“[**Emile**](https://www.liverpoolfc.com/info/emile-heskey) would have made his debut for Leicester when I was about five years of age so you can imagine what that did for me through my childhood,” he says.
“I remember it like it was yesterday. It was just after he’d started playing in the first team as a teenager and my dad shouted, ‘Come downstairs.’ I went, then he pointed at the TV and said, ‘That’s your cousin.’
“That was when I noticed he had the same surname as me and my love for football effectively started there and then. Obviously, there are not many times that you can look at a TV and see your cousin playing football.
“It was an amazing time for me as a kid, having someone like that to look up to. Everyone has their childhood heroes and he was mine.
“He effectively shaped me to be who I am without doing anything other than be himself. That gave me my own idea of how I should potentially live my life and go about it.”
Today, Craig is player care officer at Liverpool’s Academy – a position he took up in October 2025.
Mainly working with the U9 to U14 age groups, his role centres around the wellbeing, pastoral care and personal development of the club’s youngest players.
Craig explains: “Day to day, it always changes, but one of the things that’s quite fixed is we have a player support meeting, which involves all of us who help support the boys in social, emotional and physical wellbeing, such as education, medical, psychology and safeguarding.
“There are quite a few of us on that panel and lots of different expertise in the room, and we’re all pitching in to get one goal, which is the best support possible for the players.
“I’m also constantly around training and games. Not because of any coaching needs but I’m a big believer that if you want to show support to the boys, you show attention to the main thing they’re here for. I think that’s one way we can build trust. The player care department must be neutral, so we deem it important for us to be visible for parents and players as a soundboard.
“I enjoy watching the boys play, it’s amazing to see them showcase what they are about, really work hard and try to be the best they can be. If you pay attention to that, you often get a little bit of a buy-in and that helps you build relationships.
“But overall, the role is really all about trying to help the boys become the best human beings they can be. You are helping to produce future dads, teachers and, obviously, football players.
“You want them to get the best experience they can have whilst they’re in our care and in terms of the most rewarding aspects of the job, seeing them become professional footballers is one of the biggest things for me.
“They can’t all be first-team players at Liverpool – you’d love them to be, of course, but they can’t be. Some of the boys I worked with at my previous clubs, Leyton Orient and Millwall, can be playing in the Premier League, Championship, National League North or South, or at a lower level, and I am still celebrating that.
“Just have your own journey, and that doesn’t have to be as a footballer either. Just seeing them do well in whatever avenue they take in life is a big reward.”