Richard Spychalski, one of the most successful West Yorkshire-based grassroots football managers ever, is excited for the future with Huddersfield Laund Hill as he approaches his 700th game in management.
The former Emley AFC under 19s boss is best known for his phenomenal success with all-conquering Bay Athletic who he guided to four consecutive West Riding County Amateur League Premier Division league titles in the 2000s.
Twenty-seven years after first campaign on the touchline, he is now leading the revival of Laund Hill, formerly known as Huddersfield YMCA, in Division Two of the West Yorkshire League as first team manager and football section chairman.
He is also a director of the Huddersfield Laund Hill Community Club, the organisation who oversee the running of the impressive facility and Spychalski says the project is about more than football.
“I have three hats at the club and that’s quite positive,” Spychalski told Non League Yorkshire.
“I’m first team manager and we’re building.
“It looked like the senior teams were going to fold (in 2018/19) so for my sins I stepped back into management again and I’ve carried it on through the pandemic.
“We have 20 junior teams from under 7s right through the under 18s so I’m passionate about creating an academy at the club going forward.
“We had that under Sam Sutton a few years ago so I’m passionate about resurrecting it, particularly as we’re building a brand new 3G pitch which will be floodlit.
“We’re also building a brand new first team pitch to FA standards so we will have the facilities to accommodate an academy team and under 23 team.
“We have already started integrating as we have six or seven under 18s players playing in the first team who are getting that taste for first team football which is really positive.
“That’s the direction I wanted to take the club which is about bringing the youth through.
“I’m also chairman of the football section so I’m overseeing the vision and I’m on the main board with four other directors for the main community club.
“That is about creating more than just a sports club.
“We have got Dementia Clubs, over 65s clubs, walking clubs, nordic walking clubs, running club, litter-picking club and mental health programmes we want to develop.
“We want a community club feel rather than a sports club feel and we have a real opportunity to do that now.”
The management journey began in 1995 when Spanner, as he is affectionally known to many, became player/manager of the Bay Athletic reserves.
After success in a two-year period, he became first team manager, winning the West Riding County Amateur League Division One title.
His greatest period was the second spell with now-defunct Bay which yielded five league titles and various cup wins.
Spychalski guided Emley under 19s – a side containing future Non League players Elliott Harrison, Jordan Townsend, Ruben Jerome, Robbie Wadsworth and Harry Stead – to the double in 2014.
More recently the treble was won with YMCA in 2016.
For Spychalski, “there’s been numerous highlights”.
“At the beginning, playing with friends and managing them was a challenge in itself but that time also allowed me to formulate a style of play,” he said.
“I highly influenced by Arsene Wenger in the very early days and his style and I was keen to develop the style of playing out from the back.
“I remember a game in particular where we lost 4-0 and we conceded early doors from playing out from the back and this manager said ‘I’ve outsmarted you tactically’.
“I just thought ‘no you haven’t, we have just made four mistakes that we can cut out’.
“As you go into further highlights, I managed Bay’s first team for two years when we won Division One before stepping away to do my coaching badges.
“I went travelling and went with various teams and I spent a bit of time with Oldham Athletic and they supported me with badges.
“I then took over Bay’s first team again in 2002/03 and I did that job until 2011/12 and that spell was a really enjoyable period.
“We were very successful as a team.
“We won numerous league titles and four were won on the bounce which no team had ever done before.
“It was a real pleasure because it is hard at this level of football to maintain a certain standard of playing without players being poached.
“If you’re successful, teams in higher leagues constantly look at you.
“What we managed to do was bring players through on a regular basis when players left to go higher and still be successful.
“I ran the West Yorkshire Rep team for a while and whilst we lost when we went over to the Isle of Man who eventually won the FA Inter-League Cup, it was a great experience.
“They were the favourites and we pushed them all the way and they scored in the last minute.
“My wife was listening on the radio as it was on Isle of Man radio and the commentators were panicking that we were going to do win.
“One of the key highlights was winning the Northern Counties Cup with Bay.
“We beat a team called Ashville from the Cheshire League in 2011/12 and the game has stuck in my mind.
“It was a tactical game where we soaked up the best part of 60 minutes of pressure and then we made a number of changes and we absolutely went for it.
“Steve Smith put the ball across and Sam Jerome got the winner in the last minute of the game.
“It was absolute mayhem and I remember it really well.
“Managing Emley academy (in 2013/14) was a real pleasure and they were a joy to manage and bringing through a squad of 18 talented kids was fantastic.
“We certainly played a fantastic branded style of football and to see those players going on to a lot higher standard is a real joy.”
The list of players he has managed is endless and so many have gone onto play in Non League.
The Emley under 19s lads plus Sam Jerome are obvious examples but there is other less familiar names who have been a forefront of his successes.
“People like Paul Pike, he was a real talent and he had an opportunity to play professional football and it just didn’t work out for him,” he said.
“He’s probably the fastest guy I’ve seen off a standing start.
“Daniel Naidole is one who has gone higher as you know.
“I had him at Bay from a very young age and you could see the progression he made within the Bay.
“A guy who should have gone higher is Wayne Shooter who is very talented.
“There’s numerous others but one guy who stands out for me because of his loyalty and ability on-and-off-the-pitch is Graham McLachlan.
“Frankie is someone who allowed me to develop playing out from the back and use him as an 11th outfield player.”
If you have been involved in football for over 30 years you’re going to have regrets and Spychalski is no different.
Despite being so dominant, Step 7 was Bay’s glass ceiling and being unable to take them into Non League Football is a source of anguish for him.
“We could never secure a long-term lease with anybody to get the tendency which would have allowed us to move into the Northern Counties East League and give us a platform to raise finances to move into that next stage,” he said.
“It was a shame as we had a number of treble-winning years in that ((ten-year) period.
“We won the FA Northern Counties Cup and we dominated a lot of the competitions and I felt the players and the squad was right to move into the Northern Counties East League and would have been successful in the Northern Counties.
“I would say the 2015/16 season when Bay folded and (the players) came up to YM and joined me, I would say that 20-man squad would have easily been successful at the Northern Counties East.
“I would say it is one of my biggest regrets that we never got the chance to test ourselves at a higher level.”
Given his trophy-laden management career, it is surprising Spychalski never managed beyond Step 7 but the reasons why are understandable.
“I had a career outside of football that took up a lot of time and I was travelling abroad a lot,” he said.
“I had to get the balance right between my family, my career, football and my property rental business.
“I had four areas which were pulling my time.
“My career meant I couldn’t allocate the time required to manage in the North East Counties.
“When I was ready (to manage in the NCEL) when I retired (from work) there was nothing (on the opportunities front) and when there was, it wasn’t the right time for me.
“The chance just never materialised.”
Inspired by Steeton manager Roy Mason’s 500th game back in December, Spychalski began collating his games and the milestone is set to be reached before the end of the season.
He is currently on 697.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
“What triggered it for me was the fact Roy made his 500th game in management.
“I had a bit of time over Christmas so I thought ‘I wonder how many I’ve managed’?
“I started with my spreadsheet and went back over my cuttings and clippings and approached Stuart Ramsden who was previously involved with the County Amateur League.
“I spent two or three weeks gathering data and it has taken quite a while but thankfully from the first eight-or-nine years I had been conscientious in keeping cuttings and league tables.
“Up to 2004 it was quite easily and after 2004 it was even easier as the internet has helped me out on the rest.”
The 700th game could even coincide with a promotion party as Laund Hill are in the race at the top with only five games remaining.
Whether that happens or not, Spychalski is thrilled he has been able to blood young players this season.
“I’m passionate about the youth development we have got at the club,” he said.
“I’m really pleased with the team and how it has gone having got back involved in the last couple of years.
“I’ve cut out the players I didn’t feel were right for the club and we have replaced them with youth with a view to developing them.
“Developing youth has always been a pleasing part of managing.
“Bringing in six-or-seven it takes time to bed in but if you look at the league the team has a chance of promotion this year which is really pleasing.”
Game 698 is at Tingley Athletic on Saturday – weather-permitting of course as there’s a storm coming.