LOVE ISLAND star Tyrique Hyde has opened up on how his football career went down a different path to his father.
Hyde, who appeared on season 10 of the Reality TV Show, is the son of former Premier League footballer Micah Hyde, who starred for Watford in the top flight.
He revealed one of the main motivations in his youth career was to please his dad.
However, he could not hide how upset he was when he was told he would need to move to London when Hyde senior sealed a transfer down south.
Speaking on Rising Ballers, Hyde, 24, confessed to being incredibly upset when he was told the news.
He said: “I remember coming from school one day and I was loving it at Manchester City, I was feeling sick playing for Man City you’ve got the kit at home and that.
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“And I remember coming home from school one day and my dad was like ‘boys you got to move back down to London’. I just remember being gutted and crying.
“The first thing I thought was ‘so what about Man City?’ Like I didn’t think about anything else and he (dad) was like ‘well you can’t play for Man City anymore, you will find another team down there, it’s fine’.
“I think I didn’t even talk to my dad for about a day, I was so upset. I thought he was just standing on and crushing my dreams. But I’m a little boy, in hindsight it doesn’t matter.”
Hyde then detailed how he and his family moved down to Essex while Hyde Sr. was playing for Peterborough.
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He was then snapped up by the West Ham Academy, where Hyde was excited to go due to them being a professional team.
However, Hyde then revealed that there were some key differences between the two clubs, including what he felt was an entrenched favouritism towards specific players.
Hyde continued: “I’ve gone to West Ham and I just remember it weren’t the same vibe as in Manchester.
“Up north everyone was friendlier. Everyone was cool. Even though you were competing against each other it felt like you was part of a team.
“When I got to West Ham straight away I realised some of these people are pricks.
“But sometimes that’s how you got to be, sometimes you have to be selfish in football, which I learned later on, maybe too late.”
Hyde continued: “Now I’m playing for West Ham, the first year was good.
“[But] I realised very quickly, and I’ve heard people say it about other academies as well, in each age group the club definitely had their favourites. The people who they really want to push.
“The rest of us – it felt like to me – were just there to build the team and supplement the players who they really want to push.
“I remember being so young, like 11 or 12, and I was feeling it at the time like ‘this is not right, not everyone is getting a fair go’.
“Back then when you play academy football it’s quarters so instead of playing halves you play four quarters.
“I remember certain people will be playing three quarters, every weekend and I’m playing two quarters.
“So my mum and dad were taking me to football on Sunday and i’m playing 40 minutes and I saw some people playing 60 minutes and I saw some people playing four quarters and I was not really fair.
“In the end I just started slowly, slowly, slowly just really not wanting to be there and not wanting to go.
“I don’t know if I was scared. I come out to my mum and dad and said I don’t want to go football.
“I think I was scared of disappointing my dad but I didn’t want to be there and it reflected in my performances.”
Hyde has long had a career in semi-pro football career, last appearing for Lewes, while also previously playing for the likes of Welling, Dartford, Hemel Hempstead and Dulwich Hamlet.
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But now he has swapped football shorts for swim shorts after his appearance on Love Island last summer where he ended up finishing third with partner Ella Thomas.
The pair have been in a long distance relationship since returning to the UK, with Hyde acknowledging the struggles they have had in December.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
