Brewers’ old rival Pitt has a path back into football at the Pirelli
COURTNEY HELPS ACADEMY IN NEW COACHING SCHEME
BURTON Albion fans who were on board during the Conference years may well remember Courtney Pitt, who is currently helping out on the coaching side with the Brewers.
As an awkward winger, most often for Cambridge United, he was often a thorn in the Brewers side while the two clubs were vying for promotion to the Football League.
That was a battle the Brewers eventually won, after first losing in a play-off semi-final to Cambridge, then pipping them to the Conference title.
By the time the U’s won their own promotion, Pitt had moved on and finished his playing career in 2012 with Chasetown.
It was, he now admits, a difficult time and it is as part of the EFL’s new “Professional Player to Coach” scheme that he is now helping out at Burton – and finding a way back into the game he loves.
“Without football, I struggled,” said Pitt in an interview on the EFL website.
“I worked for the Royal Mail for a bit and it’s tough, so to have football again, it’s massive for me. I feel like I’ve reconnected to myself.
“It took me 10 years to get back into football, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to work in a professional club again.”
Pitt knows the importance of good coaching from his own experience as a young player, having entered the academy system relatively late as a 14-year-old at Chelsea.
“I didn’t know anything about the tactical side of the game,” he said.
“I was just getting the ball and trying to beat everyone to score a goal.
“Jim Duffy (Chelsea youth team coach) was good for me. He was always trying to find the best position for me and encourage me to be positive. He had a huge influence on how I played.”
The lessons Pitt learned, coupled with his own hard work, proved invaluable as he moved on to Portsmouth and made his senior debut in 2001-2 in Division 1, alongside
Dave Beasant, Peter Crouch and former Brewer Darren Moore.
“I remember standing on the sidelines at a sold-out Molineux with 20,000-odd fans,” he said.
“I remember thinking this was what it was all about.
“This was all the hard work and the sacrifice that I made – growing up as a teenager and not going out with your mates, dedicating your time to make the step into the professional game.
“It just all made sense when I stepped on that pitch for my debut.”
When he hung up his boots, Pitt began planning for coaching, completing his UEFA B badge and getting a sports coaching and youth development degree, while getting a job as head of the academy at a semi-professional club in Birmingham. But the professional game remained a long way away, until Pitt earned a place on – to give it its full, rather unwieldy title – the Premier League, EFL and PFA Charity’s Professional Player to Coach Scheme.
It was launched this summer to increase the number of black and Asian players moving into full-time coaching roles.
Pitt is one of the scheme’s first intake of six coaches, who are each participating in an individualised learning and development programme.
Pitt’s specific placement is with Burton’s academy.
“I don’t see many black coaches or black managers in the game at the moment,” he said.
“If we can address that and give more opportunity to black coaches
coming through and give them hope, then the scheme like this is what it’s all about.
“Give them an incentive. Give them people they can see actually are going to get an opportunity to work in professional clubs and give them that boost.”
Pitt is now trying to have the same impact on Burton’s youngsters that his coaches had on him at Chelsea.
“I’ve been trying to get them, especially the attackers, to have a plan of what they’re going to do before they get it, so when they’re having a shot, have a go-to finish,” he says.
“Burton allow me to get involved in that and treat me like a proper member of staff.
“It’s brilliant, I love it.”
Dan Robinson, Burton’s academy manager, says bringing in someone like Pitt is ideal.
“We have a really diverse group of players, so it’s about making sure there’s people supporting them and around them from all different backgrounds to provide them with that connection,” said Robinson.
“The fact that the Premier League, EFL and the PFA are working so hard to try and diversify the coaching force, I think it’s a great step in the right direction because the statistics show there aren’t enough coaches from varied backgrounds.
“We’re already really proud to be one of the six clubs representing the scheme at this early stage.
“We just hope it does make a difference and that we start to see a change in mindsets in recruitment of staff.”