It's a pleasantly warm Wednesday evening at Stanningley Park as I stand on the touchline. I've been coaching my local pub side Halfway House FC part-time for the last five years to supplement my job as the pub landlord. My life used to be more extravagant back in the day, I was known as the playboy of the lower leagues in the 80s and 90s when I was an impressionable young lad at Rochdale. If I wasn't on the pitch hungover, I was at a bar pissed out of my tree.

Admittedly, it's probably the lack of fitness that came from the drinking that caused my career ending injury at just 23 when I was playing for Crystal Palace. Neil Redfearn was my drinking buddy at the time and has been a good friend since, and we'd often be in the gaffer's office taking a bollocking for our antics the night before.

The players enter the pitch to Oasis' Supersonic. A few chuckles ensue as I pull the offending phone out of my pocket. I answer the phone to someone who only ever seems to ring at Christmas, my good pal Neil.

Me: Neil? What are you doing ringing at this time of year?

Neil: Nice to hear your voice again too. Listen Josh, as you know Brian McDermott's left the club and Massimo's been asking around for recommendations so I put your name forward

Me: Neil, enough of the games, what do you want?

At this point, I'm pretty sure it's a pisstake, but I remain quietly optimistic and shocked at the possibility of being manager of the club I've supported since I was a little boy. I rarely got to see them play during my pro days, but the last 26 years have blessing in disguise in the sense that I've been able to see them play every week- not so much so when I got my coaching badges.

Neil: It's not a pisstake, I'm being dead serious. Massimo will see you in Beckett's (Wetherspoon's in Leeds for the non-Leeds readers) at 9AM on Monday

Me: I don't know what to say! Thanks Neil, cheers! I'll do my utmost to make it worth your while!

I put the phone back in my pocket, shaking like a leaf in a mixture of nervousness and excitement before proceeding to punch the air

"Guess who's got an interview at Leeds U-fucking-nited!

The few spectators on the touchline applaud, my assistant manager (at the pub) shakes my hand and says "Grab it with two hands, Josh. You deserve it"

THE INTERVIEW
I wake up at 6AM the following Monday morning, I feel like shit but adrenalin from the excitement/nerves launches me out of bed at a speed I would have been impressed with from a finely tuned athlete, let alone the pub landlord with a belly.

After a shower and a mere bowl of cereal and cup of tea, I turn on Sky Sports News to see that my odds for next Leeds United manager have been slashed from 10000/1 to 3/1- someone must have leaked my little triumph to the press. "Shit, I put a tenner on Di Matteo getting the job" I jokingly mutter to myself.

A few more bulletins and I'm in my car on the way to town. It's a 10 minute drive down the M621, and I pass Elland Road on the way. I take a few seconds to stare at the East stand in awe. I'd been countless times before as a fan but this was something else that really captured my imagination- the thought of my first photoshoot as manager, with the big East stand as the backdrop.

After parking up in the Dark Arches under the train station, I make the short walk towards Beckett's. I ask the barman "Do you know if Massimo Cellino's here?"

"He is" he replies, "he's just sat up there"

I walk up, quaking now that the nerves have taken over.

Massimo Cellino: Josh, is it?

Me: Yes, it is. Pleasure to meet you sir

MC: Please, just call me Massimo. So, we'll start with the big question. Why do you want to manage this club?

Me: For a long time it has been a dream of mine, to manage the club I've supported since I was a boy, and the club I was raised 5 minutes down the road from. I wasn't fortunate enough to have been able to play on the hallowed turf as a player, but as long as a managerial career has never been an impossibility, I have been working hard to earn my badges to gain the qualifications required to manage at the highest level. I'm hungry for success at this club, whether I learn how to get it the easy way or the hard way

MC: Ok, but there are many other candidates out there, why should I pick someone with so little experience?

Me: The only attribute of any other manager I'm missing is experience, but we've all got to start somewhere, and I'm determined for that start to come at Leeds. What you get with me is an eager learner, determination but above all, a Leeds fan who will go through the motions with our supporters and be in a better position to understand and connect with them

MC: That should be everything we need, we'll get in touch soon

LEEDS APPOINT TOWNEND AS MANAGER

Leeds United have appointed former Rochdale and Crystal Palace striker Josh Townend as their new manager. The 49-year-old will be little known to the younger generation, but was known in the mid-late 80s as the 'playboy of the lower leagues'. His partying antics saw him frequent the front page more often than the back and face constant discipline before an injury ended his career at just 23 years of age.

He has spent much of the rest of his life away from football, now unbeknown to many and until his recent appointment, was the head coach of pub side Halfway House FC, the pub at which he was also landlord. It is thought his appointment comes on the recommendation of coach Neil Redfearn.

On the club website, a statement read:

"The club is delighted to announce that ex-Rochdale and Crystal Palace striker Josh Townend will take charge of the first team with immediate effect. He will be given a provisional one-year contract and the club would like to extend warm wishes of good luck to him in the hope he can take us forward this season."

LEEDS UNITED OVERVIEW

Leeds United (The Whites is more often used than United as a nickname) were established in 1919, and enjoyed their best spells of success in the late 60s/early 70s under Don Revie, late 80s/early 90s under Howard Wilkinson and between 1998 and 2002 under David O'Leary.

They were the last 'real champions of England', winning the Old First Division in 1992 in its last year of being the top flight before the birth of the Premier League. The only two trophies not in the Leeds United trophy cabinet are the Premier League and the Champions League.

The club play at Elland Road, and have done ever since 1919, in fact it had also been the home of the club before them (Leeds City) since 1904. Following years of rebuilding on all four sides (the oldest stand being the West Stand, built following a fire on the old one in the 50s), Elland Road can now accommodate over 37,000 fans.

I wake up in the morning, relieved to have had the phone call the night before telling me I'd got the job, but still a bag of nerves given I now bore the weight of expectation from my own kind, the Leeds fans as well as those of the board.
I decide to forego the usual flashing lights formalities in the morning in favour of making the 45-minute journey up to Thorp Arch to get some work done. I walk straight into the dressing room, sit the players down and tell them what I expect of them this season.

It's then straight outside to get some training done, before I get down to the unfortunate meetings I didn't want to have to have with the members of staff I would deem surplus to requirements. There is a positive meeting however, as I offer Neil Redfearn- the man who got me the job in the first place- a new contract with a promotion to assistant manager.

After work at 7PM, I head down to the Pavilion and the classic press conference unfolds:



It's been a long and hectic first day, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world. Here's to a long and successful career at Leeds