GRAHAM Potter – who guided Swedish minnows Ostersunds to a shock Europa League victory at Arsenal this week – has admitted there would have been no point in him applying for the York City manager’s job when he was working as an academy coach at Bootham Crescent.

The former England under-21 international, who played at left back for the Minstermen during the first three years of the new millennium, went on to cut his coaching teeth with an under-13 side that would go on to become the club’s best youth team during recent times, finishing runners up to Hull City in the 2009/10 Football League Youth Alliance north-east table.

Jamie Hopcutt, who followed Potter to Scandinavia after being released by the Minstermen and drifting into amateur football with the likes of Ossett Town and Tadcaster Albion, was a member of that team, along with current Halifax right-back Michael Duckworth and highly-rated centre-halves Dean Lisles and Ryan Qualter.

But Potter freely confesses that – despite having gone further in European football this term that any other Englishman – his potential as a coach was never going to be recognised by any chairman at a professional club in his birth country, whilst he was working at such a young age group and in universities, as he did at Hull and Leeds Met.

Reflecting on those formative years, in an exclusive interview with The Press after the excellent 2-1 triumph at the Emirates, Potter said: “There are talented people everywhere, but it’s not so easy to get the opportunities.

“That’s the reality of football, I suppose. I started off at York City coaching the under-13s and really enjoyed it.

“It was great. Then, I just tried to think about how I could improve as a coach and what I needed to do to get better and took the opportunity that came my way to do that. I couldn’t really rely on what I’d done as a player, because I wasn’t very good and the truth is, when I stopped playing at 30 and went into coaching at youth and university level, I was never going to get the York City job because people want somebody with experience.

“I had to go a different pathway and, thankfully, it’s worked out well.”

Similarly, Hopcutt has proven a success overseas when it looked like he would be lost to the domestic game.

Since joining Ostersunds in December 2011, the York-born attacker, now 25, has been an integral figure in the club’s rise from the fourth division to Sweden’s top flight, with last season’s FA Cup win securing a first-ever campaign in Europe.

He also starred against the Gunners on Thursday night in a central attacking role that saw him intelligently drop back into a defensive position when the hosts were in possession.

Potter also feels that the English game can cast judgement on talented footballers at too early an age, reasoning: “Jamie has been brilliant and has done as much on the pitch at Ostersunds as anybody else to get us where we are and that’s credit to him after moving over from Tadcaster Albion.

“I’ve known him since he was 13 and, sometimes, I think we’ve still got that same relationship. He’s a talented player who did well in York’s youth team but, maybe, he wasn’t quite ready for first-team football and, then, there’s nowhere for players like him to go, which is a big problem and challenge for English football.

“The under-13s I had at York were a really good group but, whilst our programmes up to 18 are some of the best in the world as a country, that pathway to the first team isn’t always there. That’s different in Sweden.

“Younger players can play adult football in lower leagues and there aren’t so many people watching, but the English game is very competitive. York are playing in the sixth tier and can get crowds between 3,000 and 4,000, which puts incredible pressure on the first team and results.

“Most managers’ timespan in a job isn’t very long and, to a certain extent, you can understand why they wouldn’t take a chance on an unproven youth player when they could be out of work in a few months if they’re not winning matches. Thankfully, with Jamie, we offered him something and he’s had a lot of first-team football now.

“He contributed enormously to the game at Arsenal and had a really good understanding of what we wanted to do, so I’m really pleased for him.”

Boos rang out at half-time from home supporters in the 50,000-strong crowd when Ostersunds reduced a first-leg deficit to 3-2 thanks to two goals in as many minutes.

A Saed Kolasinac reply just after the restart then settled the nerves of Arsene Wenger’s men, but a positive Potter insisted his game-plan was always to progress to the last 16 despite trailing 3-0 going into the North London clash.

“It was a shame we couldn’t go through, because that was obviously the objective and we believed we could,” the Solihull-born 42-year-old declared. “We talked about trying to force things and changing the environment by, maybe, getting their crowd a bit agitated and I think we did that at 2-0.

“The disappointment was the goal we conceded but, in the context of playing Arsenal, it was an incredible performance and I was very proud of the result and the players. As a club, we acquitted ourselves well over the two games, but I also want to congratulate Arsenal on going through.”

Having played with Jon Parkin at Bootham Crescent, as well as Macclesfield, Potter went on to stress that he isn’t shocked to see the 36-year-old veteran has 25 goals to his name for their old team this term and thinks the former Championship campaigner can also transfer his talents to the training field.

“We’ve stayed in touch with text messages over the years and I’m not surprised at all to see Jon still doing what he is,” Potter pointed out. “He always had ability and quality and was a great lad to have in the dressing room, with a personality everybody likes.

“I obviously knew him when he was younger and always said, if he’d had a better attitude, he would have been a top, top player, but he’s still had a fantastic career. When he came to York, he’d been released by Barnsley and had hit the bottom a bit, but he went to Macclesfield with me and was amazing there and has been brilliant ever since.

“The next challenge for him, having gone from a player to an experienced player, is whether he can take that responsibility of becoming a young coach and pass on all the knowledge and experience he’s had during a long career. He’s had ups and downs and probably has a lot to offer, because he’s an intelligent lad as well and I’ll be interested to see how his career develops.

“I’m sure he can instil some good habits into a club that has been struggling a little bit.”

Potter is saddened, meanwhile, by City’s current National League North status and still harbours fond memories of the club, despite initially being a target for the Bootham Crescent boo boys.

“It’s been a shame watching from a distance what’s happened over the years and I wish the club well,” Potter added. “It’s close to my heart, because I spent three happy years in York.

“It was quite a turbulent period and we were fighting to stay up at first, but we turned it around a bit and just missed out on the play-offs. Personally, I remember struggling for the first six months.

“I sort of replaced Wayne Hall who was a bit of a legend at the club and, if I’m being honest, I wasn’t very good as I was adapting to League Two football and the supporters made it known that they felt that was the case too. I had to win them over and I think I did to a certain extent over time, but it was all great experience for me at a great club and I loved York as a city, because it’s a fantastic place.”