If Marcia Lewis has learned anything in the past seven years, it is to keep pushing. “They probably thought by now I’d have disappeared,” the mother of theArsenaland England left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly says with a laugh. “But I’m not that kind of girl. If I want to do something, I’m going to do it.”
In March Lewis-Skelly, at the age of 18, became the youngest player toscore on his England debut, and life has changed considerably for Lewis since she received a call from an agent who wanted to represent her son when he was 11.
Lewis-Skelly had recently excelled at a youth tournament in Japan, along with Ethan Nwaneri, another Hale End academy product who has progressed into the first team under Mikel Arteta, and suddenly found himself in demand.
“That’s when you start to know about the industry so that you can say: ‘Hang on, we’re not there yet. Let me find out more …,” Lewis says. “Because there is no race. There is no rush. My mum always used to say to me: ‘If something feels urgent, that is a sign to slow down.’”
Lewis, who had experience of working for an investment bank in the City, took matters into her own hands. She qualified as a Fifa-registered agent and completed a master’s degree in football business, focusing her thesis on the parent experience in elite football academies – an area in which she was quickly gaining first-hand experience. “It can be a really lonely journey,” she says.
That proved to be the inspiration for setting up, in 2022,No1Fan.club, which has been providing support and education for parents of children in the academy systems and is due to become part of the Premier League’s life skills programme next season.
“We’re only one of two organisations that do things specifically for parents,” she says proudly. “Everyone else is providing workshops for the players. But no one’s actually focusing on the parent support that helps the kids. So that’s a big win for us, that they finally realised that we’re here to help, and we’re not here to bash the industry but we are here to help them help parents with the realities of the journey, which inevitably will help them and their staff. It’s just taken them a while to realise that.”
Lewis has also approached the Professional Footballers’ Association and wants to work with the Football Association on changing regulations that can restrict academy players from joining other clubs if they move home, with some effectively shut out if their former side demand compensation.
“These are things which some parents have to seek legal advice for,” she says. “It’s tricky, but as grassroots parents that’s the last thing you’re even thinking about. It’s important that we help parents understand the journey. Signing the paper is the easy bit, but it’s what comes next: the expectation, the juggling of education, the messaging to our kids. The amount of people that say to me: ‘I bet you can retire because Myles is this.’ Or: ‘I bet you can buy a house.’ And I’m like, that’s the language that’s not helpful.”
Lewis admits her son’s meteoric rise over the past season has been a steep learning curve but says a strong support network has helped to keep his feet very much on the ground. “Having to deal with going out in public, all of that is new,” she says.
“I’m still learning. I think for us, the most important thing is having the right team around you, not putting him on a pedestal at home. ‘No, you’ve still got your chores to do. You still need to empty the dishwasher, tidy your room.’ He still lives at home and I like it, because obviously I enjoy his company a lot. But also, he’s a child – 18 does not make you an adult. It might do by the law. But he’s not ready to go out and live on his own.”
That were rumours of interest from Real Madrid this summer with Lewis-Skelly due to enter the final 12 months of his first professional contract, signed in October 2023, but he ispoised to extend his dealand become one of the world’s best-paid teenagers. Lewis expresses admiration for Trent Alexander-Arnold’slevel of Spanishat his Madrid unveiling and says her son “loves” studying the language for his AS Level, but suggestions Lewis-Skelly might have left the club he joined at the age of eight are given short shrift.
“Rumours are rumours, aren’t they?” Lewis says. “I mean, everyone would always have something to say, you know; that’s fine. We don’t engage in all of that. Myles is enjoying his football. I would want him to enjoy his football wherever he goes, at whatever stage. And, you know, that’s the most important thing.”
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Lewis acknowledges she is learning on the job when it comes to being an agent. “It’s not an easy thing to do and you have to have the right support. I am not walking this path alone. We have the right people to support Team Myles. And I think that’s the one thing that we would love to encourage parents to find out more.
“We have a workshop called ‘Finding the right agent’. And it isn’t about, OK, go here. No, it’s about, do you know the role? The part that they’ll play? What questions should you ask? You know, even around the approach, around having a meeting, how do you show up to feel on an equal playing field with someone who wants to sell you a service? What are the signs? What are the red flags? Equally, parents, how do you need to adjust your behaviour? You know, it’s not about paying off your house.”
The self-belief Lewis-Skelly showed in performing Erling Haaland’s Zen celebration after scoring inArsenal’s 5-1 thrashing of Manchester Cityin February at the Emirates comes not only from his mother but also from Marcia’s mum. “She is a very confident woman – don’t take no shit!” Lewis says.
She is happy to take credit for her son’s physical prowess, which has impressed Arteta, Thomas Tuchel and so many pundits. “I’d like to say so!” she responds when asked whether her cooking is responsible. “Even as a young child he always ate well. As a kid, he always loved pasta. But it’s not like Myles has been on this nutritional health fix since he was 10. No, he’s been a child. Let him eat what he needs to eat.”
No1Fan.club will host its firstparent conference, Changing the Game for Football Families, on 5 July at Stormzy’s Mercy HQ in south London. It will feature workshops from experts in areas such as career planning for young footballers and digital health, and talks from speakers including Les Smith, the father of Fulham’s Emile Smith Rowe. For Lewis, it is another opportunity to help break down some of the barriers in the sport.
“I’ve witnessed some of the misogyny in football and how, from an agent perspective, I’ve been approached before, quite disrespectfully, quite frankly. Almost preyed upon … So I think that’s the other thing about having someone like myself, who is a Black woman, reaching parents, who finally feel that there is someone who either looks like them or is the same sex as them that is challenging the status quo. When I see the diversity of our workshop groups, it’s amazing.”