Former W.A. junior captain Sean Cooney (born 31st October 1983) carved out a reputation as a reliable midfielder with an eye for goal during his time in Perth. Mid-2000 he joined the youth academy at English Premier League side Coventry City, quickly establishing himself as a regular in the clubs Under-17's where he now plays as a central defender. Cooney returned to Perth for the Christmas/New Year break and Brett Klucznik caught up with him to find out a bit about how he is going in the U.K.

Could you give us a bit of background information on who you played for as a junior, where you started out, that sort of thing?
I started off with Rockingham and played there for maybe six years and then we moved to Fremantle so I played for Fremantle United for a year. After that I went into the Hammers Academy at Kingsway then played for Inglewood for about a year and a half.

And you went to England for trials mid-way through the 2000 W.A. winter season?
I went over after the first game of the season, then came back but didn't play at all for Inglewood. I was back for six weeks but didn't want to take any risks.

Did you play for the State team as a junior?
Yeah, Under-13's. I was captain of the Under-13's and also played at Under-14's, Under-15's and Under-16's when I was vice-captain. We went to Singapore for the Lion City Cup twice and also went to Sydney and Adelaide.

Before trying out with Coventry, did you have any offers from other clubs in England?
About a year ago I went to Barnsley and I went to Blackburn for about a week. That was more just for a look about kind of thing, I was only 15 at the time so I couldn't have signed anything.

How did the chance to trial with Coventry come about?
There was just a guy over here that knew someone at Coventry and he asked if I wanted to go over for trials and I said yeah. I actually went over twice. I originally went to England at the end of the 1999/2000 season. They didn't have any games left, just a tournament in Holland after which they said we'd like to sign you, come back for the pre-season. So I did the pre-season with the club, starting about July.

Was there ever any doubt in your mind about going to England to play football, leaving behind family and friends?
Yeah, there was a bit but it was the best thing for me in hindsight.

What are the accomodation arrangements at the club?
We live on the training ground, it's like a lodge set-up. All the boys who are from Scotland, Ireland or say the north of England live in the one place. It's a room between two or three, just depending on how it was sorted out. They're a really good bunch of lads, it's excellent.

What is the weekly routine for the academy side?
Monday morning we go to College then we train in the afternoon, and Tuesday we train twice a day. Then on Wednesday we go all day to College, Thursday we train twice and on Friday we just do set-pieces for Saturday's game. Sunday is a day off to relax.

And what do you do at College?
You can do whatever you want but I'm doing a sports science sort of thing so I can be a phys. ed. teacher. I go to a sports centre where I teach kids sports and the like.

What is your daily routine?
We get up about 8.00 and go downstairs for 9.00, getting dressed and ready. Then we start at maybe 10.00 with our jobs - we all have different jobs to do and I'm the kit boy, I have to make sure everyone's kit is in number order and all that sort of stuff for all the teams, first team, the lot.

Do all the Coventry sides train together?
We're all on the same training pitch but we're all seperate - 17's together, 19's together, that sort of thing.

There seem to be two paths that young players are following these days. You can either make a name for yourself in the N.S.L. and play for the National Under-17's, Under-20's and so on or, like you did, leave Australia in your mid-to-late teens for trials at a number of clubs. How have you found it going over so young?
I think it's easier doing it that way. If you're older you can get into some bad habits developed in Australia compared to how they do things in England. They can teach you their way of playing which makes it easier. You also get to know a lot more about the game over there as you're doing it every day. You learn more about different positions and everything, it's really good.

What have been the highlights of your (short) time with the club?
Probably being on the bench for the reserves against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge ... that was a good experience despite me not getting to go on. And I scored two goals against Millwall when we drew two-all, that was really good. I was playing as a centre-back and just went up for the corners and free-kicks and put it in twice.

Do you have a lot to do with the players in the senior side?
Quite a bit actually. We're always helping them out because we all train on the one pitch. You can have a laugh with them as well, they're really good to see. We're all together so you do get the chance to see what it's like in the first team.

What's it like to have someone like John Aloisi, a player from your own country, at the club doing well?
He's really good. He's taken me under his wing and looks after me.

Having already made the bench for the reserves, what are your chances of making the first eleven of that team this season?
Maybe next year I'll have a chance. We've got quite a big youth team for an academy, we've got maybe 20 odd players so there are a lot of players and it's hard to get a breakthrough, especially when they are a year or two older. I'm the youngest so they're all ahead of me there.

Are Coventry the sort of club that you'd like to play for professionally?
Yeah. They're a good club and they're a good team. Gordon Strachan's a good coach, you can learn a lot from him. He's done a lot as a player so he knows a lot about the game which helps us.

You are obviously enjoying your time with the club. Where do you see things heading?
At the moment just to play for Coventry, break into the first team and just see how it goes from there. I'd love to play for Australia, if that comes along I'd take it.

Thanks for your time and I hope things go well for you at Coventry.
Thank you.

Copyright Brett Klucznik, 2001. No part of this article may be reproduced without the prior content of it's author, Brett Klucznik (bklucznik@iprimus.com.au). Doing so would be a violation of copyright laws and regulations.