The Football Interview will be available on BBC One at 12:45 BST every Saturday during the Premier League season, as well as on BBC i Player, BBC Football You Tube and the BBC Sport website and app. In the seventh episode of the new season, Kelly Somers sits down with Luton Town manager Jack Wilshere. Jack Wilshere's footballing career has gone full circle.
From starting out at Luton Town aged seven, Wilshere went on to win trophies at Arsenal and represent England at two major tournaments, before having to retire early because of injury problems and moving into coaching. Now, he is back where he began, at Luton, this time as manager. Sitting overlooking the pitches he used to play on as a youngster, the 34-year-old spoke to BBC Sport's Kelly Somers for The Football Interview and discussed his career - and how he hopes he can use his experiences to improve his players.
An exciting attacking midfielder with an ability to spot a pass or dribble past his opponent, Wilshere twice won the FA Cup with the Gunners. He played in the Premier League 182 times and represented England on 34 occasions, appearing at both the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and the European Championship in France two years later. But injuries plagued the latter part of his career, with him announcing his retirement at only 30.
However, there were no regrets. 'I loved it [my career], I'm really proud,' he said in the interview, which can be watched on BBC One at 12:45 BST on Saturday, 3 October. 'I got to play for my country and represent them at two major tournaments. OK, they didn't go the way we wanted them to, but I got to do it.' 'I scored for my country, I played for the club I loved growing up, so pride is the biggest thing.' On 13 October it will be one year since Wilshere became Luton boss, his first senior management role - although he had been in interim charge of Norwich City for a two-game spell at the end of the previous season. He has already won silverware in his time with the Hatters, guiding them to the EFL Trophy, beating Stockport County 3-1 at Wembley in April in front of a crowd of nearly 50,000. 'I'm 34 now and probably could still be playing,' he added. 'Don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of playing, but I also really, really love this and I'm fortunate to start my [management] journey early.' 'I'm really grateful to the club and the board for giving me that opportunity because they didn't need to.
I was a young coach wanting to make my first step into the game.' Immediately after his playing career ended, he was invited back to Arsenal to coach their youngsters and instantly knew management and coaching was for him. 'I hear stories about people struggling in retirement and I retired on a Monday, and I was in with the [under] 18s on a Tuesday,' said Wilshere. 'When I first went and walked through the door to coaching, I realised this is going to take over my life, and I need to commit myself to this if I want to improve.' By that time Mikel Arteta, who had been Wilshere's Arsenal team-mate for five years, was first-team manager. Arteta guided the Gunners to the Premier League title in 2025-26, their first time as English champions in 22 years, and Wilshere felt the Spaniard had played a vital role in developing him as a coach. 'I got to see Mikel and how he coached and the influence he was having,' said Wilshere. 'I would ask him questions, why he's doing certain things, and I started to fall in love with it and how he started to prepare training sessions.' 'I'd get an opportunity to practice that with the 18s in the afternoon and it was something I wasn't that good at, and I felt uncomfortable at times.' 'I was influenced by Mikel, but then I had to learn how to teach. I had to learn how to get that across, how to plan a session and how to get the outcomes that you wanted.' 'I played under some good coaches and was quite good at understanding what a coach wants, but I never dived into 'why is he asking me to do that?' Mikel really m...
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