A former academy footballer has commended a new league airing on Sky Sports for giving ex-pros a platform to express themselves.
Mohammed Mahyoub, from Manchester formerly played for academies of clubs like Manchester United, Manchester City, Huddersfield and Liverpool.
After his dream of playing professional football came to an end, Mahyoub found a career in social media and is now also playing for a team in the Baller League UK – a six-a-side indoor league which features former Premier League players Bruno Andrade, Marvin Sordell, Jordan Ibe and Josh Harrop feature in it.
He said: “You’re looking at ex players, who have played top football, be it Champions League or Premier League, so you’re talking about huge people like John Terry and even the Invincibles, who have been at the very pinnacle of world football.
“Having people like that is already going to put eyes on six-a-side football because that’s what everybody enjoys.
Mahyoub played with the likes of Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, but like many others could not transition into professional football.
However, he found a way to stay in the game by making videos on social media.
FROM THE HALF-WAY LINE?! 🔥🚀 pic.twitter.com/6gKNfoc0su
— Baller League (@BallerLeagueUK) May 19, 2025
Baller League airs on Sky and is also free to watch on YouTube, attracting over 100k viewers on a matchday.
The games are played in London’s Copper Box Arena on Monday of every week.
Mahyoub was the best player of week one, scoring two goals and bagging one assist for streamer Angry Ginge’s team – Yanited.
He praised the platform the league was offering to players who failed to make an impact in the top flight of football.
“This country produces some of the best footballers probably in the world.
“We are fortunate that there is a lot of talent in our academies and a lot of players are good physically, technically good, game understanding is good but because it’s so competitive, these players get lost.
“What the Baller League does is give players a platform so that players can say, ‘We are here, this is who we are,’ it gives players a platform to let people know what you’re about,” said Mahyoub.
All Premier League teams now have aftercare programmes for players whom they let go, but same was not the case for Mahyoub.
He revealed Manchester United and Huddersfield were the only two teams that offered him help by conducting open trials to move on to explore other avenues.
The former academy player said: “The mental effects when you get released by a club, it is the worst feeling in the world, it’s basically someone saying to you, ‘We don’t think you’re good enough’ that affects a player mentally in a way you can’t explain unless you’ve been in that position.
“It doesn’t just affect your football, it starts giving you doubt in life and whatever else you want to do and I feel when you leave a young player so vulnerable at a young age it has a long term effect.”
Mahyoub currently has over 17,000 followers on TikTok and collaborates with other creators who produce football content.
Having gained a lot of attention from his skills and challenge videos, the Manchester resident believes getting dropped from an academy does not necessarily mean an end to a football career.
He said: “I’ve had so many setbacks in football, but I’m using this Baller League as a platform to show other young lads out there who get released who are going through tough times in football, maybe not playing, are thinking about quitting.
“There are still opportunities out there and opportunities that might be even bigger than what you’re trying to get.”
Feature Image: bluesbby from Mountain View, USA, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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