Pike in the hunt to land a big fish
GOSPORT BOSS UP FOR GIANTKILLING
THE tale of Neil Warnock interrupting Mark Clattenburg’s drive to watch Ed Sheeran is one that amused the manager of Gosport Borough. Life is different in the Conference South, which is why Alex Pike loves it so much.
Pike is the policeman-turned-manager of Gosport, who tomorrow will make Colchester United ‘giants’ for a day in the FA Cup first round proper. ‘We’re not intimidated but any club who play in League One look big to us,’ Pike said.
Pike’s is a world of £100-a-week footballers, a place where a Gosport fan cuts his hedges, his assistant manager does the guttering, a former player did his wiring and referees can — unlike Clattenburg — take a phone call from a manager without getting in trouble.
‘That Warnock story was funny,’ said Pike, 53. ‘One of the referees at our level — used to be a player of mine, actually — runs a plastering business. He did the walls in our house. Did a good job.
‘Come to think of it, being a manager has been great in that sense. Over the years I have had a brickie, roofers, scaffolders, IT consultants, bankers.
‘ Mick Catlin, my assistant manager, runs a guttering company. He has done my gutters. It’s a community club and within it we help each other out. Quite nice, that.
‘A fan did my gardening the other week as well. We have these big hedges and it was a two-day job. He stayed the night, watched the FA Cup draw with me and finished up the next morning.’
It was that draw, featuring Gosport in the first round proper for the only time since their formation in 1944, that had this old navy town looking out to sea.
As recently as seven years ago they were in the ninth tier, but Pike’s arrival in 2005 has led to three promotions. They made it to Wembley last season, losing the FA Trophy final to Cambridge United, and will go second in the league if they win their two games in hand.
A £125,000 playing surface was recently laid at the 1,000-seat Privett Park and their opinionated manager (right) has been known to have the occasional touchline row. He’s previously been labelled ‘the Jose Mourinho of non-League football’ and admits to channelling the spirit of Brian Clough.
‘ When we go to Nottingham I stand by his statue and give him a hug and have a little whisper in his ear,’ said Pike, who was part of the police’s serious crime unit but left in 1991 after a car crash nearly paralysed him. ‘In the last four seasons it’s come true and this year I asked him to get us to the third round.’
To pull it off Pike will rely on a squad that includes a hairdresser in midfielder Adam Wilde, a waiter in goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore and Dan Woodward, a scaffolder. Weekly wages vary between £100 and £300 per player. But there is pedigree. One of the strikers, Matt Paterson, was player of the year in Southampton’s famed academy in 2008 and once lived with Gareth Bale.
‘All the young players were living together in a big lodge,’ Paterson said. ‘Gareth was really funny, a nice guy. He used to be really good on FIFA — now his face is on the box, which is a bit mad.’
The 25-year-old made the Southampton first team and played almost 100 Football League games across numerous loan spells. He was sent off in a 2009 FA Cup tie against Manchester United for fouling Nemanja Vidic. ‘Hopefully this goes a bit better,’ he said. So far his season has yielded 13 goals in 16 games.
‘Coming down to this level has made me love football again. I couldn’t be happier for Gareth, Nathan Dyer, Adam Lallana and other guys who were coming through at Southampton at that time.
‘For me, I’m happy. I am playing, scoring goals and have a Cup match to look forward to. If I do well, maybe I’ll get another chance at a higher level. Let’s see. It’s the FA Cup and everyone has a dream.’