2 weeks Ago
Should you stumble across the Ravenscraig side's training sessions, of any age group, you're likely to see one man - Joe Beckley - passing on his expertise to the next generation of local footballing stars. But Joe also has two sons in the Nock set-up who are determined to follow in their dad's footsteps. Joe made a name for himself turning out for Port Glasgow Juniors, but he and his two sons, Tai and Jay, are the ones now making a name for themselves - both as part of the club's youth pathway set-up and in Gary Fleming's first team.
Joe oversees the club's under-20 and under-17 sides, where his sons have made their impact by hitting the opposition where it hurts most on a regular basis - while Tai is proving to be a headache for plenty of Third Division defences in the Nock senior team. Joe says it's special being able to help the club get back to where they want to be whilst watching his two boys follow in his footsteps. He told the Tele: "I've been involved in the club coaching-wise, probably the last three, four years.
I was a player here just over 10 years ago, and I played with Gary Fleming, the manager. "When I got the phone call about joining the first team coaching set up, on top of what I do with the younger sections, it was a no-brainer for me really. "So it's turned out to be a bit special, watching my boys follow in my footsteps.
"I started out as a striker at Port Glasgow Juniors years ago, and then I moved back as time went on, so we're all starting out the same way. "Sometimes parents are guilty of coaching their kids from the sides, unintentionally. But Tai and Jay both get told that when we're at football, I'm not your dad, I'm your coach.
"Whatever happens on the park stays on the park. We don't take it in the house. "Just now, I train the 20s and the 17s, both on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I'm basically in from work at five and straight back out the door again.
"On Tuesday and Thursday, I'm out with the first team. I think if I wasn't doing it, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I really enjoy it.
" Young forward Tai has led from the front this season as Nock sit seven points off the top of the table and in a good place to mount a challenge for promotion to the Second Division. And Tai says that while he's loved every minute of learning from his dad, and following in his footsteps, Joe isn't the only one he's been lucky to learn from - with the youngster also hailing the influence of veteran Nock striker James Marks. "My time at the club has been good, because it given me that option to progress more.
"I've been able to progress through the age groups and through the 20s. When I was growing up, My dad always liked scoring goals when he was playing for the Port, so I knew since I could kick a ball that that's what I wanted to do. "I've gone to watch him places like Royal Albert and Thorniewood, and I'm now starting to do that myself.
"I feel like I'm starting to follow his footsteps and hopefully I could have the same career as him. "I've been lucky to grow up watching him and James Marks at various different times. To be able to progress to the point where I'm playing alongside James is a great privilege.
"My hopes for the rest of this season are to help the club get promotion, and to just score goals and enjoy my football." Joe admits that getting promotion this season would be the icing on the cake - and something he felt the current crop of Ravenscraig stars was well capable of doing, right from the season's early weeks. "I'm really wanting that promotion," he added.
"It would be really good for this club, because I think with the amount of boys, and how good the boys are, we're too good to be playing this level. "I think we deserve to go up. Sometimes when you're in pre-season you just get a feeling about your club, that 'we could do things here'.
"I got that right at the start of the season.".
