Looking ahead: Former United hero McClair has plenty to say on England's furture

At Under Seven to Under 18 level the Bury and Bolton District League is booming but it is regimented to the extent that the head of the Lancashire FA, David Burgess, described it as 'not pure football the way we once understood it, but different formats of the game - not the conventional male 11 v 11 Saturday afternoon format'.

Wayne Rooney was called the last of the old street footballers that once populated English football and those skills, nous and physicality are having to be imported into academies.

'The kids don't play it now,' Irvine said. 'We are having to create the environment for street football, for running, jumping and climbing, things that you did because you didn't have PlayStations or televisions with 400 channels.

'Nobody plays 15 a side on a postage- stamp pitch any more. That's what we used to do, that's why Glasgow had so many dribblers - if you passed it, you didn't get the ball back for half an hour.'

« Previous1234567Next »