From Grassroots & Beyond...

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AndySams10

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A quick glance at my watch, saw there was just under a couple of minutes left to play. " Look after the ball lads " I called out from the touchline. We were two-one up in our final group game and knew with three points we'd qualify for the quarter final stages of the main cup. Despite a small scare, when the ball fell to the oppositions captain, who's shot flew harmlessly wide, we held on to claim a deserved win.

We made our way out of the small complex where our group games were being held and made our way through the crowds of other teams and family members making their way in and headed back towards our hostel, where myself and the team had been staying for the past few days.

*****

The Gothia Cup for those that don't know about it, is the world's largest international youth football tournament. It's held each year in Sweden with around 1600 teams from 80 nations taking part at various stadia and locations throughout the country.

View attachment 203476(Picture from the opening ceremony)

*****

This was my third time at the Gothia Cup, but my first running a team. We were representing the football scholarship programme that I run back in Hampshire, England. The scholarship is a two year full time education and football development programme delivered in partnership with professional and non-league football clubs.

Despite being filled with talented footballers aged between 16-18 years, to reach the quarter final stages was well beyond our expectations due to the high quality of clubs attending the tournament.
After we had dinner, the lads were allowed their free time, which mainly consisted of hanging around the entertainment room and engaging with other players from the variety of countries and backgrounds that were also staying at the hostel. With the lads away, it gave me time to check my work emails, call home and speak to my wife and catch up with the other results that had taken place earlier on in the day. With nothing of major importance to attend too from work and after speaking to the other half, I began flicking through the Gothia Cup app on my mobile, to see who we could face tomorrow in the quarter finals.
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Gothia Cup - Quarter Final

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We set off to the venue after breakfast to prepare for our quarter final game against Chiparamba Sports Academy. The side from Zambia will provide stern opposition for us, as they topped group 17, with three wins from three, scoring nine and not conceding a goal in their group games.
The ground at Överåsvallen was situated in a small housing estate and was surrounded by trees on both sides. There is a tired looking running track around the perimeter of the pitch, with two run down dugouts either side of the half way line.
View attachment 203300(Överåsvallen)

We arrived and got changed into our kit by the side of the pitch and my assistant took the lads through our warm up, while I introduced myself to Chiparamba Sports Academy's manager.
Following the usual swapping of team sheets, the referee called the captains into the middle of the pitch, as I gathered the rest of the starting line up in and gave them a little pep talk.
Quite a crowd had assembled as the game got underway, though half of the support were with the two other teams that were playing after our game.

We started brightly and bossed the first twenty minutes, but despite our dominance we couldn't take one of our many chances and we were made to regret not putting the ball in the back of the net. With minutes left of the first half, Chiparamba Sports broke down our left and the winger cut inside my right back and fired the Zambians into an undeserved lead.
" We have to take our chances lads, the next goal will be crucial. Just improve our quality in and around their box. Now, go out there and take control of the game again. " I said, as the team huddled around our dugout.
The second half was very much the same as the first, we missed chance after chance and apart from the odd break, the opposition never looked like adding to their tally and after the referee played the three minutes of added time, he blew the full time whistle to end our journey in this years competition.

After our game, I decided to stick around and watch the other quarter final match that was scheduled to kick off half an hour after our game ended. While I was waiting for kick off, I organised our departure time with the travel operator, before grabbing myself a cup of coffee from the small snack kiosk and wandered towards the pitch to watch the rest of the game that had already started.
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Back To Work

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It was Tuesday morning and the day after I got back from Gothenburg. Since I was away for most of the previous week at the Gothia Cup, I needed to catch up on my work emails. I'm very fortunate that with my role as football development manager, I can work from home if required and as I didn't have any coaching today, I decided to work from the comfort of my living room.

Working for a sports coaching company, that also work alongside the local secondary school, my role includes delivering football sessions at the school, working at our development centre that I've set up and also, the practical side of the football scholarship scheme too. I also manage a small team of coaches who coach football at after school clubs with the cluster schools we are associated with and we work closely with three grassroot football teams that train at our new 3G facility based at the school that was built last year.
Outside of work, my involvement with football continues, as I'm also manager of a semi professional team that play in the wessex league, currently playing in step 5 of the national league system. Having previously worked with their youth teams, when I had my own sports coaching company, I was approached eight months ago by the chairman and asked to step in on a temporary basis when the previous manager was sacked. During the final two months of last season, I managed to keep them in the division and when I was offered the chance to stay on permanently, it was a no-brainer to accept and look to help take the club forward over the coming season.

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After replying to the outstanding emails that were in my inbox, I went off to make myself some lunch. On my return I noticed another email had been received, but rather than a mail from one of the contacts that I regularly have correspondence with, it was from an unknown sender. I took a bite of my sandwich and opened up the unread email:

Good Morning,

I didn't get a chance to speak to you at the Gothia Cup last week, but we were very impressed
with how you got your team playing. Since I have returned home, I've been doing some research on
yourself and your coaching career and the fact you've been successful with the development
of younger players, it's very attractive to my clubs' plans.
I'd be very happy if you would be interested in meeting with me, to discuss what I feel is a fantastic
opportunity to work within the football club I own.

Please let me know your thoughts,

Adam Ringsby-Brandt
Chairman, FC Svendborg


After reading through the email, I went straight onto the internet to find out who FC Svendborg were, as the only concrete bit of information I knew, was that they weren't a team from England!!!
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Decisions, Decisions

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FC Svendborg are a semi professional football club founded in 2008 and currently play in the Danish 2nd division. Though the club who play in the 'West Group' haven't played in the Superliga, they have played in the First Division, but that was back in the 1999/2000 season.
They play their home games at Høje Bøge Stadion which holds upto 7,000 supporters, with a small stand that houses 150 seats.

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With my research done, albeit limited, due to there not being too much information available online, I needed to sit down and discuss what to do next with my wife and family and weigh up my options.
I've experienced working abroad before, but didn't see out my contract, due to missing family and now that I'm married and my wife has a good job, plus the fact I'd only been in my new role just over four months, there were some important factors to be considered. On the flip side, it could be a potential opportunity to further my coaching experience and look to implement my football philosophy outside of England, which could lead to offering me and my wife more financial security in the long term.
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Interesting start mate - will be following!
 
CantGetEnoughOfJelavic said:
Love stories like this! You rarely disappoint either, so definitely following!
Click to expand...

Wow, thank you mate, I hope I won't disappoint on this one. Had a nice break from writing, but after reading stories like yours and a few others, it's given me the bug. :)
 
The Interview

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I spent a good few hours with my wife and family discussing the offer to go out to Denmark and work with FC Svendborg. We went through all the pros and cons and different scenarios I could face, but it wasn't until my dad said " We've spoken and worked out every eventuality, but we don't even know what's being offered! " As always, despite the lateness of his input, something my dad has a knack of doing, he was right, until I actually meet with the chairman of the club, I don't even know what I'm faced with and what I have to decide. So in a matter of minutes, we all agreed that I had nothing to lose and needed to find out what was being proposed.

View attachment 202523
I landed at Copenhagen airport mid-morning the next day and once I made my way through arrivals, I headed towards a smart looking gentleman who was holding a sign with my name on it. " God Morgen Andy. I'm Claus, your chauffeur. " he said in a broken English accent. " Hello " I responded and followed him out the airport and towards the Mercedes car that would take me to meet Adam Ringsby-Brandt.
It took just over an hour to get to the ground where I'd be meeting the clubs board. As we pulled up outside a small building, I was met by Henrik Thulesen, one of the directors and led inside into a room where already sitting were two other men.

" Hej Andy. Welcome and thank you for coming to meet us " said one of the men, I assumed he was Adam Ringsby-Brandt as he was sat on one of those big black leather chairs behind a nice large oak table. " I'm Adam, the chairman, this is Flemming and you've met Henrik. They are the two directors on the board with myself.

Mr R-B: " Please take a seat. Again it's good of you to come out and meet. We
appreciate you have taken time off work to be here. Myself, Henrik and Flemming have decided
to make a big over haul of our club. It's been a long time since we had any silverware or play
in the first division in Denmark. "

Henrik: " Our aim is to re-shape our club from top to bottom. But to do this, we must have a
competitive team on the pitch and we can build off it, to take us forward. "

Me: " That sounds very similar to the team I manage back home in England. The chairman has
developed the club off the pitch to a standard that will allow us to play three divisions above the
league we currently play in. I'm tasked with getting the results to take us there. "

Mr R-B: " We know Andy, this is the reason we have asked you here. After seeing the performances
your scholarship side displayed in Gothenburg, we were very impressed with how you set
the team up and got them playing. Over the past few days, I have spoken to various people that
you have worked for and also your chairman of the team you are in charge of and we feel you can play
a big part of what we are trying to achieve. "

Me: " Thank you. I'm very surprised with the lengths you've gone too, but surely there's coaches
here in Denmark that are just as capable. "

Henrik: " Andy, you'd be surprised, there a some talented coaches, but they are either working
with bigger clubs here or employed abroad. "

Mr R-B: " With your experiences in football and the qualifications you hold currently, we are keen to offer you
the manager's job and help with our vision. "

Me: " Really?! Wow! I wasn't expecting to hear that. I thought you would ask me to be a coach or something. "

Mr R-B: " We genuinely feel that you are the right person for us and after hearing so much positive
feedback about the work you've done, it was an easy choice.
The contract we are offering is £160 per week on a 1 year deal. Of course we can review this depending
on your progress. "

Me: " Firstly, thank you for the opportunity and the fact you think of me so highly. I need to
discuss this through with my family. "

Mr R-B: " Yes we respect that Andy. We will put you up in a hotel for you to talk with your
loved ones and then let us know your answer. "
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D-Day

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I was up most of the night speaking with my wife via skype and my parents over the phone, to help me decide what to do. Back home in the South of England, I have a job that I love doing, along with working at an ambitious club with a chairman that I've built a fantastic friendship with. Plus, my wife has started a new job on a very good wage and it would be unfair to ask her to leave especially as it's a role that she is enjoying.

My parents were very happy to back me whatever I decided to do, but it was the discussion with my wife that proved the most challenging. If I accept the role in Denmark, she made it clear that currently she wouldn't be able to move over, but knows how much football means to me and the opportunities this offer could lead too. I guess the biggest negative is the financial situation. I don't get paid at the moment for managing the side I'm in charge of, whereby over here I would be, but I would only bring in a third of the salary I earn from my full time coaching role. So it was left for me to decide, can I live apart from my wife for the short term? And can I accept such a huge drop in salary for me to follow a dream of mine?
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Always nice to see a story set in my country - and Høje Bøge is a really nice small stadium IRL too. ;)

KUTGW!
 
Following My Dream

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Sometimes in life you have to take risks, especially if it involves something you are so passionate about and I'm no different. Despite the concerns about money, both my wife and family were very supportive about me accepting the managerial job at FC Svendborg. I know they are always there for me and will help me out if needed, but I'm hoping over time, I can be in a situation where my wife can leave her job and I can assist my family financially in the long term if required.

After informing Mr Ringsby-Brandt of my decision to become the new manager of FC Svendborg, he arranged for my wife and family to come over and bring my belongings to help me move into the apartment the club have rented for my stay here. With pre-season beginning in a couple of weeks, my new club were keen on me getting started straight away, so it gives us better opportunity to be ready for the start of the new campaign. While I waited in my rented accommodation for my personnel stuff to be delivered, I sat down at the computer desk in the fully furbished living room, switched on my laptop and began planning and learning about the team.

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The first email I saw was from a local paper that did their league predictions, based on the teams that are in our division. Immediately I noticed that we were priced at 50-1, which didn't fill me with huge confidence and alerted me to the size of the task I faced, especially as the favourites AB were 5-2 to gain promotion.

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Straight after reading the media's prediction, the next email was about the current squad and their potential. I noticed that the majority of players are on amateur contracts, which has a positive and negative side. On the up side, it means that we aren't spending too much on a wage budget, but on the down side, it would leave us open to bids from bigger clubs for my players who could offer them money.

View attachment 202401View attachment 202400
Casper Kruse and Jesper Christiansen were the stand out players, but with their ages being the wrong side of thirty, I knew they wouldn't be around long. Overall it looks like the squad is fairly good, so it will be down to me and my coaching team to make sure each and everyone of the squad play to the best of their ability every week, so we can stay clear of relegation, which the media are predicting.
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Getting Started

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With training being taken by Kjeld Andersen and Leif Pedersen, two of my coaching staff, I sat in the stands to observe the players and began to work out what formation may suit the lads the best.

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My preferred formation is 4231, but having seen the squad train, though I have every faith in them, I don't think we have the quality to execute my style how I'd want it too. So with that in mind, I've devised a structured 4411 system that will look to hit teams on the counter.

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Though I'm focusing on a more disciplined approach, I'm still wanting the team to press high and close down the opposition quick, which hopefully will allow us to win the ball back and look to stamp our authority on games. I firmly believe that if we can play at a high tempo, to allow us to turn defence into attack while outnumbering the opposition, we will be hard to beat!!

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The month of July went by so quick. We had six friendlies arranged and in the heart of it all, I had managed to make my apartment feel a little more homely, thanks to help from my wife, who took some time off work to help me settle.
Looking back at the friendlies I feel generally happy with how they went. We played our second string in a behind closed doors game, which gave me an opportunity to assess all the players we have at the club.
Having decided on the personnel I feel will play a part in the opening stages of the season, we got our pre-season games underway.
Three wins, a draw and two losses against a variety of opposition, gave me a lot to think about as we headed into the start of the season. Overall, we didn't look like conceding too many goals, while we look like creating many chances as well, so if we can keep that statistic high, we could surprise a few this season.
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