As a child I loved football. I was taken to my first game aged just five and I was hooked. Like all young kids who are obsessed with football, I dreamt of playing for my country, scoring the winning goal in a cup final and representing my favourite team.
Unfortunately, my ability didn't match my enthusiasm for the game. I was the last picked for games at lunch time, the other kids didn't even try to hide their disappointment when they end up on my team on P.E. lessons and the day I missed an open goal from six yards confirmed to me that no matter how hard I practised I would never be a footballer.
I was determined to have a career in football though and that left me with two options. Option one, become a referee. That was never going to happen. So that left me with option two, become a manager. It took a while due to college and university commitments, but by the age of 29 I held my National A License and felt I was ready to take the first steps into management.
I decided to target four countries to make my breakthrough. England and Scotland were obvious choices. Being English I had a wealth of knowledge of both league systems. I'd also decided to focus on Holland and Belgium as I didn't want to limit myself to the British Isles. These two seemed the safest options as my girlfriend is half Dutch and could help with settling in in either country and also help with the language barrier.
I was realistic though. There were only four jobs available when I gained my license.
Barnsley in the Sky Bet League One
Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premier League
Stenhousemuir in the Scottish League One
RMP in the Belgian Pro League
If I'm honest I thought all these sides would laugh me out of the building, but I applied on the off chance just to see what would happen.
Unsurprisingly, all politely said no.
I wasn't deterred though and stayed positive. It was tough to stay positive though. Kidderminster, De Graafschap, RKC and Newcastle all said no, before finally, Cheltenham offered me an interview. Unfortunately Nick Barmby beat me to the job. And so it continued, Bristol Rovers offered me an interview, as did Harrogate, Royale Geants Athois, Eupen, RW Walhain, Stranraer. All of them said no. Finally after nearly six months of interviews, Tamworth offered me a job. I snapped it up and my career had begun.
Unfortunately, my ability didn't match my enthusiasm for the game. I was the last picked for games at lunch time, the other kids didn't even try to hide their disappointment when they end up on my team on P.E. lessons and the day I missed an open goal from six yards confirmed to me that no matter how hard I practised I would never be a footballer.
I was determined to have a career in football though and that left me with two options. Option one, become a referee. That was never going to happen. So that left me with option two, become a manager. It took a while due to college and university commitments, but by the age of 29 I held my National A License and felt I was ready to take the first steps into management.
I decided to target four countries to make my breakthrough. England and Scotland were obvious choices. Being English I had a wealth of knowledge of both league systems. I'd also decided to focus on Holland and Belgium as I didn't want to limit myself to the British Isles. These two seemed the safest options as my girlfriend is half Dutch and could help with settling in in either country and also help with the language barrier.
I was realistic though. There were only four jobs available when I gained my license.
Barnsley in the Sky Bet League One
Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premier League
Stenhousemuir in the Scottish League One
RMP in the Belgian Pro League
If I'm honest I thought all these sides would laugh me out of the building, but I applied on the off chance just to see what would happen.
Unsurprisingly, all politely said no.
I wasn't deterred though and stayed positive. It was tough to stay positive though. Kidderminster, De Graafschap, RKC and Newcastle all said no, before finally, Cheltenham offered me an interview. Unfortunately Nick Barmby beat me to the job. And so it continued, Bristol Rovers offered me an interview, as did Harrogate, Royale Geants Athois, Eupen, RW Walhain, Stranraer. All of them said no. Finally after nearly six months of interviews, Tamworth offered me a job. I snapped it up and my career had begun.
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