Darren Heyes
Head Coach

Darren is the founder of Katz keepers after a long and varied career in professional and youth football. He enjoyed success with England Schoolboys at under 15,16 and 18 level and was further capped for England at Youth and Under 20 level. Heyes went onto play professionally for Nottingham Forest, Wrexham, Scunthorpe United, Sheffield United and Halifax Town.

Darren was appointed Head GK coach for the Bobby Charlton Soccer schools for 2 years and also toured the UK with Bobby and Head Coach John Shiels. Darren also managed in non-league football and succeeded the managership duo of Martin O’Neill and John Robertson after their shock dismissal at Leicestershire outfit Shepshed.

Darren became a qualified UEFA coach after suffering a severe double fracture of his right leg whilst playing in a charity cup match in Birmingham. Following his recovery he was appointed Academy Goalkeeping coach at Nottingham Forest working with all keepers from the age of 7 through to the first team. He then went on to become the First Team goalkeeping coach with Notts County and led the clubs highly acclaimed Centre of Excellence when he was appointed Head of Youth Development.

He also gained a BSc (Hons) in Sport Science and during this time represented Great Britain in the World Student Games alongside Olympic and World Javelin Champion Steve Backley. Great Britain and Heyes won a Bronze medal after defeating Uruguay 2-1 at Hillsborough.

Darren still plays competitively and regularly dons the gloves for the Nottingham Forest Masters in the Sky Sports tournament but has now committed himself to helping keepers of all ages and abilities to learn new skills, have great fun and become better keepers at the Katz Camps.

Colin Cook
Coach

Born and raised in Nottingham, Colin, like many, played in the Young Elizabethan League from U10 to U16 and was part of the league winning U16 team. Like Heyesy, Colin was lucky enough to have been chosen for tutoring by Peter Shilton at Nottingham Forest and is the proud owner of a trophy from Bobby Moore’s Soccer School. He played representative football for Nottinghamshire at a young age and went on to play reserve and first team football for Keyworth United amongst others. He successfully played in and managed a team in the Sunday leagues at the tender age of 21.

After co-directing Junior Football Tours, specialising in mini-soccer tournaments at holiday camps throughout the UK, Colin went on to run Katz Keepers. Having been approached by Centres of Excellence such as Notts County and more recently Mansfield Town, he currently coaches U8 to U16 keepers working towards professional careers. Colin manages GK camps for Mansfield In The Community and coaches all age groups of goalkeepers for Long Eaton United.

Off the pitch Colin enjoys a successful career with the worldwide Wurth Group, managing a team of field sales people throughout the Midlands.

Colin’s coaching skills have taken him as far a field as Yorkshire, Rutland, Leicestershire and Derbyshire.

Colin is still waiting for Bermuda to return his call...

Paul Wilson
Coach

Coming Soon

Sharon Bowbanks
Head of Administration

After a career in the hotel and leisure industry, Sharon joined Notts County Football Club in 1996 and enjoyed a spell of 10 years with the club. Initially employed within the commercial department, her varied role saw her take on the responsibility for matchday guests, Junior Magpies, Mascots and all matters associated with sponsorship and advertising for the football club.

In 2004 Sharon was offered the additional opportunity to work with the Centre of Excellence and combined the two roles successfully. She was instrumental in the running and organisation of the Centre and was a key member of personnel in helping the club achieve the status of the Centre of Excellence being rated in the 3 in the country by the Football League. Sharon left Notts County in 2006 to start a new career as a mum and now runs the business side of Katz Keepers whilst still being involved in the PR and Marketing sector with Heyes Media.

Saul Deeney
Professional Player / Coach

Saul was born in Derry, Northern Ireland and is a former professional football goalkeeper. He has recently signed for Burton Albion of the Conference National and has previously represented the Republic of Ireland at Youth and Under-21 level.

Deeney fought his way through the ranks at Notts County and had a loan spell at Hull City. But after no luck at Hull, he established himself as first-choice goalkeeper at Notts County when Ian Richardson became player-manager at the club. Deeney, however, turned down a new contract at the end of the 2004-05 season, apparently due to its reduced terms. Consequently, Deeney joined Burton Albion of the Nationwide Conference in the autumn of 2005 and played 30 league games.

Deeney had one of the highlights of his career on January 8, 2006 during the FA Cup match between Burton Albion and Manchester United, keeping out two shots from Wayne Rooney as well as a dramatic save of a Ritchie Jones shot in injury time. After leaving Burton in the summer of 2006, Deeney re-signed for Notts County, where he spent a year. After a short spell at Hucknall Town, he rejoined former club Burton Albion on a short term deal in October 2007.

George Heyes
Goalkeeping Advisor

George, a professional Goalkeeper enjoyed great success for over 12 years with Leicester City and Swansea City. George was understudy to England legend Gordon Banks for 5 years and was in the FA Cup Final squads of 1961 and 1963 before losing his place to a young Peter Shilton - who in an amazing twist of fate, was to help Darren Heyes 20 years later when he began his professional career at Nottingham Forest.

It was Katz Coach George who also spotted a young Chris Kirkland playing junior football in Barwell, Leicestershire and utilised his knowledge and resolve - despite rejections from Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City and Aston Villa - to ensure that Chris signed his first professional contract at Coventry City - an achievement of which all at Katz are very, very proud. Chris went on to play for Liverpool and make his full England debut against Greece - and one that our good mate Eddie Kirkland had more reason than most to celebrate when his 100-1 bet on Chris came up trumps!