TV star Robbie is adding another string to his bow by taking his UEFA 'A' Licence
Switch on your television on any given night of the week and it is a fair bet that Robbie Earle will be grinning at you as he analyses another top flight Premiership game.
However, it is sometimes easy to forget that behind the polished TV guise is a former footballer of some repute. Earle played for Port Vale and was also part of the highly successful Wimbledon team of the late early nineties. Throw into the equation a World Cup Finals appearance for Jamaica and it is safe to say that Earle has a good bank of knowledge tucked away for future reference.
Despite his burgeoning media career, Earle still can't shake off the football bug and has enrolled on the UEFA 'A' Licence course at Lilleshall and is aiming to impart that vast bank of knowledge on the tutors and impress sufficiently to pass the course.
As Ian Clarkson discovered though, there is a big difference between the spotlight of coaching and analysing.
"It's a lot easier analysing the game, as I'm the best player in the world when I am in the studio and I have never kicked a ball wrong, but it is far harder when you are under the microscope," said Earle.
"It is nerve-wracking before the sessions but I think you have to just take a deep breath and get on with it. At the end of the day everyone is in the same boat and we are all trying to help each other through the course so you have to try and enjoy your sessions when they come around."
Earle maintained his reasons for attending the course don't differ from any of the other players and believes the extra knowledge will also help his on screen work when he dissects games for the public afterwards.
"I am on the course for the same reasons as everybody else; to improve my knowledge and gain more skills and the main aim is to be awarded the Licence I still do a fair bit of coaching and I want to try and stay involved in the game so it makes a nice change for me to be involved in the game rather than sitting in a studio analysing others.
"There is a lot more depth and organisation about the structure and how you deliver the session and they are the important things really. In terms of football knowledge when you have played the game for a certain number of years then you get your own ideas on how the game should be played but these boys show you how to deliver it in a more structured way.
"Earle is not committing himself to a life on the big screen and certainly hasn't ruled out the possibility of returning to the game at some stage of his life.
He continued: "Who knows where I am going to go with this award? It is just nice to get it I think and then you can coach at the highest level and work in all areas and it is good to be able to have those opportunities."
