Behind the Scenes with Reno - Part 3 Down the tunnel and beyond.....

There is one thing you need to know about me - I need everything to be perfect, so if you use a pot, wash it; if you move a chair, put it back from where it came from; and if you’re asked to take your boots off before you enter the stadium on training nights, then please do it, because for me, it just boils down to that key word -RESPECT.

My mum used to say to me ‘If you don’t do it then you shouldn’t expect someone to do it for you’. I am the same at school, I can never leave my office untidy, I am forever tidying up the main office etc and I will always do my share, wash up if it is my turn. These were similar traits that I quickly adopted at FC United. There is a running joke in the office that there is only Viv the Club Secretary and myself that bother cleaning up. That was then, but this is now, everyone does their bit - TEAMWORK.

When I first arrived at FC United, I spent the first few weeks just taking in the surroundings and trying to get things right on the pitch. As time went by there were certain things that I wanted to do inside the ground. However, I didn’t want to change too much as if results didn’t pick up I might not be here to complete the work!

I was beginning to form really good relationships and friendships with Adrian, Sam, Paul Haworth, John England, Viv, Graham, Jimmy, Peter, Ruth, Hannah, Colin and all the academy staff. I was getting to know the fans and listening to them after games and was understanding everything about FC. I was now beginning to feel part of it.

The key thing was to keep telling people about what I wanted to achieve and that it might be next season before this came to fruition - that may sound like I was trying to buy myself some time but I promise, I wasn’t. If I didn’t think I could do the job I could quite easily have walked one hundred times with the things that happened. This was a huge job and turning the football results around was only a part of this. I knew that would happen once I had MY team but that wasn’t going to happen until the following season. I hadn’t given up, but I had seen and heard too much from within the dressing room to think that we could survive relegation. Don’t get me wrong, we had some great moments, Curzon at home, Blyth away, Hereford away, Telford away and Alfreton away to name a few, but the lack of consistency would eventually prove that we didn’t have enough real quality to get out of trouble.

As well as the results not going well, there was something else missing. For me, a dressing room should be that special unique place that can make you feel good about yourself even if things are not going right. Key messages on display, motivational quotes, you name it, something that you can read or reference at certain points in the season. Also, when we are at home, it should feel like a fortress, somewhere that is daunting, opposing players walking into our stadium should see exactly what it means to be FC United. When I was outside the stadium or looking out onto the pitch, I felt it but ‘down the tunnel and beyond’, I thought, there is so much more we can do. The season ended and I just wanted to help to do things around the ground. I wanted to devote as much time as I could to our club, FC United. You name it I would help. I wanted to utilise my school holidays to help and support around the ground to get it ready for the start of the new season.

By now, every time I went looking for Graham, he would know that I would always want something. Graham is one of those people that you need to know. He will do anything and everything for you if you are right by him. He is one of the most dedicated people I know. I always managed to catch him on his fifteen-minute brew break, I bet he thought, let me have a break. Every time he sits in his office I go and find him to chat about his memories of FC United. Like Paul Haworth, how can you not be mesmerised by someone’s passion and knowledge for their club. I remember in the June I said to Graham, ’I want to transform the tunnel area’.

I had previously been out for lunch in Manchester with Paul Haworth and was sharing my ideas with him. He said he had so much memorabilia in his house, if there was anything I needed then just ask, he would give it to the club if I needed it. I explained about my vision for the tunnel area and he thought it would be a good idea. Imagine it now, red, white and black all over the walls, framed shirts, pictures of all the memories from down the years. You name it, I wanted the tunnel to feel like FC United, I wanted us to own this and every time you walk into the stadium you feel it, the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention and most of all, a daunting feeling for the opposition as they enter the ground and then enter the tunnel area.

I explained all this to Graham. I said that I finished school in July for six weeks and would do everything I could to help. I said to Graham what I wanted. ‘I want the white walls to disappear. Over time, I want this wall to look like this, that wall to look like that’ etc. I remember Graham either smile or turn his face thinking, ‘Christ, this is a huge job!!!!’.

I only asked Graham once. I went to the ground the following week and as soon as I walked in the stadium, I could smell paint. I thought ’never, have they started it already?’.

Started it?! I was blown away, they had bloody finished it. Graham and Jimmy had transformed the tunnel, well the first part of it anyway. The white walls had gone for good and been replaced with red, white and black. It looked incredible. They even put a huge sign outside the home dressing room about what it means to be FC. I always read it. This now has a fresh feeling and it feels like our tunnel.

The following week Paul Haworth arrived at the ground and had some framed pictures. All memories from winning trophies to fans travelling on the Rammy Rattler to an away game at Ramsbottom United. I was looking at them all. I wanted them up on the walls. On one side we can have all pictures of players celebrating winning trophies etc and on the other side we can have the pictures of the fans, the club, other memories. One problem, I needed a man with a drill and someone to hang them all.... I knew where to find him, on the pitch. Graham was cutting the grass and I shouted him. Graham came over and asked if I was ok. ‘Graham, I need another favour’. He came into the tunnel and stared at all the framed pictures neatly lined up against the walls. ‘Right, I want this one here, that one there’ and so on. Graham said he was due to go home shortly but he would try and get them done. I couldn’t wait, I needed them to go up now. ‘Please Graham, I’m so excited’. He kind of sighed and walked off. ‘Graham, where are you going?’....’To find my drill and screws’ he replied...YES, ‘Thanks Graham’. The 5pm finish had totally gone out of the window.
The last picture went up and he smiled. ‘They look good. They are amazing, thank you’. That wouldn’t be the last favour I would ask of Graham. I always say, ‘I owe you one’. I think I owe him about a thousand and one, at least.

Pre-season was well underway, and the lads were due at the ground on the Thursday. I couldn’t wait to see their faces. I asked Paul if he could come to training to explain what all the pictures meant - they all have special stories. ‘We can get the lads in the tunnel and you can explain when they are from etc’. Paul agreed. Similar to the player presentation/signing evening, I wanted the squad to know everything about the here and now but also the club’s history to date. There is another reason why I wanted all the trophy lifting pictures on display. I am so envious when I look at that wall and I want the lads to feel the same. Maybe one day this squad will lift silverware and have their photo on the wall. That’s the dream.

The tunnel still wasn’t complete, but I thought, I best wait a while before approaching Graham again. He had a pitch to prepare but I am so grateful to him, Jimmy and Paul for their support in completing stage one of the tunnel. Colin from the club shop even found me two stickers of the FC United badge. They were huge. One has got its own place in the tunnel; the lads look at it before heading out onto the pitch. The other one is in my office on the wall. It’s the first thing you notice when you walk in.

We were now approaching the start of the season. I had created a new set of rules for all staff, players, including the women’s team and the academy. These are up in the dressing room. One rule is, if you are training on the 3G then put your boots on outside at the end of the tunnel and when you come back in please take them off at the door. The black rubber crumb that makes up part of the 3G surface gets everywhere and blocks up the drains, we needed to remove our boots, simple. We created a poster for a constant reminder which is on the door...no boots in the tunnel area unless the main pitch is being used. At first, I had to remind the players a couple of times, but any new player just reads the rules and Pottsy will remind the lads when we are training. Week after week I kept arriving at the ground and there was rubber crumb everywhere. It was driving me crackers. I spoke to the academy staff to ask them to remind the boys as they used the facility every day. It’s not really up to the staff to constantly remind them, everyone just do your bit and respect the facility.

It was October half term and I was off school for a weekand I wanted to paint my office, so I arrived about 10am to complete the painting. The academy lads were already out training so I couldn’t remind them about their boots. There was rubber crumb all over the floor so I was guessing that boots were on in the stadium. I swept it all up but I was seething!! I thought I best give them the benefit of the doubt. They would all be in for about 12:30 for lunch so I would see if they read the sign.

They didn’t know I was there so for their sake I was praying they removed their boots at the door. I recall the door opening and I heard boots banging down the tunnel. The lads were laughing and shouting.... that’s it!! I remember jumping off my ladders and flying out into the tunnel area. There were about ten of them, they were so surprised to see me. ‘Gaffer, are you ok?’ one of them said. I’m guessing I didn’t look ok and chose not to answer. I saw red, my voice changed.... You can imagine what was said.... They didn’t know where to look. ‘Everyone follows the rules, what makes you different? It doesn’t matter if I’m here or not, you need to respect the rules’, I said. ‘Get back outside and take off your boots....PLEASE’. The boys apologised and did what the poster asked. I want to stress that these are not my rules, they are the club rules, although I created them...you understand what I mean. I returned to my office to carry on with the painting. I could hear them all saying, ‘The Gaffer is here, take off your boots, don’t go down there with them on, he has just gone mental!!’.

Looking back, I smile when I think of that day...it was a turning point. I very rarely see rubber crumb any more in and around the stadium...we are all in this together so all we ask is everyone has respect for the club and its surroundings. There are many rules that we all now follow. If everyone does their bit then it’s not left to one person. I even make the lads clean the dressing room after we have used it. Numbers 1 & 2 one week followed by 3 & 4 the next week and so on. No kit can be thrown on the floor or left inside out. Basic rules but in a team everyone pitches in to help, it’s a mindset that stands a group in good stead, and you shouldn’t turn it on and off depending on whether you’re on the pitch or not.

The manager’s office was now painted. It looked great. I wanted it now to feel like an office. Whiteboards on the wall for tactics and team selection, small table we could sit round, microwave, a fridge for Chaddy’s beers, kettle, team cups on the side, bookshelf for all my autobiographies (I love reading them), candle on the table, it’s therapeutic!

The staff arrived for training and loved it. ‘Right team, here are the rules’. I told them everything. ‘Use whatever you want but please clean up after yourselves’. No chance!!! I’m not surprised they are all married, they must get looked after at home as they don’t know how to wash a bloody cup!! When I arrive on match day/training day, candle lit, sit down, the office is immaculate. When I leave or return to it, it’s a disgrace. I do the radio straight after the game and then head into the bar. When I next walk into my office on a Tuesday it’s upside down. Brian manages to put more coffee and sugar all over the side and the floor than in the cup, Chaddy forever leaves his beer bottles everywhere, Mike leaves his kit all over the floor, Chappy leaves his knee tape here, there and everywhere, chairs are not put back under the table, cups not washed but to their credit...they always manage to blow the candle out and shut the door on their way out.

One evening I was driving to training. I had left school around 16:30 to get to the ground early. I was thinking, ‘I hope the office is tidy, I just want to sit down, read a book and have a coffee before training’. We must have played away the previous Saturday and the Tuesday so it was a week since I had been there. I walked in…wow...I’m not kidding, it was like someone had thrown a party in there. The stench as well!! I opened the fridge, and someone had forgotten to put the top on the milk, I know who my money is on!!! The milk was off, the bin hadn’t been emptied, beer bottles were on the table, coffee and sugar everywhere, coffee stains on the table, Mike’s wet training kit on the floor, Chappy’s knee tape next to the bin (Chappy always tapes his knees up with an off pink strapping, he says it helps them), ‘That’s it’ I thought. The staff arrived one by one and I made myself scarce. I waited for all of them to get into the office. I then walked in,’ Gaffer’, ‘Gaffer’, ‘Gaffer’, one by one they said hello. The office was immaculate as I had spent over an hour cleaning it and mopping the floors. I even put Mike’s gear in the washing machine!!! They could see that I wasn’t impressed. I should have left it so they could see it. I told them what state it had been left in, they all blamed each other, stuttering as they spoke, fingers were pointing everywhere. ‘It’s ok’, I said, ‘I’m not interested...You ain’t getting changed in here any longer, get yourselves into the community changing rooms’. They thought I was joking. ‘Off you go...’. I remember Chappy had his pants round his ankles and one by one they headed out of the office, Chappy was clambering about trying to pick all his gear up with pants down. ‘Get out, all of you’ I said... They were like naughty school children.

I do love my staff, but they have no idea how to clean up after themselves. I left the office after training knowing that it would still be spotless on match day. I had calmed down by the Saturday and I lifted the office curfew....I allowed them back in. Chappy knocked on the door and put his head round, ‘Am I allowed in or are we in the community dressing room?, we all fell about laughing!! We had a laugh but the point is that success is built on having high standards and keeping to them.

It was time to put stage three of the tunnel into operation. I wanted framed signed shirts on the wall and a sign above our dressing room door. Jimmy had told me that we had lots of framed signed shirts in the stadium, but I’d never seen them. Jimmy took me into a locked room I’d never been in which and I couldn’t believe my eyes, there was everything in there, so many memories, and everything was framed....it was incredible. It was like a Christmas Day. I was just picking frames up saying, ‘We will have this one, that one’ etc. I picked all the shirts since the formation of the club. Club legends including Jerome Wright, Mike Norton and Chaddy had signed these shirts along with their teammates. ‘What are they doing in here? These need to be on display!’. I wanted them in the tunnel area in year order, from 2005 onwards. There was a really special one that was framed and caught my eye. I asked Jimmy when this was from, he said...it was the inaugural shirt!! ‘Why is this not up in the stadium? Jimmy, grab that please...I want that above the main office in reception, so everyone sees it when they arrive’.

There was one more, Eric Cantona’s shirt was staring at me. There is a hand-written message on it from him wishing FC United all the best, ‘We will have that one as well Jimmy!!’. We carried them all one by one down the stairs into the tunnel. Jimmy lined them all up in the order they were from. Just one person missing, the man with the drill.... GRAHAM. I went and found Graham....’I need a big favour please’. ‘Why do you always come at the end of the day?’ Graham said. He followed me into the tunnel area. ‘I want all these put up on the wall please’. Graham agreed to put one up and he would do the rest when he had time. The first one went up, it looked amazing!! ‘Graham, please put another one up...just to see what it looks like!!’. We had started now, there was no going back, or going home in Graham’s case. One by one they all went up, it took nearly three hours, they all had to be level, accurate spaces in between each shirt...the last one went up. Wow...I was blown away. The tunnel area had been transformed. Thank you, Graham, I owe you one!!!!! I remember the lads arriving for training and all stopping to look at them.

I must add that Graham put up the main shirt in reception and Cantona’s shirt - there was no stopping him. He even found another picture to hand, the coordinates of the pitch which now has pride of place in the tunnel. As the years go on, I want more shirts on display, including ours from this season. I’ve already asked Paul Smith to have them framed. I want both sides completed, women’s shirts, academy shirts, men’s first team shirts...That may be this summer’s job!! If you haven’t been down to the tunnel, please grab me on match day to have a look. It’s special, it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of so many people. Thank you.

Our new look tunnel will certainly capture its own memories. One of them certainly happened when Radcliffe came to town this season.... When two teams head off down the tunnel you may ask what happens, especially if there has been tension between the sides. If words are going to be exchanged between two sides, it usually happens in the tunnel at half time. During my career as a player and a manager I have witnessed some tasty events in the tunnel. For whatever reason there has been some needle between Radcliffe and us this season. I like Radcliffe and have nothing against them. I even enjoyed having pie and chips continually thrown at me at the end of the Cup game away at their place. I am also friends with Jon Macken and Frank Sinclair. I have spoken to both of them since they left Radcliffe and Frank was helpful with Dan Trickett-Smith’s signing.

However, in the home game this season their bench seemed quite annoyed about something. Frank was continually shouting at the referee and directing his frustrations towards our bench. Our fans could see it and helped the situation by winding Frank up. He was going crazy. When his son scored the opening goal for Radcliffe I can recall his celebrations on the touchline; this annoyed our fans but I thought, it’s just football... and as you know I like a good celebration so who am I to complain? However, if we get the opportunity to celebrate then make sure we do it in style. Soon after they scored, Tunde had a shot which nearly ended up on the corner flag. Some of their bench were saying things about Tunde, totally out of order and we were sticking up for him. I told them to keep their opinions to themselves, then karma struck...Tunde scored...boom, our turn to celebrate. We went mental and Tunde came over to me, we like to hug after he scores. In the moment there was so much animosity between the two dugouts, football banter. Half time whistle goes, and we head off down the tunnel. I am always last in as I wait for the players to come off the pitch and then follow them in.

Matty Clarkson had recently joined the coaching staff and was learning the ropes, no pun intended as Matty used to box professionally at light heavyweight. I recall going down the tunnel and no one had gone into their changing rooms, everyone was shouting and pushing each other, it was bedlam. I made my way through, trying to get our lads in the changing room. Frank and Matty were having a heated exchange. Jon was trying to usher Frank into their dressing room. I remember looking at Matt and he seemed calm, I’ve seen him angry and seen him box, I was praying that he kept his control. It all went quiet but Frank was still shouting at Matty. Matty brought silence to everyone...’Jon, tell Frank to go in the dressing room and pipe down. I promise you, if he carries on you will need a new assistant manager for the second half!!!’. I remember thinking, please Frank just go in. Frank must have looked into Matty’s eyes, and thought, he is being serious. Frank backed down, went in and we all went into our dressing room, all sorted. Great decision Frank. The two of them shared a pint after the game...it was all forgotten. From that moment I would always encourage Matty to come into the dugout and not to sit with Mike Faulkner on the media benches at the top of the main stand. I don’t have a specific reason, but I always feel safer if I have Chaddy on one side and Matty on the other. I certainly needed their support at Nantwich away, I will save that story for another time…

I’m hoping when the stadium reopens, we can carry on with our design work ‘down the tunnel and beyond’. I have said to Paul Smith that I think we should have a small team that could pool together ideas, I would like key pictures/memories in the main reception including a team photo of this squad. Maybe heading up the stairs before entering the main bar we look to hang more pictures. We will also continue our work in the tunnel. There is more work to do as I want it to look even more spectacular than it does already. Graham, brace yourself, I’m sure I will be asking you for another favour in the future....

Gaffer xx

Stay tuned for next week’s edition.... ‘Part 4 - It’s not all rosy’.


Below - the Tunnel 6 years ago, looking through from the reception towards the pitch: