Mick Halsall is a former Liverpool player who spent 6 years at the club, he was an apprentice from 1977-1979 before turning professionally. Sadly Halsall never played a single game for the Reds, despite this though, he never gave up his profession and went onto play over 390 games for Birmingham City, Carlisle United, Grimsby Town, Peterborough United before finishing up in Ireland with Finn Harps.

The Ex-midfielder has since carried on his trade in football, coaching at Senior and Academy level for the likes of Walsall and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Most recently he was on the verge of taking up a role with Chasetown to coach the young players, but an opportunity arose that he could not refuse at Notts County and just under two months ago he was announced as their new Academy Manager proving his glowing reputation as a coach at youth team level.

Despite his busy schedule though, I managed to grab a few words with him and he was only too happy to discuss playing under Bob Paisley, the rest of his playing career plus how much he enjoys coaching and helping youngsters progress into Senior pro’s.

First of all Mick, how did it feel when you signed your first professional contract as a Footballer in 1979 at what was then the top club in England and one of the best in the world Liverpool?

”It was a great feeling as it was all I had ever dreamed about since I was a young boy. Although I was a schoolboy at the club, I was only given a one year apprenticeship due to being too small, so I had to work very hard to get the opportunity with a fantastic club.”

And of course managing the club at the time was the great Bob Paisley. What was he like as a character? Did you have much interaction with him and if so have you any funny stories or memories about him?

”He was a very private manager with fantastic staff around him who more or less mixed with the players particularly the younger ones like myself. He did mix in some of the games as we played staff v apprentices every Monday morning. If you had a chance to progress you were picked on the staff side to do all their running as they would insist you worked hard and when tired learnt how to keep the ball. On one occasion, I went to challenge another player in the air and went over the top of him. The boss came over and asked what it was and I said I could not move my right arm. He told me to lift up and then yanked my tracksuit top off. I screamed out as it went over my head and then I heard him say “ Yes I knew it, you have broken your collar bone, don’t worry Gerry Byrne played with a broken collar bone in the 1965 FA cup Final v Leeds United. He played through extra time also”. I started training again within four weeks”.

What about the players you played with. You must have played alongside some talent in that Liverpool era. Who was the best player you played with? Or was there a player where you thought “He’s going to be some player” and that turned out to be the case?

”They were all fantastic players when you think about what they won. Kenny Dalglish was the best in a great team of players.
Ronnie Whelan was the same age as me and we trained together, but he stood out a mile for ability and class.”

The man from Bootle then took the trip down south to the West Midlands where he spent a year at Birmingham City.

What about your First team debut which was for Birmingham City away to West Bromwich Albion on 19th March 1983. A big West Midlands derby. It’s okay making your debut, but to make it in a derby must have been special or even very nerve wracking. What do you remember from that day?

”I was very nervous as you would expect and I had only trained with the rest of the players since Wednesday of that week. I remember hitting the post after around 20 minutes with the score 0-0, but we eventually lost 2-0.”

And Halsall never looked back that season as following his debut, he went onto play every single game barring one before moving onto Carlisle, Grimsby and Peterborough where he is fondly remembered as a cult hero.

Your time at Peterborough is of course where you spent the majority of your playing career from 1987-1993 helping the club to two promotions. What are your favourite memories from your time there?

”The two promotions are great memories as I captained the side on both occasions. They came after I had been at the club for a while in which time it took a lot of hard work to win the supporters over. On several occasions I nearly moved on funnily enough one was back to Birmingham City.”

In 1996 Halsall finally hung up his boots at the age of 35 after playing his final game for Irish club Finn Harps, but as for many retiring footballers that was not the end of his career in the game and he continues to coach. So I had to ask him a final couple of questions on his coaching.

You must get a buzz when you coach a young player and he turns out to go really far in the game. So tell me Mick, what’s the best young player you have ever coached and how far did that player go in the game or is he still even playing?

”I was given a great opportunity at Walsall Football club to be able to build a reputation for myself. In that time at a fantastic club I realised it was about development and helping younger players to progress. I have and still do love my time as a youth coach / academy manager as it is the best job for me in football. It is very rewarding to see players progress and make a career for themselves in the game knowing you have helped them in some way. The best players would have to be Matty Fryatt, Scott Dann and Troy Deeney.”

You have also had experience coaching at Senior level as a First team coach, would you ever consider taking that step up again to be a manager or coach or are you happy coaching the youngsters?

”No I am not interested in managing at that level again, I am very happy in my present role as I have the best of both worlds as I am manging the academy and I can still get my coaching in with all the different age groups. I can also go out scouting trying to find the likes of another Scott and Troy. I believe we may have a couple of Birmingham based players I picked up lately that may be able to progress along a similar pathway which is rewarding also.”

And finally for Chasetown fans, I understand you were very close to a role here coaching the young players, how close were you to helping out with the youngsters at the club?

”Very! I was about to start work with the young players at Chasetown, but I was able to get back in to the professional game with Notts County as Head of Academy Coaching and that is where I am now.”

I'd like to thank Mick for taking the time to answer these questions and hopefully we will see him back at the Scholars Ground soon!