Coulson proving there can be life after City break
AS A member of Manchester City’s academy between the ages of eight and 18, Luke Coulson was given a glimpse into the Premier League lifestyle.
He and his team-mates were treated like kings rather than kids. Afforded first-class facilities, five- star hotels, the finest food and trips to countless countries for tournaments, they wanted for nothing.
Yet for Coulson — one of eight non-League players picked out for Sportsmail’s Search for a Star series — City’s new-found wealth from Sheik Mansour’s 2008 takeover would turn out to be a gift and a curse.
‘It was overwhelming,’ he says. ‘The money poured in. We were going on pre- season tours to Germany, Holland, mid- season tours to Switzerland or Dubai. The facilities improved, the pitches were unbelievable, the food was amazing and we were treated like kings. But the flipside is they started to bring in foreign players on big wages and the route to the first team was blocked.
‘They made the decision that a professional contract was a bit beyond me, which obviously hurt, having been there for 10 years. Football is about opinions.
‘One manager thinks you’re the best thing ever, the next has his doubts. That’s the life of a footballer.’
Coulson holds no grudges against City and, six years on, he is now with Ebbsfleet United in the National League. It has been a bumpy road, to say the least.
Coulson can recall spending New Year’s Eve 2014 exercising in his garage while his parents hosted a party because, as a player without a club, he had nothing to celebrate. He remembers mailing his c.v. with video clips to every club in Leagues One and Two. Not to mention the six months of unsuccessful trials with umpteen sides, from Burnley to Hibernian.
The excuses at those trials ranged from ‘not enough experience’ to ‘too small’ to ‘we simply don’t have the cash’. That last one particularly hurt because why waste his time in the first place?
Yet with a great deal of perseverance, including playing part-time for Radstock Town, who slipped him £ 5 for petrol money per match, Coulson is now a full-time footballer. ‘It’s personal desire,’ he says. ‘Motivation. It will either cripple you or make you stronger.
‘I’ve got a friend who did get the professional contract [ at City] and is now at Macclesfield. So I got turned down, he got the pro, and we’ve ended up at the same place.
‘I’ve got friends who work in New Zealand, playing part-time, others who don’t play football but were at Man City.’
After leaving City in 2012, Coulson moved to the USA to attend the University of Michigan before being offered a trial at Cardiff City. He was heading into the showers following a practice match when manager Malky Mackay burst into the changing rooms to say they would sort out a contract in the morning.
‘I was there for two years,’ adds Coulson. ‘I felt like I excelled in terms of developing as a player but we got promoted to the Premier League, which stifled me. We bought three right backs, I was 20 years old and I just thought, “I’m not going to get into the first team”.
‘Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had taken over by that point and we’d gone back down.’
Out of contract, he circulated the non-League scene, earned an England C call- up and was approached by Jamie Vardy’s V9 Academy, which, by coincidence, held their training sessions at the Etihad Campus, the plush home of Manchester City.
Still only 24, Coulson is refusing to give up on getting to the top. It has been a long journey but one that is far from over.