Chris White achieved a lot during his career including asking European Cup winner Gary Mills what he had won?
Most will remember the green tea drinking Non League Spice Boy for his brilliance down the left-wing. His spells and success with Sheffield FC and Frickley Athletic earned him a reputation as one of the most feared wingers around.
Even when his career winded down because of business commitments, he still enjoyed memorable moments. He’s one of the key Worsbrough Bridge Invincibles who helped Chris Hilton’s side unforgettably go the 2012/13 unbeaten at home in the league. Many will also remember his spectacular goal against Athersley Rec and his Duck killing act the following season.
White retired several years ago and he’s now coaching alongside Craig Marsh through their successful SAFG United club which coaches football girls.
This is Chris White’s Non League Journey:
“I went through Sheffield Wednesday’s youth team and I signed a one-year professional contract with them. I didn’t make a first team appearance, but I played a lot in the reserves. When I got released I went to Australia for eight months. I played for a semi-pro team called Wynnum Wolves in Brisbane. I did some coaching out there as well. That was my first experience of coaching. I took an under tens teams in a coaching academy. The guy running it said it was good that I had experienced doing it at such a young age and he advised me to go and do my coaching badges. Since then I have always been involved in coaching a team, whether it be boys or girls. I’m currently at UEFA B standard and I’ve just applied to be on the UEFA A course.
“Gordon Tulloch was the guy who advised me and he used to do tours. He used to bring teams to Barnsley, Sheffield Wed, Sheffield United, all the local clubs as he had a link. I met him at Barnsley one day and I was talking to him after training and asked him what it was like in Australia, the football, the opportunities, the lifestyle? He said it was brilliant and he gave me his details. I spoke to my mum and dad to tell that’s what I wanted to do and they said go for it. Gordon was an influence at a early age and going overseas at such a young age (18 or 19) gave me that life experience that maybe you don’t have now. I went on my own so I was flying from Manchester to Japan and then Japan to Brisbane. It is daunting and you have to look after yourself. It taught me a lot about life experience, that was the main thing I got out of it. The coaching, the playing, the lifestyle, that was secondary really.”
Sheffield FC
“Richie Carrington was a friend of mine from Barnsley and he rang me to see if I wanted to go to Sheffield FC after I had come back from Australia? The first thing I said was ‘who are Sheffield FC’? I did my research and found out they were the oldest club in the world and there was prestige behind that so I thought why not?
“Out of all eight clubs I played for, I’d say Sheffield FC, Frickley and Worsbrough is where people remember me most from and they are the three clubs where I had my most enjoyable times.
“Dave McCarthy was the manager and I met some brilliant people at Sheffield. I walked in the dressing room and you had all these semi-pro footballers who were working nine until five and then coming to play football in the week. I was the youngest in that dressing room and I had come out of Sheffield Wednesday so there may have expectation for me to be decent. I wanted to show I could hack Non League football because the first year or two can be an eye-opener when you come out of the professional world where you’d wrapped in cotton wool. You come into the real world with Non League football.
“In the dressing room, there was Chris Hilton who I played with a few times and he went onto manage me. There was one of my best mates Craig Marsh, plus Rob Ward, Rich Carrington. That squad was just brilliant and I think we’re the last team to get Sheffield FC promoted which is 15 years ago. I obviously travelled in with Chris Hilton, Craig Marsh and Miles Thorpe when he joined. We had a car school going and we used to go in Milo’s old Mercedes bus. I don’t know how it got from Tankersley to Sheffield as it must have been the oldest car in the world. I don’t know if it was dark blue, grey or the paint work had come off. It used to run on fumes, but never once did it break down. We always got there and we had some good trips.
“I hit it off straightaway with Chris Hilton and Craig Marsh. The relationship with Marsh has obviously developed into what we have today (with SAFG United). They both looked after me on the pitch and off it as I could take people on and do what I wanted like score goals and do fancy tricks and flicks. In Non League as you’d expect there’d be a few nasty tackles flying in, but Craig Marsh and crew were always there first.”
Max and Paddy Save the Day
“I’m not sure which season it was, but I got goal of the season and it sort of sparked a mass brawl after the match at Selby. We won 3-0 and I had smashed my goal in with my left foot from 30 yards and after the match I was shaking hands and went to shake Selby’s manager’s hand and he dropped one straight on my chin for no reason. No-one had ever hit me before so my first thought was ‘what do I do now’? It didn’t take long for Marsh and Tom Jones to be steam in and I think their manager got more than he bargained for with them two. When they were together on the field they were like nightclub bouncers. All they needed were yellow armband. They looked after me on more than one occasion so I’m always grateful to them.”
Craig Marsh’s Crossbar Challenge
“Macca got us on a Saturday morning when we didn’t have a game and it was freezing. All the lads were coming out in their training gear and having pot shots. Macca says ‘who wants to go first’? So I pointed out that we weren’t all there as Marsh hadn’t come out. We turned round and he trotted out of the tunnel in his smelly pant slips and a pair socks and football boots. Bear in mind it was freezing. He went ‘right lads, I’m ready’. So he did the crossbar challenge with effectively nought on and knowing him he probably did hit it.
“He always used to wear them slips. I never sat next to him in the changing room. I used to sit next to Rich Carrington at the end. He used to sit in the middle with Wardy (Rob Ward). I don’t know who smelt worse? Marsh because of his pants or Wardy because he used to have nine minutes on the sun-bed before every game. He come in absolutely glowing in the middle of winter. At end of the game, me and Marsh used to stand either side of him in the showers and p*ss on him just to cool him down.”
The first Football Selfie?
“We once had a selfie in the Car Wash before a game at Long Eaton. Long Eaton were near the bottom of the league and I don’t think selfie’s were all the rage back then. I think there was me, Marsh, Chris Hilton and Dean Sidebottom and we sent it to Macca. I think Dean Sidebottom took it as he’s got more contacts than God so he will have had the latest phone
We were late to the game which Macca wasn’t happy about. He wasn’t happy about receiving the picture instead of a text either. We were expected to win comfortably, but we drew 0-0 so it was a bad day for Macca.”
Dave McCarthy
“I’ve put down my three best managers and Macca and his assistant Lee Walshaw are one of them. They were great with the banter and they were brilliant for me. They taught me what Non League was all about and gave me opportunities. I enjoyed playing for them.”
Hong Kong Trip (2005)
“Macca used to joke ‘we’re going here lads, we’re going there’ and 12 months before we did he said ‘we’re going to go to Hong Kong lads’. All the lads were like ‘yeah, course Macca, you can’t even organise a Pizza Express’! We went to Hong Kong and we played in a group with Tottenham PSV and Kitchee who were the Chinese champions at the time. We only scored one goal, but I managed to assist it and Dave Wilkins scored it. It was great to play against players who are playing in the Premier League now, as well as ones who have played in it previously. The Hong Kong nightlife was brilliant. All the Pro clubs were doing it properly by going to bed at the right time. But Macca said to us that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and told us to enjoy themselves and that the football was a bonus. We certainly enjoyed ourselves and there were some brilliant laughs. I managed to get a shirt from each team and I framed them all and I’ve put them up at work. I collect a lot of memorabilia from teams I have played for and against so I have a few bits up at work.”
Success
“We beat Harrogate Railway 2-1 and I managed to get the winner after Marsh played a great quick free kick. The club always put on a good end of season presentation night and Macca had booked a good hotel. We used to stay over and I ended up taking the League Cup to bed. It was full of champagne so I tipped it all out when I got to my room and I slept with it. There was mass panic down below as they thought the cup had been nicked. When I got up I walked down to breakfast holding it in the air. Macca was like ‘where’s that been’? I said to him ‘I took it to bed Macca because I didn’t want anyone to steal it’.
“A few days after we won the League Cup we went and won the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup. We weren’t expected to beat Worksop as they were massive favourites. But confidence was high after a Cup Final victory and as Macca said we had nothing to lose. The pressure was all on Worksop and we matched them all game. I don’t remember the build-up to the goal, all I remember is the ball dropping to the edge of the box and Ben Cressey smashing it into the top corner. I don’t think he’s hit a ball as good in his life. That was literally the last kick of the game.
“We won it the following season and we must have been one of the first teams to retain it. We played Parkgate and circumstances were sort of in reverse as we were the favourites and there was more pressure on us to retain. We sneaked through that one 2-1. Rob Ward got the winner and he’ll have loved scoring at Hillsborough being a Blade.
“In the space of two or three years, we had won the League Cup, the Sheffield Senior Cup twice and won promotion into the NPL (2007). We were neck and neck with Retford and at one stage quite a few points clear. Retford clawed it back and we went up as runners-up. It was just a shame that the team didn’t stay together as I think we would have done really well higher up. A few clubs were in for me from higher up so I decided to take the opportunity.”
Gary Mills, ‘what’s he ever won’?
“During my time with Sheffield FC, I had a brief stint with Alfreton Town in the Conference North. The manager was Gary Mills and I’d not heard of him before.
“I wasn’t the best at defending like everyone knows, but I always thought a winger was not meant to defend, they were meant to be attacking. That was my thought process. As a coach now I understand that defending and attacking are both important.
“Defending wasn’t for me and at half-time in one game, Gary Mills let loose on me? I was just a young kid at the time and he said:
‘You’ve won nothing in the game, you’ve done nothing and if you want to get to a League club you need do this (and that)…
“I just went:
‘Well, what have you ever won’?
‘I’ve won the European Cup’.
“He shut me up good and proper because you don’t do any better than that. With him I’ve never seen b********* like it at half-time and full-time. When you look back now, I don’t know it was a bit of reverse psychology because he was telling me I had all the ability in the world and I don’t know if he wanted to instil in me that if you want to play higher you have to be able to accept criticism which is something I struggled with at the time. I was someone who needed an arm round and told I was going to have a brilliant game. If I was told that they wanted to see me tracking back or that I wasn’t working hard enough and or if I was shouted and screamed at from the sidelines, it never motivated me to do well. The best managers I worked for knew how to handle me.”
Alfreton
“I made a really good start. I think I scored five goals in the first ten games, but I missed a penalty in the FA Cup against Hereford and we lost. I got injured as I did my medial ligaments in my right knee and things petered out.”
Frickley Athletic
“Chris Hilton got me the move as he suggested me to Billy Heath. I ended up staying for three seasons and Billy Heath and Mark Carroll, who we called Bobby C, they’re another pairing that I’ve put down as my best managers. Billy Heath was a rough and tumble centre-half and a shouter and screamer manager, but he never did it in a way to me where I was intimidated or where i didn’t want to play well for him. He had the man-management where he’d put his arm round me and say ‘you’re best winger in the league’ and his assistant would say the same. I loved playing for him and Billy and Frickley was the perfect fit at the time.
“That first season we were bottom of the league at Christmas with hardly any points and we were doomed until we went on an unbelievable run and stayed up. There was the Gateshead game where we were 3-0 up and we lost 4-3. That’s the game where we used the free kick that Billy had designed. Billy wasn’t the most technical manager at the time so we were like ‘where’s he pulled this from’? I used to be on free kick because I’d whip them in my left, whip them in with my right. But he wanted it scooping over the wall and for someone to spin off the wall and then for it to be crossed in for someone to tap it in. We were kicking downhill and I do remember it. The scoop worked perfectly, the cross worked perfectly and Chris Hilton scored. Everyone was like ‘it works, it works’. Bill said in the changing room, ‘don’t be trying that again, I’ll have to think of a new one’.”
Jonathan Groome
“There was a game where Jonathan Groome was playing for another team and a week later he had signed for us. I’ll always remember it as we were playing Eastwood and they were top of the league. We went away and Groomey started in the centre of midfield with Danny Walsh who was a good footballer. It was a perfect match as Walshy was the footballer and Groomey was the destroyer. He went through this challenge. It was two-feet and he took the ball and this kid. The kid flew up in the air and must have done three somersaults. I looked and thought this is exactly what we need in this relegation battle. Groomey picked this kid up by the neck and said ‘don’t come near me again’. I think the referee was scared to go near him either as he didn’t get booked or sent off. The kid was like ‘why’s he not getting a red for that ref’? The ref was like ‘you tell him’. In training I always made sure I was on Groomey’s team as I didn’t want him smashing me.”
Steve Robinson
“Him and Craig Marsh were both terrible with their disciplinary records. What I remember with Robbo is that he was a great lad, but I don’t if his background was in the Army because he’d do a tackle or something stupid and then approach the referee and say ‘excuse me Sir’. I don’t know if that made referees think ‘ooh he’s called me Sir, I might just give him a yellow’. If he hadn’t, maybe he would have been sent off more. Marsh was never in Robbo’s language bracket. Sometimes Marsh would be walking after he’d done the tackle without waiting for the card.”
Favourite Frickley Goal
“It was always a feisty game against Worksop and it was 0-0 in a cup game. It went to extra-time and I remember it because it is on a DVD. The ball went right into the sky and I managed to control it and I turned and skipped past a couple of players before smashing it in the top corner from the edge of the box. My dad was behind the goal and I could hear his voice saying ‘oh, what a goal’ and he was giving the ‘keeper some grief like he always did.”
The Spice Boys
“Everyone was a character at Frickley. We used to have the Spice Corner in the dressing room. There was myself, Lee Morris, Chris Davies and we were using moisturisers and stuff like that. It used to be freezing because it was breeze block walls. Mozza once brought in a hot water bottle and he used to go on the sun beds a lot, along with Chris Davies. In that corner they’d be hot water bottles, I used to put on aftershave before a game for a bit of banter and there’d be sun bed tokens and moisturisers. Billy, who was a bit of a rough and tumble guy, was like ‘what is going on in this Spice Corner with you lot’?”
Let’s Get on Sky Sports
“We always used to joke in the changing room by saying ‘let’s see if we can on Sky Sports News’. At the time they only used to show the top half of the NPL Premier Division. At the end of the (2008/09) season we finished 11th and got on Sky Sports News. We went out somewhere and it was a brilliant night. People asking why we were celebrating and asking if we had got promoted and we were like ‘no, we got on Sky Sports News, we finished 11th’.”
That’s Why Craig Marsh was a Striker
“There was a game where Chris Hilton was the manager with Jon Hood. It was against Ossett Town and we won. I remember it because Hilts put Marsh upfront. There’s a standing joke between me and Marsh where he’ll tell everyone that he was a striker when he was a youngster. I always say ‘tell us about the time when you were a striker’? But going back to that game, Chris Hilton had said to him ‘go upfront, throw some elbows about and put yourself about and if we get the ball out to Whitey, get into the box’. I skipped past a couple of players and I whipped a great ball in with the left foot and Marshy rose like a salmon and scored with a bullet header into the net. He came across to me and said ‘that’s why I was a striker’. It was brilliant.”
North Ferriby
“That was my best club in terms of the way we played football. Neil Allison was my manager before he went to Australia and his assistant John Anderson took over. John was probably the best coach I had. He had the UEFA A licence and training was all about possession football. It suited me down to the ground. We played 4-3-3 and I was on one wing with Bradders (Gary Bradshaw) down the middle and either Alex Davidson or Wayne Brooksby on the other wing.
“But I learned a lot from John from the sessions he used to do. Some of the sessions he did, I do now myself as a coach. He was a really technical and tactical coach.
“So I never really got involved with the coach trips and the drinking, I’ve never been a drinker. After games I could never drink beer so I’d have a cup of tea. When I went to Worsbrough I’d come into the dressing room with a cup of green tea and then drink normal tea afterwards. I could never drink booze, I don’t know why? The other reason is because I lived in Barnsley, more times than not I’d drive to away games because it made more sense.
“We had some good seasons. We lost in the play-offs two seasons on the spin and when John left Billy (Heath) took it on got them promoted. I did my cruciate ligaments at North Ferriby so I was out for eight months and that’s when I started my business Sport Elevation. In hindsight being injured was the best eight months of my career because it shaped the next eight to ten years of what I was going to do in business. There’s always a plus side to being injured.”
Worsbrough Bridge
“I went to Stocksbridge for a bit, but the business was taking off and I was struggling to train and I felt bad about taking money and not being there. I was never bothered about money and it was never an incentive. I never left a club for money.
“Hilts got in touch and Worsbrough is the club which is closest to my heart. I’m from Worsbrough and I grew up there and I always said to my dad that I wouldn’t mind playing for them one day. He always said ‘you can play for them when you are 30-odd son because they are low down in the league’. But I said to him at the time that it was local and there wasn’t much travelling so it works perfectly.
“I knew most of the lads anyway and it is one of my three most enjoyable times. No-one was getting paid, regardless of what anyone thinks. Hilts did give me a bit of leeway as I never liked to warm-up so I used to ask Shaun (Handisides) if he could give my hamstrings a bit of a massage. That meant I used to trot out at 2.50pm and do a couple of stretches and then play. It worked though so Hilts let me get away with it and that’s where man-management comes in.
“The standing joke was that we’d kick downhill first half and get three or four and then I’d come off after 60 minutes. It seemed to work and I enjoyed it. We went unbeaten at home throughout the whole season (2012/13) which is a massive achievement. At home we were invincible.
“The club was like a foundation phase for players to progress up Non League football to higher teams. We had a really good centre-half partnership with Liam McFadyen and Ryan Laight. Laighty was a class player and he’s now a really good coach. I played him when I was nine or ten years old. Faddy has been the captain of Stocksbridge for six years. We had a decent goalkeeper and two steady full-backs, with Fudge (Luke Forgione), (Craig) Goodyear and Broads (Andrew Broadbent). Sometimes we went 4-2-4 at home and there was me, Gars (Lee Garside), Adam Podmore and Scott Turner who just went and attacked and destroy teams.
“The reason we didn’t get promoted was because the pitch always got flooded at the bottom and when there was a backlog, the lads were playing Saturday-Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday because they played for New Inn as well. The amount of games always took its toll.
“At the end of the season we always used to go to the races and Adam Podmore’s dad always used to get us a limo or minibus. A party bus. I wasn’t a big drinker so on the coach everyone would be drinking, but I would be reading the paper with a cup of tea trying to study the form. We had a pot of money so I said I was look after it because I wouldn’t be steaming. I had this baby blue three-piece suit on so I got ripped off the lads for that. It came to the last race and Garside said stick all the money on this horse. We stuck it on and it won and we won £300 or more. We went back to Barnsley and had a night out on it. We were buying rounds for everyone.
“I still had a drink on the night outs, but I did it more steadily than the likes of Martyn Scully and others. There was one game where Hilts said to Scully:
‘Have you been drinking last night’?
‘Yeah’
“Hilts went to the toilet and Scully opened a can of cider at half-time so when he came back:
‘What are you doing’?
‘I’m just getting some hydration back on board’.
Straight after half-time, Hilts subbed him. He went for a shower and came back and sat on the bench and cracked another can open. So that followed the same path.
‘What you doing’.
‘Well it is Christmas time and you’ve subbed me’.
“There was another time when Scully had hit a diagonal ball and I scored with a first-time volley against Knaresborough. We had gone out the night out before with our partners. I was driving as he can’t and he likes a drink and I don’t. I said make sure you don’t drink too much. He had about six which is about standard for him.
“It was all took in banter and that’s what it was like. Some lads liked to have a drink, I liked to have a cup of tea. When I got to Worsbrough I was one of the most sensible lads.”
Spectacular Goal against Athersley (2012/13)
“Two of my best goals were scored at Worsbrough. One was against Athersley on Boxing Day (2012). We hadn’t played for a few weeks and John (Cooper) who was the chairman used to be always on the tractor. I used to live in an apartment in Worsbrough and I used to drive down and look at the pitch. It was close to Christmas and I text Hilts to ask if the game was going to be on’? He said ‘yes, don’t be drinking over Christmas. It is a big game and there’ll be a big crowd’. It didn’t matter to me as I didn’t drink.
“There were over 300 there and I would put it up there as one of the best goals ever and I remember it clearly. We were 1-0 down and we were kicking uphill in the second half. I used to stay forward when we were defending corners and the ‘keeper must have got it as there was a long punt upfield and I gambled that the centre-half would miss it. He did and the goalkeeper came out and nudged the ball with his knee. I turned full circle and from outside the 18-yard-box I put it in the top corner with my left foot. I mean it went right into the top corner as it was sticking in the stanchion. I never massively celebrated, but that day I ran about a little as it was a decent goal and I was getting a bit of stick from their fans and managers. I don’t think Doddo (Jason Dodsworth) was speechless. I think he was still giving me grief like he always did on a Saturday and Sunday.”
Chris White, the Duck Killer (2013/14)
“It was a bit of hype and build-up. Shaw Lane had put some money in and they were beating everyone comfortably. The floodlights went out after 50 minutes so we were stood around for a bit before they got them back on.
“We were kicking downhill and Martyn Scully had played a diagonal ball into my area down the left flank. The defender came towards me, but I managed to chop inside him and then the goalkeeper came rushing out to the 18-yard box for some reason. I was one-on-one with him and I managed to slot it in the inside post. That put us 1-0 up and we managed to hold on and seal a good victory. We did the double over them as we won 2-1 later in the season.”
Stocksbridge (2014/15)
“Hilts stood down at Worsbrough and he ended up getting the Stocksbridge job. I went there and it changed a little bit because it was higher up. A few others came from Worsbrough and I still more interested in business so there were times when I couldn’t get to training.
“There was one particular game where we were playing on a 3G pitch and it was terrible. It is never the same when you play on 3G. We had a shocker and personally I thought I had done alright. Anyway at half-time, Hilts said ‘right if anyone has the b****** to stand up and say they have played well, do so now’. I was sat in the corner and I thought I had so I stood up. All the lads looked and thought ‘what’s he doing’? I said ‘Hilts, you’ve told anyone who feels they have played well to stand up and I think I’ve done alright’. I won’t say what he said, but basically he said ‘sit down’ and we were absolutely terrible. I think we did lose the game. To be fair to Hilts, talk about a man-management, he knew how to do it.
“I knew I finished at that level and he rang me a few days after and said ‘look, you’ve been a brilliant servant over the years for me and you helped me get to Stocksbridge because of your performances, but I think our time has come to an end as I can’t have you standing up in the dressing room’. How he handled it was brilliant as he was honest and upfront. It was only about football and it hasn’t affected our personal relationship. That’s what I’ve took into my own management/coaching career; always be honest with players. Marsh is the same and that’s why we have had so much success.”
Shaw Lane
“Mozza contacted me and I wasn’t really bothered. But he persuaded me and it was only for the last few months of the season when they were trying to win the league (NCEL Premier Division). I played a few games and we won the league. That was also the season where we should have won the FA Vase. If there was ever a time for a team from South Yorkshire to get to the Final of the FA Vase, that was it. If we had beaten Glossop in the quarter-finals, we’d have won it.”
Sunday League
“My Sunday managers Ian Shirt and Mick Norbury are the only two managers I’ve never said anything to. Shirty always used to say ‘you don’t need to defend, you just go and attack and score’. That was music to my ears and I enjoyed playing for him at the New Inn.
“Norbs was the manager of Queens. I knew who he was, but I’d never played with him. Because Marsh was one of my best mates and he told me some stories so I thought I’m not saying anything back to him. If he said I was playing right-back, I’m playing right back. He played me in a midfield three and I loved it. Queens actually won the league and it was the first time they had won it.”
Athersley Rec (2015/16)
“After Shaw Lane I planned to pack in and just play Sundays. But I did pre-season with Athersley and it was close to home and I told Doddo that I wouldn’t get to every training session. I didn’t want paying either. I said put in the players pot for the end of season do. Doddo is a nice guy and he was fine with it. When you’re playing against Athersley they can be intimidating. But when I signed for them, the likes of Adam White and Ryan White and others said ‘we only tried to kick you because you were good’.
“We got smashed 6-0 on the opening day by Worksop and the day after I went on holiday to Las Vegas. When I came back I said to myself ‘do I really want to be playing if I’m not fully committed’. I said to Doddo ‘I appreciate the opportunity, but I don’t think it is right that I’m taking a position from someone who is more committed’. That was the last time I properly played for a club.”
One Last Piece of Brilliance for Worsbrough (April 2017)
“Josh Wright had got the Worsbrough job and he needed help keeping them up and I’m glad I turned up and helped them out for one game, along with Mozza. It was against Teversal and we won 3-0. I always had a good relationship with Mozza on the field when we were at Frickley. I set up loads of his goals.
“Against Teversal I set up his goal. Then for my goal, I got set free down the left wing and I meant to cross it, but it looped over the goalkeeper and ended up in the top corner. That win meant Worsbrough were safe and I couldn’t see my local team go down so I turned out to play. I certainly felt my hamstring on the Sunday morning.”
Future
“I’m 35 now, some days I do miss it and some days I don’t. If you are going to bit and bat, you’re best not doing it because you need to be fully committed. I always joke with Marsh that I’ll play again, but working Monday to Friday, coaching Saturday morning and watching my step-son play on a Sunday, it doesn’t leave a lot of time to spend with my baby daughter who is nearly one.
“I turn up in charity games now and again for Sheffield FC and I still have the old tricks. I’ve told my stepson a few stories and I don’t think he believes that I played at a decent level. He’s not seen me play in a proper game. He’s seen me in charity games and he’s like ‘I didn’t realise you could do that skill’. I’ll say ‘you’re too young to remember’.
“I don’t think I will be a manager in Non League either because I’m enjoying what I’m doing now. I’m fully committed into my businesses that I have got and coaching with Craig through SAFG United. We’re coaching girls across the region and we have a lot of success. We have put our own money into creating our own club and we started off with nine or ten players and we now have 30 or 35 players. It is growing and we want to get a structure in there where we have a pathway where we have an under 10s team right up to a open age team in years to come. Things are looking good on that front.”
If you have enjoyed this interview and the Non League Journey interview series, please watch the video at the bottom of the page and consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams so when the green light to return is given, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and we have incurred losses which we cannot recover. We have not been hit as badly as other organisations, but we do need raise £2000 to put us back at the level we were at in mid-March and enable us to make a difference once again to our players’ lives in the future, without having financial worries. As each day goes on, a substantial number of our players become further isolated so we need to be ‘ready for action’ when restrictions are lifted.
Any amount raised above £2000 will be put towards new projects (when the world returns to normal) designed to further benefit people with disabilities and learning difficulties. You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.