Stan hits out at academy influence

But the troubled superstar-turned-media pundit fears many of today's kids will be too disillusioned to follow in his footsteps.

Collymore believes our domestic game should allow children to develop at their own pace, rather than be cherry-picked at eight or nine by the top clubs.

"I think it's vitally important not to over-process the players," said Collymore.

"We're at a time where we haven't qualified for the European Championships and people are questioning whether we're bringing through talented enough footballers.

"The only way to do that is by going out and kicking a ball against a wall, and by playing in the evenings – not having clubs in your area perched ready to nick you at eight or nine years of age.

"I played for Cannock Police under-11s when I was nine and then for a team called Longford Boys in Cannock who played in the Lichfield League and the Walsall Junior League.

"It was great because there was a real community effort about it – blokes would spend money on petrol ferrying us about, mums would wash the kit, someone else would bring the half-time oranges.

"Today my godson Conor Haddaway plays down the road from where I used to play, and his dad – my best mate – Paul Haddaway, who played for Chasetown, and Paul's brother Stuart coach the team.

"So all the guys who had good experiences as nine, 10 and 11-year-olds are now putting something back.

"We all want to get involved, but my concern in the professional arena is that kids don't get over-coached and they're not open to ruthless professionalism too early because we will over-coach and over-process kids, which is detrimental to what we're trying to do.

"We're trying to produce the next Ronaldo or Ronaldinho and you're not going to do that with kids going into Academies at nine years of age. I can't see it happening.

"I know it's a fine balancing act by bringing kids in early, but I think young kids shouldn't be anywhere near a football club until a lot later in their development."

Collymore's views are shaped by his own painful experiences after being released by Walsall and Wolves.

"Under the old apprenticeship scheme, you were scouted at 14, 15, and you became an apprentice at 16 to 18," he said.

"I remember being distraught at being released from Wolves and it was the best part of 12 months by which time I was playing week in, week out at Stafford Rangers to get over that.

"I personally have come into contact with kids of eight and nine who have gone into Academies, been released in the first couple of years, gone to another club and been released and they become disillusioned by the time they're 10 or 11.

"That's not going to produce the next Wayne Rooney or David Beckham.

"The whole thing about grass roots is not disillusioning kids at 10, 11 and 12 so they're put off not continuing playing on a Sunday morning, or as coaches or referees.

"I worry that the power base of the top clubs with their Academies put the welfare of the children secondary to getting the next Wayne Rooney through the door and saving themselves £10m, £20m or £30m in the transfer market."

Collymore believes the proposed 'root and branch' review of the game can't come soon enough to revamp the game.

"It's down to the Premier League, the Schools' Association – everyone," he said.

"I think we need a whole restructure of the English game. A 'root and branch' review is yet to take place, we have the Burton project just up the road which would be a great place for coaches to learn.

"We've got 40-odd county associations and we need to streamline the game and get people involved who actually know what they're talking about and come to some sort of agreement because it's not going to be Fabio Capello on £6m a year who's going to create a winning England team, it's going to be some of these kids.

"Capello has watched lots of games and people ask whether he'll knock his 'golden age' into shape, but who are we comparing ourselves to – Brazil, Argentina, Portugal? Because we don't compare very favourably at the minute.

"And the only way we're going to do that is by using less of the things you hear all the time in the professional game such as grind, grit, determination and hard work and replacing them with skill, adventure and guile."

Collymore would love to be a part of the revamp by putting something back into game he graced so briefly.

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But he accepts his personal 'baggage' means he's unlikely to be considered.

"Getting players who have just finished playing the game involved with grass roots football should be done as a matter of cause, not just if you're asked by a parent," he said.

"That way, kids get an introduction into the professional game with players with rounded opinions, and we can defer the time before they're involved with clubs.

"I'd hope to play an active part. My situation is extreme because of all the personal baggage I've got.

"People might think I haven't got anything to say that's relevant, but actually the opposite is true – because of all the life experiences I've got, I can bring something to bear.

"I think players' views are dismissed too quickly without picking a lot of these guys' brains who have been there on a daily basis for 10, 15, 20 years.

"Football authorities are wary of doing that – football administrators are notoriously conservative, and until the time when Steve Claridge gets Sir Trevor Brooking's role at the FA, the likes of myself aren't going to be in the frame.

"That's ridiculous because we're all passionate. We would all like England to end up winning a World Cup or a European Championship."

Collymore's career was over at 31 – but he says his only regret was failing at Villa.

"I don't have any other regrets about my career. I did a book three years ago where I addressed all those issues," he said.

"I regret what happened at Villa because illness and a couple of poor personal decisions put paid to that.

"But overall I'm pleased with my career– I think I broke three club transfer records at three different European Cup winners, won England caps and averaged a goal every other game.

"As a kid, you hope to be a pro and for me, I wanted to play for Villa and England.

"On top of that I managed to play for Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Leicester as well so I'm quite happy with my lot."