Man City Academy graduate Will Patching has a point to prove at Derry City

The former Man City Academy prospect has watched on as former U18 teammates Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho established themselves as top talents in the Premier League and Bundesliga respectively as his career took a different route.

Since his surprise release from the Etihad in 2018, Patching, who also played with the likes of Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Everton’s Tom Davies in the England U18 set up, has struggled to reach his full potential.

A spell under Kevin Nolan in League Two with Notts County didn’t go to plan and he failed to establish himself at Dundalk such was the competition for places though his situation wasn’t helped by a change of management at Oriel Park last year. He was restricted to just seven appearances for the Lilywhites in 2020.

Declan Devine is in no doubt the playmaker can become ‘a fantastic asset’ for Derry City during his initial six month loan deal which the City boss hopes to make a permanent move in the summer.

The ‘fresh start’ is exactly what Patching feels he needs to get his career back on track and he certainly hasn’t given up on his dream of following in the footsteps of his famous former Academy teammates.

“It’s a fresh start and I can’t wait to get going now,” said Patching ahead of Derry’s training match against Finn Harps at Brandywell today.

“It’s the first game and hopefully I can get the ball rolling and hopefully I can have a good six months here. I want to help the team as much as I can really.

“Obviously getting game-time was a big factor for me coming here to try and get a run of games and as many minutes under my belt as possible and hopefully help the club be up the top end of the table.

“I’ve had a few frustrating seasons when things just haven’t gone my way. It’s been frustrating but hopefully this six month period can push me onto something and get me back on track. We’ll see how it goes from there.

“It was quite frustrating with the lack of game-time last year but we had quite a big squad with a lot of good players. I had to be patient.

“Halfway through the season a new manager came in and I had to really start again,” he explained. “It was a frustrating year.”

Patching has watched another former Man City Academy graduate, Jack Byrne, become one of the League of Ireland’s top stars with Shamrock Rovers last season and he knows the league offers the perfect platform to relaunch his career.

“It’s a good opportunity for people to get good moves. There’s a lot of people who watch it and look at the stats. I think I do need to prove a point to myself and others because obviously last season was so frustrating. This season is all about showing everyone I still have that potential.”

He can’t wait to get on the pitch at Brandywell and believes Derry can challenge at the top end of the table this year.

“It’s a good group of lads. It’s a young group but there are some good players and there’s a good buzz around the training. I’ve had some good chats with the gaffer and I’m excited to see how it goes.

“There’s no point joining a team if you don’t think they will do well. There’s a lot of quality in the squad and I think we’ll have a good season.”

The Stockport native joined Man City’s Academy at the age of six and he admits seeing how some of his teammates have progressed to the England senior set-up gives him motivation to realise his full potential.

“It’s kind of weird because at the time you obviously don’t realise but when you look back you realise how good they were and how good the team you were playing in was.

“Looking back on it now, it’s unbelievable. Playing with players who have gone on to do these things and who are still only around the same age as me, it’s crazy really.

“It does give me motivation, I obviously want to reach the highest potential I can and get back to playing with players like that. It does motivate you.”

His new Derry City teammate and housemate, Joe Hodge, finds himself in the same position he was in at 18 years of age - a potential star in the making at Man City’s talented academy.

Both players are hoping their loan spells at Derry becomes the making of their careers in senior football and Patching is excited to share the experience with the Manchester born midfielder whom he could well be competing for a place with this season.

“Joe would’ve been a few years younger than me but I would’ve seen him about the place and I would’ve trained with him a few times. He’s a good lad.

“He’s a good little player and hopefully we can play together and see what we can do. I wouldn’t say we’re similar players but there’s competition throughout the whole squad and it can only be healthy to push each other on.

“My family are delighted with me coming to Derry. They just want me on the pitch as much as possible to see how I progress and Derry’s the perfect place for me to do that.”