs up, um, which is great. We've never experienced anybody face to face that's been negative towards us. Um, it's always just some sort, some keyboard warrior from half around around the world or wherever they are. Um, but yeah, it's a funny old world in it, social media. Um, you just out there, everyone can see in. Like I said, it was never our intentions to get this big. Um, it was just documenting Ollie's journey, and everybody's on for the ride now as well. And do you know the funniest thing is that everybody seems to think that like we get a lot of like, oh, we'll never make it pro, or if Ollie doesn't make it pro, I don't know who we will, and all that sort of stuff. And we do get a few hate comments with regards to people like, oh, like he's never gonna make it, all this sort of stuff. I've never once said he was gonna make it. Like, I've never ever once said that Ollie's the best goalkeeper in the country at his age, or he's exceptional, or he's this and that, or anything like that. That's a narrative that the internet just argues amongst themselves. Um, it's not come from me. Like, I've never painted Ollie to be the example of a nine-year-old goalkeeper. Um, he's not he's a good goalkeeper. There's better nine-year-old goalkeepers, and I'm not digging Ollie out, it's just it's just the way it is. Um, you can't always be the best in the country at anything, um, with obviously the very small exception of the number one or number two, but it's just a lad enjoying his goalkeeper journey, seeing it where it takes him. If he doesn't make it as a professional goalkeeper, if he doesn't get good enough or height, if he doesn't get tall enough to make it as an elite goalkeeper, then um because my side of the family is quite tall, my wife's side of the family is very short. So, and he at the moment is probably about average height. Um, but if he doesn't make it, if he only makes it to five foot eight or something, then be the best cult goalkeeper that you can be at that height, or what the best level that you can play at. Um, but if he doesn't make it as a professional goalkeeper, then he's got a life as a social media goalkeeper if he wants it.
SPEAKER_03:And that's what I was gonna ask. What's next for Ollie? Because obviously he's he's still so young, he's nine years old. You're going on this journey together and you're building something very, very special. Yeah. He's got so much, I suppose there's so many different avenues he could take his career. What is what is it that you maybe envision for him as a father? Because I think every father has a vision for for their son or their daughter. Yeah. What's your vision for him and what could you maybe see his vision being for himself, maybe?
SPEAKER_02:He he he A nine-year-old kid, he wants to be a professional goalkeeper. Yeah, if you ask Ollie, like what do you want to do when you're older? I want to be a professional goalkeeper, I want to play for Arsenal. Um, I'm not delusional to think that like he's going to definitely be that. Making it as a professional goalkeeper is very, very hard. And there's a lot of percentage that fail, um, and a very, very small amount that do make it. Um, I will support him if that's what he wants to do, to the best I can to make it along that path. Um, where if it comes to a point, like if he gets picked up by an academy when he's like 13, 14, then obviously the social media stuff's going to slow down because you can't put a GoPro in your goal. Um so that's then a path that he needs to choose. I'll try and keep the social media channel going with just me in the background or our experiences or our fun times together and stuff like that. But obviously, his match day highlights and stuff like that will drop off. Um but if he doesn't make it as a pro, then what this social media stuff gets in, if he wants it, is a social media goalkeeper. And there's a very respect respectable career that can be made and great fun that you can have as a social media goalkeeper, coach, doing fun videos, all that sort of stuff. If you don't want to do that and he don't make it as a pro, then then I'll support him with whatever he wants to do. Um like I mean, I love goalkeeping, I'm very passionate about goalkeeping. You still got it as well. I'll keep on well, my body's falling apart and flipping everything, like he's he's saying stop, including my wife. But I'll keep on going. Like Ollie's given me a second wind, if I'm honest, because I've had two knee operations, and when Ollie decided to be a goalkeeper, it like gave me a second wind of goalkeeping. But yeah, things are slowing down, body's breaking, like I've got an eye condition which is only gonna get worse, um, which I've had all my life. Um I've got retinitis pigmentosa in my left eye. So playing under floodlights is a real challenge because um it's a it's a pigmentation on my retina which causes like um, which basically means I can't see around that pigmentation. I've got so I've got tunnel vision in my left eye, which I can only see right in front of me. But my right eye kind of compensates for it, but it's made worse under low light. So when we're playing floodlights and stuff like that, like sometimes I'll just lose the ball. Um and I've only been diagnosed with it like within the last however many years. Um, and it just makes sense. I've never liked playing under floodlights, and there is a clip actually of me taking one in the face where cross come over and I've just lost the ball in the floodlight. Um, and then I've really I've picked the ball up again when it's there, and it's just smashed off my face and gone for a corner, fortunately. Um, and everyone was laughing about it, but like I literally I couldn't see the ball. Like it was it was a low floodlight, and you know these ones that aren't in the corner, yeah, they're on the side and they're pointing in. And cross come over, I just straight in front of the floodlight, completely lost it, and then it just bounced off my face because because I can't see in low light, sometimes like I lose stuff. Um, but that's only gonna get worse.
SPEAKER_03:I'm not sure we should be telling everyone this because then you're gonna you're gonna get the give you a position about it.
SPEAKER_00:Thinking maybe I've got it because I could never come for crosses ever anymore.
SPEAKER_02:Maybe it's that, maybe it's that's it. It's a social media actually used it. Literally the ball comes over, I'll come keepers, lost it, my hands in the head, and then it smashes my face.
SPEAKER_00:Oh shit. That's the reason. I'm going, that's a fun I hated fun. We're making that excuse.
SPEAKER_02:But uh, but yeah, like Oli, there's lots of different avenues, but life's a Germany, and we're just rolling with what comes and making the most of it. Um, I mean, it's brilliant. Social media. I mean, I've had a hair transplant off the back of social media, so I'm happy. Like they can close up accounts now, I'm good.
SPEAKER_03:I've got five quid. Anyone who can guess where what country that was in? It's a good one, though.
SPEAKER_00:Hopefully, his podcast will be massive. I can get one. If anyone's out there, you know how to call one. You do get benefits though. Here is there's like you said life's a journey, and it's like how do you describe it? So, like, is there's highs and lows, is it a roller coaster? So, what so what is you said it's a journey, right? But what is life? How would you describe life for you at the moment?
SPEAKER_02:Busy, um having a job and well, having a business and doing social media. Um it's fun. We tried, we tried to make as much fun as possible. Um, it is worrying as well, like financially, if like social media was ever like cut off or anything like that. Because obviously I'm trying to build something for Ollie in the future. Um and I take a little bit of what we earn because it takes so much of my time. Like people don't understand how long it takes to edit videos to because it's not just about chucking a GoPro and a goal and and capturing what and then that's it. Like I spend hours editing his videos and um thinking of ideas and stuff like that when it's not just the um the goalkeeping and stuff. Um it's hard work. Um I take what I need to to supplement uh being away from business and all that sort of stuff, and then the rest is there for Ollie.
SPEAKER_01:Um but where it's gonna go, um who knows?
SPEAKER_02:Um I've forgotten what the question was now, I think you said um how's life for you at the moment? But it's it's it's consumed like social media is consuming. Like like I said, my hat my phone is literally in my hand all the time.
SPEAKER_00:Um you find that hard, like sometimes I get frustrated, it makes me anxious, and I'm like, oh god, I just want to and sometimes at the end of the night I'm throwing it into the couch and being like, I can't look at this stuff anymore. No, do you find it hard or are you or you okay with it?
SPEAKER_02:No, I'm I'm I'm okay with with stuff. It never gets to me that much.
SPEAKER_00:Not that it gets to you, but like, is it more like the time that you spent on it? It's like you're on it so much, like your screen time and stuff. Yeah, not like the negative comments or anything.
SPEAKER_02:I will just put it to the side sometimes. Um, like, but my personality, like, I can't deal with if my phone, if my notification goes off, I'll pick my phone up. Yeah, like I have to put it on silent. Like I've switched I I don't have a smartwatch anymore. Um, like I just have a normal watch. Um, mostly because I've kind of got into the whole like YouTube of watch collecting and stuff. So I've started like liking watches and stuff. But whenever I had a smartwatch, it would vibrate. And if I was with a group of friends, I'd be like all the time, just check it the light. And it's and I just felt like it's really rude. So I got rid of my smartwatch. Um and I can't deal with notifications on my phone if like I'll pick my phone up if there's notifications, which there always is, by the way. Like, um, like with TikTok, I'll pick it up, it'd be 99 plus on life.
SPEAKER_00:You're not turning them off.
SPEAKER_02:You can turn them off, but then I need to sanitize the comments. Um, so so I'll pick it up, like I'll go into comments, 12, 13, whatever new comments, quickly flip through them, make sure there's nothing really bad, put my phone back to the side, pick it up again in like an hour's time or something like that, and have a look, see what there is. Um, and that's that's kind of how it goes. Fortunately, that one comment that I I mentioned the other day uh earlier in the in the podcast was I picked that up within like four minutes and that was dealt with um and gone. Um, and Facebook, by the way, is by far the worst. Um, we're not on X because from what I read, that's the worst for trolls. But Facebook is just full of salty middle-aged bald men having a go at Ollie for having a great head of head.
SPEAKER_03:I didn't even realise people still use Facebook.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, salty middle-aged bald men. It's coming out there, it's in my comments. But it's always funny. But like if you go on Facebook and there's a comment about Ollie's hair, it's like, cut his hair, he looks like a kid, or I can't believe you let your kid have long hair, or something like that. You look at their profile and they're bald as a flipping egg. And you're like, mate, come on. Here's a discount code for Turkey. Um, it's yeah, it's mate. Some people get bent out of shape over the silliest things that they see on the internet, and it's just like just relax, man.
SPEAKER_00:If something triggers you on the internet, you've got big problems a lot of the time. If something triggers you and you feel the need to comment, yeah, it's like you've got some, especially to a nine-year-old kid, Jesus Christ. Yeah, yeah. You've got some.
SPEAKER_02:Look, I've picked up the phone before, I've seen stuff on the internet. I'm like, oh, flipping heck. I've never I've never even thought I need to comment on that because my voice is so important, they're gonna listen to me. Like, just let it go. Like, there's absolutely no need to flipping comment, but people do, and they they like the attention. Um, like some people just rage bait, like they want to try and get them, they'll say something that they don't even believe themselves, they just want to try and get a raise from you. Um, and also like correcting of technique of Ollie or something like that. If it does something in a game, um, could because we don't, I don't always put just the positive stuff. Like, I put like the goals that Ollie concedes, or if he makes a mistake, or something like that. Um, as long as it's not too bad, because if you put a mistake on the Ollie that's too bad, like really, really shocking, the world will go ballistic over it and he'll get absolute pelters. And I can't, I haven't got the time to be deleting all those. I've I've turned comments off on some of them before. Um, and also he's nine, and I want to protect him. So I'm not gonna put something where he's made a catastrophic error that's gonna catch him pelters on the internet. In the same way, I wouldn't do it with a defender that made a bad error, I wouldn't do it with a striker that makes a bad error because they're not my kids, and also like I will protect them as well because if I put a striker missing a one a tapping from a yard away or something like that, he's gonna catch pelters, and that's not fair on him. Um, so I I don't put any glaring mistakes out, but I will put like when I if I concede goals, and then you'll get people that are desperate, absolutely desperate to try and find something wrong with what's happened and comment and be the one that that brings it up. It happens all the time. Like um I put a save I made in the in the in the last minute of a final. It's not just Oli as well. I catch these pelters all the time. So it was the it was the PSUK, so the Police Sport UK Cup final vets, um 90th minute, and it was 1-1. Cross came in. I've misjudged the flight of the cross, and I've gone to go and um claim the cross. Then I realized that it's not gonna reach, so I backtracked a bit. Their strikers got up, headed the ball, it's gone behind. This is one of the best saves I've ever made, by the way. And you can't see it on the angle, but the ball's gone behind me. I've dived backwards and flicked it over the bar, literally from on the line. And I'm like, I'm buzzing. I'm like, that's one of the best saves I've ever made. I put it out on the internet and I've caught absolute pelters for going for that cross. Oh, if you would have just stood still, you could have caught it. I was like, well, yeah. And if I knew it was going to come there, I would have stood still. But everyone's misjudged a cross in their time. Do you know what I mean? And that's what they seem to forget is everybody misjudges a cross. I'm a 42-year-old veteran goalkeeper. I played at a semi-pro level, but that's about it. Like, I misjudged a cross. I've I haven't committed myself to it. I've I've backtracked a little bit and then pulled a flipping save out of my ass that I was well proud of. The whole like the striker couldn't believe it. The person that made that made the header couldn't believe it. The flipping bench is going wild because it's the 90th minute, and then the internet's just giving me pelters for it. Like, I'll put it up, I'm like, I'm well proud of this. And then the internet were like, what were you doing? Where were you going? I can't believe you were going for that. If you should have caught it, it was straight at you, all this sort of stuff. I was like, oh my goodness me.
SPEAKER_03:But this is this is the reason why we're doing this podcast because you you're showing the ugly side of goalkeeping where you know you do something brilliant and all goalkeepers know what that feeling feels like. Yeah, and then you stick it on the internet, and everyone also becomes a goalkeeping expert. 100%. So you can never win, can you? But obviously, you've been with the OG squad recently, and or for last season anyway, season and a half? Uh yeah, we've been with OG for it'll be two years in November. Yeah, time flies when you're having fun, right? How's that experience been? You know, working with the lights of obviously Declan McCarthy, Scouts GK, um, Kid De Gea, Ronnie. How's that experience been for you guys?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, do you know what? It's been amazing. And like I said, it's been nearly two years. And to touch on what we said earlier about Ollie, like with these experiences and not realising how lucky he is. Like when I was growing up, buying goalkeeper gloves was like you'd have to save up for them. I'd get the cheaper version of the elite ones and everything like that. Ollie doesn't know how lucky he is to be in this position where one glove will give him gloves before they're released, like to like do videos with to go come and do these videos and stuff like that. Honestly, it's like, mate, this like we'll unbox gloves, and he's like, wow, these are amazing, and stuff like that. And he he doesn't understand like how like the struggles that I went through to buy gloves, and he's just getting gloves like given to him to like do these amazing videos with and everything like that. And when it comes to making decisions and choices, joining one glove is hands down one of the best decisions that I've ever made. Um, as a person and as a parent, because their vision with goalkeeping and uh the way they do social media just fits where we are because Ollie's nine years old, and he's really, really popular uh on social media. Um, and yes, there's better nine-year-old goalkeepers in academies and everything like that, but at nine years old they aren't known. Where like Ollie has millions and millions, tens of millions of views of people watching him, and joining and OneGlove's direction with the social media just aligned perfectly with where we are, and um coming down and joining the squad. Um the third people to join the squad, by the way. We're we're one of the OG OGs, um but uh and the boys are class, like Dex are ledge, um like Scouse has done videos with us. He's just everyone's just amazing people, as well as quality goalkeepers as well. And like you have to pinch yourself when you come down and do these shoots, like these days and stuff like that. And they're just they're they're just quality, like hanging out with the lads, doing goalkeeping. I think I put a post out, like I thought my time was up with goalkeeping, like, and then Oli, like I said, Ollie chose to be a goalkeeper. I had a second wind, and only this year, like I did a training session with Dean Faunton, like a Premier League goalkeeper coach, and there's me like falling. I literally did fall apart on that one as well. My calf popped at the end of the flipping session, but and it becomes a bit of a running thing now when we do video shoots, is like how quickly you can then get injured. Um, because my calf just goes. I think we had one shoot where I just injured my hip after a charity game from landing on the side too heavy. But we have a great time with with and one glove of just nailing it with the social media stuff. Um, the gloves are speak for themselves, like they're just unbelievable. Um like the opportunities that Ollie gets, like to come down and do videos with like David Raya, um, which is unbelievable. Um gets to hang out with all these other social media lads, going on this journey with like you touched on it with Ron, like uh Kid De Gea. Just being on this journey with him and those two as their their goal. People on the internet, there's this whole thing of Ollie or Ronnie, and it's like Ronaldo or Messi with the internet, just they flip in, go mental for it. Ollie over Ronnie, Ronnie over Ollie, um, Ollie versus Ronnie, all this sort of stuff. And the lads are so class because they don't care about any of that, they're just mates, they're literally like best mates. There's no competition amongst them. They just love hanging out with each other. They go to Orktowers, um, like away from goalkeeping. Um, I speak to Kev all the time, Ronnie's dad, um, on the phone, because it's nice to have that conversation with another parent that's on the same journey and has the same things, um, the same struggles, the same issues. Um, like we bounce off each other, um, which is great to have that. But Ollie and Ronnie, Ollie and Ronnie are just best mates, they just love each other. Like, you talk about the GK union, and the GK union as a nine-year-old and a ten-year-old is strong in those two. And like when we come down and hang out with the OG squad and everything like that, they accept Ollie and and and Ron. And they like they've both got characters as well, and and everyone's just loads of character, uh loads of fun. I love the OG shoes, I think they're flipping class when we come down and do them. And and I'm privileged as a 42-year-old veteran goalkeeper that I can still just about manage to throw myself around um and come down and do them. And long may they continue as long as I stay uninjured. But we'll see. But uh I think it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Um, thank you so much for coming in, mate. I really appreciate that. It's really good to see all them different perspectives come together. I think it's really good for parents.
SPEAKER_02:No, thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_00:I agree. Thank you so much, Dean.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, and if there's any parents that do have any questions or anything like that, our inbox is open. Just drop in our inbox, ask a question, um, and I'll do my best to answer it. Um, we do get loads of people asking uh common questions. Um we actually uh just put an action camera in the camp in the goal with a clamp. Um we don't have a camera that follows the ball, that's all done post-editing. That's a question we get all the time. Um in a public place, you don't need parents' permission, but do check for safeguarding issues before you start filming. Um that's one that we get all the time. Um if it's a private place and they don't want to film in, then put your gopher away. Um and that's that's the most common ones that we get. Oh, and also we we stand our gloves up with a coke can or uh some sort of other pop. We get that question all the time. How do you make your gloves stand up, just put a can of pop in it? Um but yeah, thanks for having stand. If any parents have any questions or anyone does, then just drop in our inbox.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you so much, really appreciate the time. Cheers, mate.
SPEAKER_01:Cheers