Exclusive: Daniel Church on Brendan Rodgers, Neil Lennon and life after football | OneFootball

Once tipped as one of Celtic’s brightest academy prospects, Daniel Church looked destined for a long career in professional football.

Daniel Church of Celtic, South Shields v Celtic, Semi Final – South Shields Challenge Cup 2018, Mariners Park, South Shields, UK, 29 July 2018. Photo Richard Lee/BPI/Shutterstock

Instead, at just 26 years old, the former Hoops defender has already been forced to walk away from the game.

Speaking candidly on The Celtic Exchange podcast, Church reflected on the journey that took him from Celtic’s academy to early retirement through injury. Along the way came invaluable lessons under Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon, a surreal reunion with the club while playing under Barry Ferguson, and the challenge of finding a new purpose after football.

Church progressed through Celtic’s youth ranks alongside talents including Karamoko Dembele, Stephen Welsh, Kerr McInroy and current Hoops goalkeeper Ross Doohan.

His promise was recognised in 2018 when Celtic rewarded him with a new three-year contract alongside close friend Jack Aitchison. A Scotland youth international and regular in the club’s reserve side, Church appeared to be edging ever closer to the first team.

Although that competitive debut never came, he came within touching distance.

During Rodgers’ first spell in charge, Church regularly trained with the senior squad and even started a behind-closed-doors friendly against St Johnstone during an international break during the 2016/2017 Invincible campaign. The experience offered an insight into the elite standards that made Rodgers’ Celtic one of the most dominant sides in the club’s modern history.

“Every time you went up to train with the first-team [under Brendan Rodgers], the standards were crazy every day,” Church recalled. “Even pre-season was mental!”

The Irishman’s attention to detail left a lasting impression.

“In the morning would be all ball work, no running, just little drills with the ball. Then we would go to the hotel, sleep for a couple of hours, come back, there would be no ball on the pitch, it would literally just be running.

“The amount of fitness you would get, because he just wanted us to be so fit, because he would just wanted us to be running over the top of teams and you seen that as soon as he came in and how well they were doing – especially that first season.

“There was so much structure and importance on body-fats every month had to be under a certain number. The rule was if your skin folds were over 55, you would have to come in and do 15k on the bike before training.”

When Rodgers controversially departed for Leicester City in February 2019 and Neil Lennon returned to the Celtic dugout, Church immediately sensed a different atmosphere around Lennoxtown.

Where Rodgers often observed from a distance while John Kennedy and Chris Davies led sessions, Lennon preferred a far more hands-on approach.

“Lennon was a bit more old-school,” he added.

One of the defining moments of Church’s Celtic journey arrived under Lennon on trophy day against Hearts in the final Scottish Premiership fixture of the 2018/19 season.

After training with the first team throughout the week, he received an unexpected message from academy coach and Tommy McIntyre telling him he would be part of Celtic’s matchday squad.

“It was mental,” he recollected. “My dad was away with work at the time, so he couldn’t go. But my Mum and big brother, they went. It was crazy.

“We met at Celtic Park early, I must have been there before the stewards were there. I was adamant I was going to be so early.”

Like many academy players before him, Church eventually faced the difficult decision of pursuing opportunities elsewhere.

Following a loan spell at East Fife during the 2019/20 campaign, he pushed to leave Celtic permanently in search of regular first-team football. Looking back now, it is one of the few decisions he would change.

“I was just adamant at that age that I had played reserves for three years I felt like I had out-played it and I was ready for a new first-team challenge, which is why I pushed to be paid off with my last year.

He continued: “Thinking back now I should have just tried to stay in the building for as long as possible and just get a chance. I just thought the best decision career-wise would be to go and get first-team football elsewhere.”

His career after Parkhead took him to Dumbarton, Alloa Athletic and Queen of the South, but football has a habit of coming full circle.

In January 2022, Alloa were paired with Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic in the Scottish Cup. Church, now playing under former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson, found himself standing in front of the Green Brigade as they belted out songs he had once chanted alongside as a supporter.

“It was weird with Barry Ferguson being the manager of Alloa at the time,” he said. “It was quite fitting. That was a weird experience. Just warming up, and the Green Brigade are singing and I’m joining in with some of the songs while I’m warming up for the opposite team.

“It was a tough night. I remember playing against [Liel] Abada and how sharp he was. It came to the 60th minute and the Jota song had just started and he was out warming up and then he comes on.

“He [Ange] then switched Maeda over to my side just as I’m getting tired and then he [Maeda] was hunting me down. I did sleep well that night.”

The evening ended in a respectable 2-1 defeat for the Scottish League One outfit, but Church still managed to take away a special memento thanks to former academy teammate Stephen Welsh.

“I ended up getting Maeda’s top. I spoke to Stephen Welsh and text ‘look can you get me a top of one of the players I played against’ and then met him in the tunnel and he gave me that [Maeda’s top] to keep. So that was cool to keep.”

His time under Ferguson also gave him another perspective on management, having previously worked under Rodgers and Lennon.

“He was alright,” Church quipped whilst laughing. “He was a bit harsh at times. Totally different to what I had experienced. He was really old-school, and how demanding things were. He didn’t last very long.”

Sadly, injuries became the defining battle of Church’s career.

After spells with Dumbarton, Alloa and Queen of the South, his body could no longer withstand the demands of professional football. Earlier this month, he announced on Instagram that he had been forced to retire at just 25 years old.

Rather than dwell on what might have been, Church has embraced a fresh challenge.

With the support of PFA Scotland, he completed a six-month barbering course and has built a new career away from football.

Now working towards his coaching badges, Church hopes his playing journey may yet prove to be the foundation for a future in management.

His playing career may have ended far sooner than anyone expected, but his story in football is hopefully not over.

You can watch Daniel Church’s full interview with Tino Callaghan on The Celtic Exchange Patreon. https://patreon.com/celticexchange

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