Column'Steve Heighway is a massive influence on everybody at the Academy'

I would like to express a wholehearted thank you to Steve Heighway for the support he has given me and my Academy staff throughout the seven years since he returned here.

Last week Steve decided to retire from coaching at the age of 75, leaving an incredible legacy at this football club as a player and as a youth development coach.

Despite Steve announcing his retirement, that doesn’t mean he will no longer be a regular visitor to our Kirkby complex.

He knows he is always welcome here any time and he will still be at the Academy to watch games, and share his expertise and wisdom for those fortunate to be in his company.

I’d like to still think that the Academy can still give as much back to Steve as he has given to us.

I remember when I first brought back Steve back to the Academy seven years ago and, for me, it was a fairly obvious decision to make at the time given the wealth of experience that he has got.

I suppose at the beginning it was more a case of just letting him know he was welcome to come back here at any time.

It was a conversation about football, and it was something I got lots from, and it seemed an obvious progression to ask Steve to come back here and get him to share his wisdom and expertise both with staff and players. I know players and staff alike throughout these years will have learnt an awful lot from Steve.

He is someone who is a very deep thinker about the game and it runs through his veins, not only football but specifically Liverpool FC and I know it’s very much in his heart.

Steve is still very much part of the DNA that exists here and he has been a big influence and very supportive of me on a personal level.

He has been incredibly generous in his time as both a colleague and as a friend, and there’s not a conversation to be had with him when you don’t pick up something.

Not only was Steve such a special player here, his incredible coaching career has lasted over 40 years, in which he has overseen the development of some of the most iconic players to have played for Liverpool Football Club.

It’s highly unusual that someone who has had a stellar playing career has achieved, and rightly so, an iconic status for not only everything he has achieved on the pitch but also been able to contribute as much as he has off the pitch as well.

The Liverpool fans still sing his name at every game and there is no greater tribute than you can have to someone, where after all these years you are still remembered in that way.

We are coming to the end of 2022 and we have obviously had some highs with Caoimhin Kelleher’s heroics in the Carabao Cup final, which was a fantastic moment.

I always assess our Academy year at the end of each season. I’ve spoken in the past about minutes and debuts that our players get at first-team level and I think they are incredibly fortunate to be at a club like ours and playing for a manager and coaching staff here who believe in giving opportunities to young players.

I am also aware that these players have got to try to turn these opportunities into sustained appearances, and they have got to try to find a way of dislodging some world-class players who are in front of them.

It was obviously a very special moment for Layton Stewart and his family when he made his first-team debut in the Carabao Cup against Derby County in front of the Kop, especially after such a long lay-off through his ACL injury.

With Layton there is always a real pride when you see someone coming through all the way from pre-Academy. He is a local lad and I know how much that meant to him.

But, in the same way I was also pleased with Ben Doak, Stefan Bajcetic and Bobby Clark, because their journeys are slightly different into the club.

I also know how much that would have meant to them, because in some ways when you decide to come to this club it’s a great way of justifying that decision.

We should remember that when boys decide to leave other clubs like Ben, Stefan and Bobby, it’s a big decision in their lives.

So, when they do that and make their debuts, it’s a great way of having justified a big decision from both them and their families.

Alex Inglethorpe was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Steve Hunter.