‘Real eye opener’: PFA’s training camp keeps released players fighting fit

When Omar Bogle was released by Newport County at the end of last season, the former Wigan and Cardiff striker could not quite believe what was happening. “It was hard,” he admits. “I spent about two or three weeks trying to get my head around being without a club at the start of pre-season. My missus and my family had to really push me to accept what had happened. Then the PFA [Professional Footballers Association] opportunity came up and I thought I should make the most of it. Now I’m here I don’t regret it at all.”

Bogle, who has racked up almost 150 goals in his career and joined Wigan from Grimsby in 2017 for a fee just shy of £1m, is by no means the only player at the PFA’s pre-season training camp in the plush surroundings of Champneys Springs spa boasting league experience. Among several other familiar faces, there’s also his former Newport teammate Offrande Zanzala and Milan Lalkovic, the Slovakian winger who is a Championship Manager legend and was once described as a star of the future by the Guardian when he was in Chelsea’s academy. “You got that wrong!” he says with a smile.

Introduced after a recommendation from the PFA’s players board, this is the second year of the camp, which runs for 10 weeks during the summer and provides those without a club an opportunity to stay in shape as they attempt to earn new contracts elsewhere in the football pyramid. Players spend four days a week on site, with training drills and matches organised by the PFA’s coaching staff and access to top-class facilities and medical treatment throughout their stay.

“If I was at home, I would just be doing football drills by myself or going to the gym on my own,” says Zanzala, who was released by Newport after recovering from an ACL injury in March. “So it has been a real eye opener to see what the PFA are doing here. It feels like I’m at a team already – the only thing really missing is having the badge.

“I’ve been in the game long enough to know how football works. A lot of it is about mental strength and being able to come back from setbacks. It’s challenging but this is our job and you have to take yourself to the next level every day if you want to succeed.”

Bogle adds: “The set-up is really professional and it’s definitely helped me. I’d advise any player who finds themselves in this position without a club to make the most of this opportunity because you can’t replicate this anywhere else. When you’re at home running on the treadmill it’s not the same as being able to train with players who have lots of experience in the game.”

When the Guardian visited the camp this week, the PFA’s chief executive, Maheta Molango, was in the thick of the action during a practice match that saw Lalkovic and Zanzala catch the eye. Lalkovic, who has previously played for Barnsley, Walsall and Portsmouth, reveals that he is hoping to return to English football after rebuilding his career in the Czech Republic and Greece after a succession of injuries. “I want to come back to England because I feel my body is ready. Hopefully an opportunity will come,” he says. “We have a lot of facilities here that make you do the right thing.”

Zanzala adds: “Everyone is here for a different reason – some people are recovering from injury and others already have trials lined up. It’s about taking whatever you can from the opportunity. You never know who is watching. Competitiveness is really important because you can go to a team for a trial and if you have not had that for a few weeks then you’re in for a shock. Your legs are going to be thinking, ‘What’s going on here?’ because they’re only used to doing 5k runs.”

Thankfully all the pros had departed when the Guardian was invited to join in a small-sided match with Molango and members of the coaching staff, although that did include former Everton defender Peter Clarke. Yet while Molango, a former Brighton striker who hung up his boots in 2011, was doubtful about his own chances of securing a contract – “based on my performance, I would struggle to get one” – he acknowledged the importance of a scheme at a time when lower leagues clubs often have a very high turnover of players every season.

“We see a lot of players who have been released doing work with personal trainers in pre-season these days but that is the kind of thing the PFA should be doing,” he says. “We did this for the players and it is run by former players. Just a conversation with one of them after a session can be the right thing to get them back mentally to the right place. Hopefully they won’t stay for very long! Our wish is that nobody stays for the whole 10 weeks. But we want to give them an opportunity to be ready when their chance comes.”

As for Bogle, coming to terms with the reality of being released for the first time has been a difficult process. But he is now looking forward to the next chapter in his career. “Some players like the idea of being a free agent because you get your pick of clubs but this is the first time I’ve been in this situation,” he says. “It’s been a bit weird but I’ve had calls and a few offers so knowing that there is interest in me still has helped. The camp has been fun but everyone takes it very seriously.”