Success sown in grassroots, insists Deila
NOT everyone who sits on the top of the mountain pays heed to what is down below. In the cosseted world of modern- day professional football, those looking beyond the length of their own noses tend to find themselves in a minority. Talk of t he importance of grass roots football among the elite can normally be dismissed as empty rhetoric.
When two worlds collide, however — as they shall when Celtic meet East Kilbride at New Douglas Park next month —there comes a timely reminder that, without a base, there is no mountain worth conquering.
With his side sitting pretty on top of the Premiership at the moment, Ronny Deila is entitled to a few moments of quiet satisfaction.
Yet, as a man who juggled jobs to make ends meet while playing part-time 20 years ago, his appreciation of the sacrifices made by the players and staff at teams like East Kilbride is genuine.
‘You have many volunteers in football,’ he said. ‘You hear a lot about Celtic and Rangers and all these players and famous people, but that is maybe one percent of everybody who is into football.
‘Ninety-nine per cent of the others are working hard and have jobs. They are important for the development of Scottish football.
‘How many of them will train six- year- old or 13- year- old kids or whatever? How many are playing non-league matches? People are playing socially and, hopefully, getting fit. That is important.
‘ We need everything at grassroots if we are to be at the top. This is a fantastic occasion.’
Upon defeating Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale on Wednesday to s et up a February 7 clash with Celtic, East Kilbride boss Billy Ogilvie declared he was rewarding himself with a day off from his job behind the wheel of a Glasgow taxi.
Deila’s direction in life rarely left the sporting path, but the part-time wages offered by Uraedd and Odd — his first clubs — meant he had no option but to taste real life.
‘I always did things besides football,’ he continued. ‘I couldn’t live on football from when I was 20 or so. So I went to teacher’s school, I coached other teams and I had a job working in the association.
‘That is because I wanted to develop and have something other than football in my life.
‘I am very happy that I took my education. I am very happy that I did things on the side because, if I didn’t, I would not be here today.’
The fact that Deila studied while playing football really should not surprise, yet it does. In Norway, obtaining such an insurance policy while entering the environment of professional sport seems common sense.
In Scotland, as part-time law student Stuart Armstrong will testify, it is a major talking point.
‘It is important to have an education besides football because the football will never last,’ added Deila. ‘It will last until you are 35. After that, you have more than half of your life left to have something to fall back on and also to have something to think of besides football.
‘We had co-operation with the universities at Stromsgodset. A lot of the players I have coached i n Norway have education besides football, even though they don’t have to because they earn an OK amount of money.’
At the likes of East Kilbride, of course, football does not pay the bills. Shoe-horned between work and family life, twice-weekly training sessions and matches are largely done for the love of the game.
Amid the floodlit sessions in front of one man and a dog, however, dreams of bigger and better things still flicker.
Jamie Vardy’s rise f rom Stocksbridge Park Steels FC i n the Northern Premier League to i nternational recognition with England would have been rejected from a comic book for being too fanciful. But, for Deila, the lessons from it are clear.
‘So many people go through different things,’ he added.
‘It’s never too late. You can find players in the system. But it’s also a big step from the grassroots to the top level, a big, big step. But everything is possible if you want it and work every day to get better.’
Deila di s patched John Kennedy to see East Kilbride progress to the fifth round on Wednesday and, whatever the gap between the sides, the Norwegian needs no reminding that every player in the Lowland League side will look upon the forthcoming game as a springboard to other things.
‘It’s going to be interesting,’ said Deila. ‘It is a great chance for them to play against us. It is an important thing for the whole club. It’s fantastic.’