Juan Cano Valverde: From Spain to the South Coast

Spanish footballing coach Juan Cano Valverde has triumphed over a number of set backs throughout the years and after moving from Spain now finds himself on the South Coast.

 

Spanish academy coach Juan Cano Valverde was rejected by AFC Bournemouth after moving to England back in 2018 but has fought back against all odds to restart his coaching career with his “sky’s the limit” mentality.

 

Valverde has been involved in football since he was 16 years old and began working at R.S.D Alcala where he was eventually appointed as the head coach of all under 12 age groups.

 

He made the decision to move to England in June 2018 and arrived in Bournemouth with a lack of understanding for the language and in desperate need of work and money.

 

Valverde said: “My dream has always been to be involved in football and I got turned down over and over, even AFC Bournemouth said no to me which led to me doing my own set up to prove that I was worth it.”

 

He added: “My family are 1,500km away in Spain, and I am so close with my family, but I came here to make a positive impact for the next generation.”

 

Going back to his journey to England, he said: “When I came to Bournemouth, I had a bad knee injury which led to me being unable to play football at a decent level anymore and resulted in surgery which really upset me.

 

“In February of 2019, I found a job application for technical football centre near the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, my English wasn’t very good at the time, but I was determined.”

 

“Thankfully, the manager decided to give me a chance because of my experience and body language even though I couldn’t speak proper English.”

It was so so difficult because no one understood what I was saying when explaining, but I kept trying my hardest.”

Despite all his efforts to learn the language and overcome all his setbacks, the pandemic struck and the government imposed a nationwide lockdown, which hit the Spanish coach hard.

 

Valverde said: “When I finally got to a point where I knew quite a bit of English and was really motivated, the pandemic struck which was another setback.

 

“I was also working in a care home at the time because I wanted to help people and add something to the community which kept me going throughout covid.”

 

When the restrictions started to ease, Valverde began doing one-on-one footballing sessions starting with a few people, which was the start of his success.

 

Not long after, he had over 20 people doing one-on-one sessions with him and was starting to see real growth, but he knew he had to make the step up.

 

He said: “I applied to become the deputy manager, but that was again rejected, however I didn’t let that stop me. I was so motivated I was working from eight in the morning until ten in the evening with over 60 clients at this point.

 

“When I finally got given the deputy manager role, I asked to set up my own football academy where I could teach and coach the younger generation, which was approved in 2022 and now we have age groups from under 8s to under 14s.”

Discussing his ambitions and goals even from a young age, he said: “My aim is to shed light on grassroots football and give young people a platform to shine, by doing initiatives such as taking 63 footballers to my home town in Madrid, and we’re starting a partnership with Malaga FC to further enhance the experience.

“I want to change people’s life, even if they have set backs like I had, I want to help people overcome them, the fact that someone can come here with no English and still be recognised for my work means the world to me.”

He added: “Football is my passion but I would never want to be in football if I can’t help the community, families and the youth, if I’m not improving anything then I would have no passion for it, I wouldn’t be here today.”

 

Juan Cano Valverde has also recently become the Poole Town Under 23’s manager which offers a platform for footballers to have a goal to work towards, Valverde said: “We felt that Bournemouth was the perfect place to set up and to offer the younger generation a platform for a career.”

 

Valverde added: “It’s not about me, its about my players and the feeling of adding something to the community, the sky is always the limit.

“We aim to produce step 2 or step 3 footballers from our academies, look at Scott Rowles who has made a few appearances for Poole Town this season and looks established in first team training sessions.”

 

Regarding making his first team debut for Poole, Rowles said: “It’s unbelievable, even just being involved in training with them has helped me so much, it’s surreal being involved with the club I have supported since a young age.”

 

On his love for Juan Cano Valverde, Rowles added: “He’s a really good coach, me and him have got quite close and he has helped me get to the next level.

 

“He celebrates every little thing and knows how to get the best out of everyone, a top guy.”