Recollections of Former Managers

Managing a junior football team is an all too familiar story. Training midweek nights in the middle of Winter, being locked out, washing kits, retrieving kit from disillusioned parents, nets and corner flags in car boot all week, running line (because no one else could be arsed), collecting last month’s subs that were, of course, claimed to have been paid, transporting fourteen boys in two cars, taking two boys home who live ten miles away, attending club meetings, league meetings, Summer five a side competitions, twenty miles away, every weekend with two teams, getting a team together for next season, getting the lads to provide passport size photo, sign the league registration, contact the opposition manager, contact the referee, contact the local authority to ensure pitch is marked out, confirm changing facilities are available, etc, etc.

Correct. I don’t miss it.

I had forgotten a lot of that. I also don’t miss it one bit.

Yeah – we did 8-17 years old with our Oli , great sense of achievement but awful financial managing to squeeze £2 subs out of the lads then finding pitches with dog shit to clean before you start , then a school with PFI putting rents up so high Liz and I managed to get a £5k council grant to fund the team pleading poverty and Liz did the child minding policy forms and I did the financial application . Screaming at dumb managers and parents picking fights with kids on the pitch – incredible days . Glad we did it though …..!