Ex-Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers midfielder opens up on Liverpool role, EFL future and coaching ambitions

The 35-year-old holds a player-coach role in the Reds’ academy, working with the Premier League club’s U18s and U21s. 

Spearing knows the pathway well, having progressed through the ranks at Anfield himself, before playing for the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and the Seasiders, with his stint with the latter coming between 2017 and 2020.

This week’s game will mark the second time the ex-Blackpool skipper has returned to the Fylde Coast in his current position, after picking up minutes off the bench in the EFL Trophy group stages last season. 

Discussing his position with Liverpool, he said: “I absolutely love it - it’s brilliant. I was working with the club before they asked me to come in and do it full time, so it was an easy decision - it’s where I first started as a seven-year-old. 

“At the time I was still playing with Tranmere, but once the role was explained to me and what I’d do day-to-day it didn’t take long to make the decision to come back to the club, knowing I would still be involved in training and able to play the games. 

“Since I’ve been back it’s got better and better. I’ve not fully started my coaching yet, but it’s on the side, and I’m loving it. 

“I always had fond memories of being here as a kid. I came all the way through, it was a big part of my life growing up. To come round in one full circle, helping the next generation to play for the club as well, it’s an unbelievable feeling. 

“I know how lucky I am to be given this opportunity - I’m working hard to help the next lot’s way through to the first-team.”

Spearing admits there were a number of things to consider when he was offered the role at the AXA Training Centre back in 2022, and states he’s got no intention of returning to senior football. 

“I was 33 at the time, playing, and loving football, but once a club like Liverpool come in for you, you’re always thinking about how long your career will go on for and if it’s an opportunity to start the next chapter of my career,” he added. 

“You’ve got to weigh up a few things. A big thing that turned it for me was the fact I could train every day and still play some part in games to get that competitive edge, and that drive to succeed and do well. 

“It was a difficult decision but also a very easy one. 

“There’s going to be no return to the EFL. I loved my career in it, I thought it was outstanding. I loved the clubs I was a part of, especially Blackpool - it was a brilliant three years for me at the club, I loved every minute of it. They’ve got a great set of fans. 

“I owe a lot to Gary Bowyer, Simon Grayson, and the players that were there. 

“That time in the EFL has now passed for me; now it’s about me concentrating on the lads I’m working with in the U18s and U21s level - working with them on a daily basis and hopefully getting them ready for Liverpool’s first-team.”

While Spearing has started the transition to life after playing, he states he’s not got any immediate plans to step back from his duties on the field. 

“I’m in no rush to hang the boots up,” he noted. 

“I’ve been speaking to a lot of people I’ve played with and they wish they could still have the boots on, so I want to do it for as long as possible because once they’re hung up they’re not going back on again. 

“As long as I feel I can help the club and help the lads, I want to keep them on.

“There are long-term coaching ambitions, but at the minute, I’m really enjoying what I’m doing and I’m not looking too far ahead. Things can change quite quickly in football, you don’t know what could change tomorrow, but the club know my situation.

“I’ve still got an incredible amount to learn as a coach, and I’m just at the beginning of that journey. 

“The next thing for me will be to take a role full time and be a lead coach here at the club hopefully, and long-term goals after that would be going into a first-team environment.

“I love being on the grass, and that’s where I want to be. I don’t want to be a manager that’s sat in his office or sat at the side.”