If Russ Ralph ever gets a call from Ant or Dec inviting him to take part in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, he’d surely have as good a chance as any of winning.

Firstly, he’s a football man through and through and it’s time someone from the beautiful game was crowned king of the jungle; secondly, he’s a really good bloke; and thirdly, he’s already done his own version of the show’s bushtucker trial and has lived to tell the tale.

And some tale it is too. You see Russ, who lives in Hardwicke with his partner Paula Sedgley, has not long since returned from a five-week spell in South China coaching youngsters in the art of all things football.

The 56-year-old, who in this country coaches youngsters at West Bromwich Albion’s Gloucester Development Centre as well as at Highnam Football Club, was based at Shenzhen, a city roughly the size of London and about 90 minutes’ drive north of Hong Kong.

“I loved it out there,” enthused Russ. “It was amazing. Culturally and footballing wise, it was the best experience of my life.”

The football was full on, of course it was, but at least Russ had a lifetime’s experience to call on, but what he wasn’t so prepared for was the food.

“It’s not like the Chinese takeaways you get round here,” he laughed, “and they’re not into their sauces. My partner used to ask every night what my bushtucker trial was!”

One of the things he ate was cow’s tongue – “It tasted like roast beef,” he laughed, before adding, “I used to tell them not to tell me what I was eating until I’d eaten it!

“And if I was eating pork or beef, I told them not to tell me which part of the body it came from!”

And while Russ enjoyed having limited knowledge of what he was eating, he was certainly able to feed plenty of information to the footballing wannabes in and around Shenzhen – and there were plenty of them.

“There’s 130 million kids in China into football, it’s crazy,” said Russ. “The country’s president is massively into his football and he’s pumping in billions to improve the kids as players.

“I’d go into the schools and work with the eight to 12-year-olds in groups of about 16.”

So how good are the next generation of Chinese footballers?

“Technically, they’re not too bad,” said Russ, “they are there or thereabouts. But it’s their game understanding that is miles away, they can’t think for themselves.

“Everything is quite military. Training would start on a whistle and they’d run round a pitch.

“Most of the kids are grassroots standards. I even had a couple of lads turn up in wellies!”

What is also very different in China is the structure of junior football. Whereas in this country you have schools, clubs, development centres and academies – “There’s a pathway,” said Russ – in China there are only the schools.

“Everything is based around the schools,” explained Russ. And while that will need to change in years to come if China are to become a superpower in the world of football, Russ certainly has no criticism of the coaches in the current set-up.

“They are very enthusiastic,” he said. “They are sponges for football. They just wanted to learn. They’d say, ‘Show us your drills’; they are amazing people. And they made us so many cups of tea! Every training session began with a cup of tea and it ended with one as well.”

Another thing that will need to change is the facilities.

“They are shocking,” said Russ. “Gloucester Park is mint compared to what they’ve got, it would be like Wembley!”

And while much needs to be changed, Russ can certainly see China, which already plays host to its own ever-expanding Super League, flexing its football muscles on the world stage in the not too distant future.

“Certainly in the next 20 years, their remit must be to get to a World Cup finals,” he said. “With the Chinese anything is possible and you certainly write them off at your peril.”

Russ will clearly be keeping a close eye on China’s progress after his time in Asia, but how did the trip come about?

“It was through Palm Sports, the Chinese company who are the main sponsor of West Brom,” explained Russ.

“They arranged for academy coaches to go over and I got asked because of their links with West Brom. It was an honour to be asked.”

As always with these things, Russ needed the help of others to make the trip a reality.

Paul Gardiner, head of West Brom’s Gloucester development centre, gave him the chance to go to China, while Jason Palmer, his boss at Stroud-based signs company Five Valley Signs & Labels – Russ is a sales manager – gave him the time off.

Closer to home, Russ is full on with all things football as well. Not that he’d have it any other way, of course.

Born in Newent, he was a defender for his hometown club back in the day and was a pretty good one as well, good enough to have a trial with Southampton, the team he supports, when he was 16.

He also played briefly for Harrow Hill and Huntley but in those days Newent were the Russ family’s club – his brother Cliff had a spell as manager and another brother, Alan, played in goal.

After hanging up his boots Russ coached the senior men’s team at Hardwicke, helping them to climb out of the Stroud League into the Northern Senior League, but it was coaching youngsters that ensured his love affair with football would run and run.

“I started coaching kids about 25 years ago,” he explained. “I did some community coaching down at Newent Leisure Centre.

“Then Phil Taylor, who I knew and who was chairman of Highnam at the time, asked me if I wanted to coach the youngsters at Highnam. That was about 14 years ago.”

And he’s certainly never looked back. It’s a thriving set-up and what pleases Russ as much as anything is that there are almost as many girls’ teams as there are boys.

“We started off with just two girls,” he said. “We received a grant from the FA and then went out to the local schools.

“Now we’ve got an under-8 team, two under-10s, two under-12s, an under-14 team and an under-16 side. They’re my little angels.”

Russ, who has been coaching the under-7 and under-8 boys at the West Brom development centre at St Peter’s School for the past eight years, is understandably proud that he has introduced so many girls to the wonderful game that is football.

“All I want is for people to play football,” said Russ. “I want them to come along because they enjoy it, and I’ll do everything I can to make their footballing experience the best it can be.”

Forget Ant and Dec and bushtucker trials… all the ingredients to be a successful coach are in that last paragraph.

And anyone who has been lucky enough to see Russ Ralph coach youngsters will know that he absolutely practises what he preaches.