It's fair to say that at 20, things hadn't quite gone my way so far. I had failed my first year of university and having already failed a year in Sixth Form, I didn't quite fancy retaking a year at uni as well.
My partner was very patient and it's a good job really. I met Hannah at university (we went to two different unis that were in close proximity of each other). She's everything I'm not- smart, intelligent and she has her shit together. We're from two different ends of the country. I'm your typical Yorkshireman- dinner before tea, gravy on my chips and of course a major ambassador for the 'scraps at chip shops' movement. I was born and raised in Leeds, I moved around the country as my dad was in the army and when he left, we settled back in Leeds. Hannah's from Bude in Cornwall, from a long line of Southerners but somehow she could probably drink a sailor under the table.
I moved to Hannah's house in Bude, initially for a month but when I found out my results, her mum was kind enough to allow me to stay on a permanent basis whilst I attempted to start a career for myself. A family friend of Hannah's- someone she calls 'Dad' owing to the incapacity of her biological one to fulfil the role- works at the local football club, Bude Town. Ian used to coach but these days, he just helps out on the bar on match days.
Bude Town compete in the South West Peninsula Division 1 West, at the 11th tier of English football, 7 divisions below the Football League. The ground is a 5-minute walk from Hannah's house- we took over the deed when we moved over- and is fairly basic.
It consists of a clubhouse that runs about a thirs of the pitch and sits astride the touchline. The ground's most recent development was a transparent roof that runs the length of the clubhouse and provides shelter for the flat terrace in front. Either side of the clubhouse is more flat terracing. At the end to the left of the 'Clubhouse Terrace', there is what looks like a glorified bus shelter that runs for about 5 yards and consist of a bench and a small wooden wall at the front, no taller than a foot. Bizarrely, the dugouts are on opposite sides to each other, with the home dugout in front of the clubhouse and the away dugout on the other side.
Whilst I sorted myself with a career path, I took up a part-time job at a local chip shop that, unlike most chip shops I've ever encountered 'darn Sarf', serves scraps. I also found that Bude Town needed a first team manager. 'How hard could it be?' I thought to myself. I sent them my CV and cover letter and hoped for the best. The phone call I received the day after was the last thing I was expecting.
"Hi Josh" it was Ian. "The chairman has been to see me and said you applied to the managerial job"
"That's right, I have" I replied.
"He wanted me to tell you that he wants to take you on. It's an amateur contract that means you don't get paid, but there is one training session every Wednesday night and we play on Saturdays mostly"
I couldn't believe my luck. I hadn't been in Bude for two minutes, but I was now first team manager at the local football club. At 20 years old, that also made me the youngest manager the club has ever had. Everyone was so supportive and I couldn't wait to get started. There were no members of coaching or scouting staff at the club, so I set about hiring some.
Luckily, Ian has a vast array of contacts, and he put me through to a coach from Cannock in Staffordshire called Kyle Beard. Kyle is 12 years older than myself and holds an FA A Licence. He specialises in attack coaching and is very good with youngsters. I made a point of approaching him to be my Assistant Manager.
He also put me through to a Scottish coach by the name of Jim Calder. Jim is more experienced than Kyle, having played for Inverness Caledonian Thistle for 11 years between 1995 and 2006. He's now 54 years old and holds a UEFA C Licence. How Ian convinced him to come all the way down to Cornwall just to volunteer is beyond me, but we got him in the end. He agreed to take up a dual role as a coach-cum-scout.
I decided to leave the setup at a manager, his assistant and a coach-cum-scout. I'm a firm believer that success at this level is more down to man management than tactics and what your staff can do. The calibre of player will be the same across the league, with players just opting to play for their closest club. However, with the transfer market still being an option, our scout will be vital.
When Jim arrived, he provided me with a report of a central midfielder known as Nick Cassidy. Cassidy is a graduate of the Newcastle United academy but struggled to earn a professional contract. He then moved to Queen of the South but struggled to get into the side. What Jim did note about this lad is that he's a strong team worker with a phenomenal work rate for this level. He also has a decent first touch and possesses a fair bit of strength which will come in handy taking control of the middle of the park. Whilst we are non-league- and I say that with the ambition to make it to the Football League- we need a strong physical side, and players like Cassidy will be vital to achieving that.
Jim gave me his number and I called. It took 5 minutes to convince him to make the move, as he bought into my vision for a physical hard-working side that can burst its way up the leagues to become a League club.
I struck gold when I convinced the board to look for a parent club to have us affiliated with to garner some much-needed income for the club. There’s no telling how much we’d get, but as a club with no expenses except the tax on its earnings, we should look to increase income wherever possible.
Without doubt the biggest victory however, came on our pre-season schedule. Having looked through lists of which teams were available for a fixture on which day, Newport County sprung up for the 11th July. They would require a fee of £2000 to play, but the board estimated we could make £2,500 in gate receipts for this game, giving the club a welcome profit of £500.
The wheels were finally in motion and I had a week until our first friendly to knock a team together.
Pre-season friendly #1: Bude Town vs Newport County
Venue: Broadclose Park, Bude
Kick-off: Saturday 11th July 2015 3pm
There was a tangible buzz around the ground on the morning of the game. This was going to be the club’s first ever fixture against League opposition and town was heaving with both football fans and tourists filling the streets. The Bencoolen Inn- a pub just down the road from the ground- were doing a thriving trade as Newport fans and Bude locals mingled for what was shaping up to be one of the more noteworthy events set to take place during the summer.
My lads were fired up for the game, although they knew the pressure was off given that the visitors compete 7 divisions above us. We finalised the signing of Nick Cassidy during the week, and had identified several other transfer targets for other positions where we lack in quality.
The only other time during the summer months when the town buzzes for a large event is for the RNLI Lifeboat Event. It stretches from the morning to late evening on the last Friday of August, and typically attracts locals and tourists alike in their thousands. Today felt like such an occasion, even though estimates for attendance were at around 250.
I wanted the players to go out and enjoy themselves, and set them out as such:
Bude Town team sheet:
GK: Rees Stephens
RB: Joel Lock
CB: Ryan Jeffrey
CB: Ben Chandler
LB: Mickey Parsons-Smith
RM: Adie Robinson
CM: Nick Cassidy
CM: Shaun James
LM: Royce Horan
ST: Stephen Francis
ST: Shaun James
Newport County team sheet:
GK: Joe Day
RB: Solomon Sambou
CB: Matt Partridge
CB: Kieran Parselle
LB: Seth Nana Twumasi
RM: Nathan Ralph
CM: Mark Byrne
CM: Yan Klukowski
LM: Liam Angel
ST: Lenell John-Lewis
ST: Darren McQueen
Quite predictably, it was the visitors who had the first effort at goal. Equally predictably, it went in. Byrne was found outside the area by a throw-in from the right flank. He looked up and picked out Darren McQueen with a through ball that carved the defence like a turkey, and the Newport man obliged by burying his effort first time.
It was the South Welsh outfit that came close again five minutes later. Lenell John-Lewis was playing on the shoulder of the last defender and managed to spring our offside trap to meet a through ball from McQueen, but the Newport striker blazed his effort over the bar.
On 20 minutes, Darren McQueen doubled the visitors’ advantage. Right-back Twumasi was afforded far too much space down our right hand side, he whipped in an early cross 25 yards from the byline and the ball found McQueen in acres of space, who proceeded to put Newport 2-0 up.
I remained calm on the touchline. Everyone knew we’d get beat, but those of a Cornish persuasion just wanted to see us give them a good game. Just before the half hour mark came our best chance and only decent chance of the game. James picked out Robinson in the area from the left hand side. Robinson laid forward a through ball for Royce Horan whose first time effort was on target, but their keeper was just able to reach it to parry it clear.
The second half saw us doing a lot of defending. As we tired, the ball spent more time in our half, but we did an excellent job of shutting them out in the second half and restricting them to a 2-0 victory.
The players didn’t seem too disheartened by the result. We were always on a hiding to nothing and this game was more about attracting a crowd and putting some much-needed cash in the club’s coffers. Still, 2-0 was a very respectable result, and most teams in divisions above would have happy sat back and let it rain goals.
We also battled very well for the ball, amassing 47% possession over the 90 minutes. I was also happy with how we took a much more considered approach with our attacking, even though it meant we only managed 3 shots. Newport took 15 and only 4 of them were on target.
John Sheridan, manager of Newport County, was a class act and stayed behind in the clubhouse for a drink with me after the game. As a young Leeds fan, I’ve been told all about him by my Dad, who watched him play for Leeds in the 1980s- he was one of the few players to make a real impression until the arrival of Howard Wilkinson.
In all it was a good day, despite the result. The club made a few bob, the team played well and I got to meet a Leeds United icon from days gone by. When you’re as far down the leagues as we are, you appreciate the little things a hell of a lot more than the professional sides.
Bude Town 0-2 Newport County
Newport scorer(s): McQueen 2, 18
Attendance: 241
