John Herdman: from Durham to Canada's national team and other Englishmen who made a name in football across the Atlantic

While England's Gareth Southgate enjoyed a playing career that most can still recall, Canada boss John Herdman is an Englishman who took a very different route to his job.

Born in County Durham, Herdman, 47, never actually played the game at a professional level - despite a keen interest in the sport. Instead, he realised a playing career was likely beyond his grasp at 16 when he begun to earn his coaching badges.

That journey has seen him go from being in charge of a Brazilian-style football school in England to leading the North American nation to their first World Cup finals since 1986.

According to goal.com, Herdman travelled to Brazil initially to study coaching methods, before he set up his own school in England in his early 20s.

Success here eventually led to a job with Sunderland's youth academy where he worked with the likes of Jordan Henderson - the now skipper for Liverpool FC. That was alongside a post as a lecturer at Northumbria University.

But speaking to PA, Herdman has mentioned that his lack of a playing career made life in English football difficult as he was kept out of what felt like an 'old boys club'.

He said: “From the career progression it was definitely a challenge when you hadn’t played at the highest level. I felt it was a bit of an old boys’ game back at that time in the ’90s, where it just seemed like if you hadn’t played the game you weren’t going to get the job at that next level.

“There’s been a desire to sort of prove people wrong."

And Herdman has done just that. Aged just 26, he took a leap of faith and moved to New Zealand to work as a regional director in football. Just three years later, he was in charge of the New Zealand women's team.

Under his leadership, the senior women's team qualified for the World Cups in 2007 and 2011. His time Down Under had done enough to capture the attention of the Canadian Soccer Association and he was handed the reins of the women's team in 2011.

Also in 2011, his team won the gold medal at the Pan American Games, beating Brazil on penalties in the final and in 2015, the team reached the quarter-finals of the Women's World Cup.

But it wasn't until three years later in 2018 when he made his first venture into coaching in the men's game when he became Canada's head coach.

Not only has Herdman guided Canada to their highest-ever place in the FIFA World Rankings, but he also helped the nation in World Cup qualifying to reach a finals tournament for the first time in 36 years.

But Herdman is not the only Englishman to make it in football across the Atlantic.

While the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and Ashley Cole have taken their talents to North America at late stages in their careers, others have chosen to start playing in the US or Canada.

Bradley Wright-Phillips

Bradley Wright Philips started his career at Manchester City but failed to carve out a first-team place, unlike his brother Shaun.

He eventually moved to the MLS in 2013 after spells with Portsmouth, Plymouth Argyle and Charlton. There he signed for New York Red Bulls.

In his first full season, he equalled the league's record for most goals in a single campaign with 27.

Wright-Phillips is a two-time MLS Golden Boot winner and currently holds the New York Red Bulls record for most goals scored. Also, in 2018, he became the eleventh MLS player to score 100 goals.

Jack Harrison

Jack Harrison left the Manchester United academy in 2010 for Massachusetts. There, he was picked first overall in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft.

Follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with the latest trending content on celebrities, influencers, and more.

Since then, Harrison held his own alongside the likes of David Villa, Andrea Pirlo, and Lampard at New York City FC.

He currently plays for Leeds United in the English Premier League.

Jack Barmby

The son of the former England and Tottenham midfielder Nick Barmby, Jack started his career at Manchester United before a move to Leicester City in 2014.

But he failed to land playing time with the Foxes before loan spells at Rotherham United and Notts County.

In January 2016, the club offered him the chance to play in the US. After an initial loan move to Portland Timber, Barmby signed a permanent deal with the club in 2017.

He most recently played for Phoenix Rising in the USL Championship.

Jack Blake

Blake was an academy scholar at Nottingham Forest but a knee injury and a coaching change left his dreams of playing for the club in tatters.

He was able to land a trial with Minnesota United, coached at the time by compatriot Carl Craig. With Minnesota then in the lower division NASL, Blake impressed enough to land a contract with Jacksonville Armada in 2017.

Blake currently plays for the San Diego Loyals in the USL Championship.