‘I needed them and they were there’ – when young players find new homes

He had left his family to turn to for support after his transfer, and with his development suffering a significant blow at a crucial time.

But what he did have was the relentless backing of Tiffany and Steve, a married couple who just weeks before were total strangers to him.

The pair’s hosts are Boni’s own, who have committed to welcoming young footballers to their new clubs, taking care of them in a secure home environment, and providing them with the best opportunity to pursue a professional career.

The 17-year-old claims that “they were there because I really needed them.” “I had never gone through that, so it was really difficult. They gave me peace that was amazing.

They enable me to rest, recover, and concentrate on what I want to concentrate on when I return home.

They posted adverts on social media and through letterboxes, inviting people to apply to take in young lads requiring a helping hand on their path to potential greatness.

“Leaving home at 16 is intimidating,” says Michel. You have only known your parents, and that’s it. But sometimes you have to make sacrifices.

“Tiff and Steve are wonderful people to be with. They gave me some basic instructions for how to be around the house when I first arrived. Now they support me in everything.

When I and the under-21s first approached the GTech Stadium, they immediately inquired if they could watch. It demonstrates their devotion.

Becoming a host family can be a long process, and much planning goes into pairing players with the right people.

According to Rachael Abebrese, Brentford’s host family coordinator, “we look for potential red flags as well as traits that might be beneficial” when families apply.

I can enter a home and tell right away if it will be warm for the player, according to my natural sense.

” We look at their motivations and conduct a very robust report which follows a private fostering approach. It is rigorous.

We go through a matching procedure where I get to know a player and understand how they would interact with each other. Some players will identify things they do or don’t want, like pets.

It works “most of the time,” she says. Despite having the option to move out and rent their own apartments, the majority of the boys this season decided to stay with their host families.

Some host family units are made up of a mix of cultures.

The two academy players living with Tiffany and Steve, Boni and Nate Ogungbemi, both of whom are British citizens, have Ivoric and Nigerian ancestry, respectively.

The couple has made an effort to fully appreciate the differences between themselves and the two boys who live there.

” It’s just learning and being open to what’s out there, “Tiff says”. We would all first discuss culture, politics, and religion. They should feel content and secure, too.

“They have introduced us to their cultures, and we have been trying to offer them food that their mums would do – I’ve tried making jollof rice.

Some clubs favor a boarding system, where players share dormitories on club property, with La Masia, Barcelona, as the most well-known example.

” There are strengths and weaknesses to both models, “says Sam Bayford, Brentford’s academy head of safeguarding.

Instead of residing with and sleeping next to the lads they’ve been training with all day, we chose to stick with our model because we want to give them a real break, both geographically and psychologically.

When a young football player’s life situation is managed properly, the adolescence phase can help them advance in their personal, physical, and technical development.

From age 15 Theo Walcott spent two years living at Darwin Lodge, a boarding house run by Southampton until 2010, which the former England international credits with underpinning his successful career.

Along with Gareth Bale, Nathan Dyer, and Leon Best, Walcott shared a bedroom at the Lodge with five-time Champions League winners.

“Being around the other players all the time I found really hard at the start,” the former Arsenal winger tells BBC Sport. “But the environment was built to be like you were in a proper home.

When you have a large number of talented players in the same age group around each other consistently and consistently every day, you can feed off each other and be patient.

“Sometimes people act silly,” they say. You would come home and the lights would all be off and you’d know you were in trouble because Gareth and a lot of the other players would be waiting with their underpants on their head and batter you with pillows! You had to go straight to your room, but I was quickly enough.

Darwin Lodge was run for more than a decade by Julia Upson, who took care of up to 20 young players at a time, and who Walcott and many others have maintained a close relationship with.

Everyone “got on” 99% of the time, taking into account that they cohabitated, trained, and then had a relationship,” Julia says. “They were funny and always full of life.

They all exhibited the same level of concern. The camaraderie they have with one another is fantastic, in my opinion, and that system is a really good idea.

“I could more or less tell who would make it as a professional and who wouldn’t by the way they acted at home. The proportion of people who made it is extremely low, possibly 2-3%.

Some of the young players are international players, which could present even greater problems with homelessness and settled settled situations.

” At first it felt very different, but after a while it just becomes your normal life, “says 19-year-old Julian Eyestone, a goalkeeper who is part of Brentford’s first-team set-up.

After moving to Ascot from Dallas, Texas in 2024, he moved with a married couple and their three young children.

They started fighting and bickering with me because they wanted to play basketball in the driveway or football in the park. One of them is even a little goalkeeper at Brentford himself now, which is really nice.

I was able to concentrate on my football from the moment I arrived with that family until my last day, without feeling guilty.

I currently reside in my own apartment, but we communicate and spent Christmas with them last year.

The depth of the bonds shared by host families and young footballers means the connection often lasts way beyond the end of their careers.

I do want to stay with Tiff and Steve, according to Michel, “If I get my pro contract, we’ll see where’s best for me to live.”