Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Telegraph's Henry Winter caught up with Real Maryland Monarchs coach Anthony Hudson, who was recently listed as a finalist for the USL-2 Coach of the Year honor. He discusses living life in the shadow of father Alan Hudson and throwing himself in the deep end of coaching at a young age...

He roomed with Carrick at West Ham, debated the joys and pitfalls of having a famous footballing father with Lampard, has just been short-listed as Coach of the Year in the United States and is also spending time this week learning from Arsène Wenger at Arsenal and Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea. His name is Anthony Hudson, he is the son of Alan, and one day he wants to manage England.

Hudson's story is both sad and uplifting, a tale of awkward youth in England, of failure as a player, of living in the shadow of his father before discovering a flair for coaching and being reborn in the US. "I actually came out here to try to get away from the old man, do something on my own," explained Hudson, fresh from guiding unfancied Real Maryland Monarchs on an against-all-odds ride to the play-offs of the United Soccer League, the level below the Major League Soccer of David Beckham and Freddie Ljungberg.

As a teenager, Hudson felt doors were being opened only because of his surname and he detected the resentment of some of the West Ham apprentices. Even when blessed with certain genes, Hudson always knew it would be impossible to replicate the sort of magic that Alan produced for Chelsea, Stoke City and Arsenal.

"I'm really hungry to learn. I want to coach in the Champions League and World Cup. I want to manage my country. I want to be one of the top coaches in the world – that's why I started coaching very early. I want to continue throwing myself in the deep end.'' A famous football name writes a famous new chapter.

Full Story in the Telegraph [+]