The old way was a youth team, then reserves, then first team I know because I played in the youth team and reserves. So, if you were doing well at youth level you'd go into the reserves, South West Combination league or whatever it was called. At 16-17 you would be up against men, seasoned professional players who had either been dropped or were coming back from injury. There would be trialists as well, usually from better clubs (That was most clubs) who had been released

It was hard, really hard, playing against men who had 300 games under their belt, although usually at a lower level. You learnt quickly or got ****ed off. It was that simple.God knows what this has to do with anything.