A MEMBER of Manchester United’s Class of ‘92 is looking to educate budding footballers with the launch of a new soccer school.

John O’Kane, who came through the Old Trafford youth ranks and played alongside the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville and Nicky Butt, is looking to use the lessons he learnt under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson - and other techniques he has picked up along the way - to help him shape the futures of East Lancashire youngsters.

But it is not just a desire to mould professional footballers that drives O’Kane in his new venture, AOK Soccer School, which is aimed at boys and girls aged five to 13.

He also wants to bring the fun back into the beautiful game, and restore the street-style football that he feels has gone missing with the rise of professional football club academies and ‘textbook’ coaching.

“I’ve noticed a lot of coaches around the academies are trying to play the game for the kids, instead of letting them get on with it, said father-of-three O’Kane, who lives in Darwen.

“There’s a niche at the moment and hopefully I can tap into it.

“When I was playing at that age it was just on the street and all I wanted to do was score lots of goals.

“I want to get back to that style. I don’t want them to be all coached-out.

“Football has gone away from that.

“Kids can get too much information when all they want to do is just play.

“That’s what I want to help them do, let them learn for themselves.

“There’ll be plenty of fun games, but with a bit of guidance they can solve problems by themselves, and that is the best way to learn. So parents who are going to come and leave their kids at the soccer school are hopefully going to know it’s done in a professional way, but a fun way.”

O’Kane, who will run his soccer school at Darwen Vale High School from July 24 to August 25, added: “They will be coached, not lectured.

“We want to strip football down and get back to basics, encourage them to control the ball, teach them which part of the foot to pass with, how to curl or ping the ball - simple techniques like that.”

O’Kane learnt from the best and with the best as a Class of ‘92 graduate after being scouted as a youngster in his hometown.

“I was playing grass roots football in Nottingham. I trained with Forest or Notts County - there were no academies at that age,” he explained.

“Nobby Stiles scouted me. I didn’t have a clue who he was at the time but my mum did.He asked me if I wanted to go to United and I signed schoolboy forms in 1989 and I was there until 1997-98.

“I never had that burning desire to be a professional footballer. It was just something I was good at and I was swept along with it.

“It was a great learning experience for me, playing with Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes, and of course Beckham, Giggsy and Scholes. It was fantastic. But when I joined Manchester United it was more of a job to me than a passion.

“I got my passion back when I retired and went back into grass roots and coaching.”

The five-week course runs Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 3.30pm at a cost of £20 per day. There are discounts for full week bookings.

For further details or to book visit www.aoksoccerschool.com.