‘Just keep playing’: a striker’s journey from Premier League to non-league

In 2002, while playing for Frodsham JFC in Cheshire, I saw a floppy-haired young footballer whose joy for the game was infectious. Whether diving in goal, taking shots or running rings around us older lads, Danny Warren was always covered in mud. It turned out Danny was on the books of Everton, the club his family supported.

“To play for your boyhood club is the best thing you could possibly ever do,” says Danny. But it didn’t work out. After seven years with the club, he wasn’t enjoying it anymore and decided to leave at the age of 13. “To go from five nights a week to nothing was a massive drop,” says Danny. “It was quite damaging at that age.”

That wasn’t the end for Danny and football though. After nine years out of the game, he joined Mold Alexandra, an amateur side based in north Wales. I remember the delight I felt when I heard Danny had started playing again. Knowing his story, I felt I had a duty to tell it to inspire anyone who may be in a similar situation. After all, 97% of players in academies don’t make it.

The film is called Scgrwr – the Welsh translation for “scorer” – and it touches on the importance of persevering and shows what you can achieve with a supportive family behind you. As for Danny’s message, it’s quite simple: just keep playing, just keep scoring. “Right foot, left foot, regardless of whether it is a worldie, free-kick, pen, header, tap-ins, they all feel the same, don’t they? As a striker, you want to score goals. That’s the ultimate aim. You can’t beat the feeling.”

This film was made by Alan Bond for Copa90. Film editing by Elliott Waring and photography by James Starkey Copa90 are on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube