Emile Heskey makes heartbreaking admission about his Man City sons’ careers
Manchester City academy stars Reigan and Jaden Heskey are hoping to follow in their father’s footsteps by playing at the top level.
Emile Heskey pictured watching his son Reigan play for Manchester City in the UEFA Youth League(Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Former England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey has admitted he didn’t encourage his sons Reigan and Jaden to pursue a career in football after his experiences of racism and other issues in the game. Both of Heskey’s sons play for Manchester City, with Jaden currently on his first loan spell at Championship club Sheffield Wednesday.
The brothers made their debuts for City earlier this season in a 2-0 win at Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup. Since then, Reigan has been an unused substitute for the Blues in five Premier League matches. The Heskey brothers have the perfect role model as they forge a career in football.
Their father won the UEFA Cup, Super Cup, FA Cup and League Cup during his time with Liverpool and Leicester City. He was also capped 62 times by England and featured at two World Cups. But despite his success, the 48-year-old insists he didn’t push Reigan or Jaden into football after the racist abuse he suffered during his playing career.
FOLLOW OUR MAN CITY FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest news and analysis via the MEN’s Manchester City Facebook page
Try MEN Premium NOW for just £1
“It’s a difficult conversation to have with them [about racism],” Heskey told BBC Radio 5 Live. “How do you tell your sons that you have 30,000 people making monkey chants at you?
“How do you explain that? And then explain why they were doing it, because I don’t know why they were doing it. Whether it be banter, whether it be… whatever it may be, trying to put people off the game, I don’t know. That’s the thing, you have got to ask them.
“I’ve spoken about this, whether I really wanted them to play football at all. Not just that [racism], but everything that comes with it.
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings
“It has the biggest of big highs and then the lowest of lows at times as well. So, you’re on this rollercoaster and I never really wanted them to go on that journey.
“But then they started to play and then you realise it is not my journey, it’s their journey. I’ve done mine already.
“Mine is in a totally different era anyway and hopefully they will be able to find their foot in this era and do really well as well. I never really wanted them to play and I have said that openly.”
Buy Carabao Cup Final VIP tickets
The Carabao Cup Final will see Arsenal v Manchester City at London’s Wembley Stadium this March.
Back in October, MEN Sport spoke to the Heskey brothers about their careers and their father’s involvement. “To be fair, he doesn’t really try and get involved too much with the technical stuff and tactical, all that sort of stuff, he just lets our coaches take over because they know what they’re doing,” Jaden explained.
“But if he sees anything more mentally, he might just say something, just encourage us if something’s not going well. He’s obviously been through it all but he doesn’t really try to get involved too much, he’s not that type of parent. I guess he just wants to be kind of a supportive parent.”