Martin was wondering what he was doing in first MK Dons coaching role
The former MK Dons goalkeeper has found a new role at West Ham United
Legendary goalkeeper David Martin admitted he had no idea what he was doing during his year coaching at MK Dons.
The shot-stopper made 341 appearances for the club in three spells in the New City, though the latter came in difficult circumstances. Agreeing to join Liam Manning’s side as the third choice keeper in 2022, Martin was thrust into a coaching role following Lewis Price’s cancer diagnosis. From there, he was also assistant head coach to both Dean Lewington and Bradley Johnson following Manning’s departure, prior to Mark Jackson’s appointment.
Leaving Stadium MK at the end of the season after the club were relegated, Martin spent time at financially strapped Southend as player-coach. While the situation was a tough one, with the Shrimpers, Martin said it gave him the bug for coaching, having struggled to find his way at MK1.
“After that first year [at MK Dons] where I was wondering what I was doing, the amount I actually learned under real pressure at Southend was priceless,” he told West Ham’s website, where he has recently been confirmed as the club’s new Academy Head of Goalkeeping.
Since his time at Roots Hall, Martin worked at Ipswich Town and then at Chelsea, where he worked with keepers from U16-U21.
He continued: “In the space of three years I’d gone from not knowing if I wanted to coach to working at one of the best Academies in the world. I had another year of developing last season, which was invaluable, coaching in the UEFA Youth League against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Atalanta.
“I also learned about managing a group of goalkeepers and staff, so it was a great experience to see what the best of Europe had to offer.”
Working with West Ham’s next generation, he hopes his own career experiences, coming through at Wimbledon and then MK Dons, can inspire and motivate the young keepers.
He added: “I started at Wimbledon and was training with goalkeepers like Neil Sullivan, Paul Heald and Kelvin Davies when I was 16 and that competition was fierce but, at the same time, it was all in good spirits, and that’s the environment I want to create.”