NGANDU’S RE-WRITING HISTORY!
Rookie boss leads famous cup win – aged 25
JASON Ngandu earned himself a bit of history after guiding Leyton Athletic into the FA Cup preliminary round – now he’s after a place in the record books too!
“I read that I might now be the youngest manager in the cup!” boasted the 25-year-old boss after steering his side to a 3-0 replay victory over Barkingside – their first cup win under their new name.
“It was my first FA Cup match so I am still undefeated; there are not many managers who can say they are undefeated in the FA Cup!” he joked.
Ngandu has built a squad full of talented players, who like their manager, have many years in the game still ahead of them
“We had eight teenagers in the squad on Wednesday and our current oldest player is just 23,” the boss added. “Our plan is to develop the players and help them progress to a higher level.”
The young coach’s journey into management is an interesting tale and is testament to his passion and commitment for the game.
“It all started when I was 19 years old and West Ham took me on as a trainee coach,” he explains. “I had been there for about 18 months when I was offered a great chance to become head of recruitment at Dagenham & Redbridge.
“It was an incredible experience and I made a lot of friends there.
“I had to let go of a few things to work at Dagenham because my schedule was getting extremely hectic. I was playing football semi professionally, was doing athletics competitively and was studying sports journalism at university.”
“I wanted to continue university so combined my final year with my first season at Dagenham.”
After leaving the Daggers in 2016, Ngandu made a brief return to playing before being struck down with injury.
“I had always been pretty injury prone and when I picked up another injury soon after returning I began to think about other options.
Inspiration
“A friend from Dagenham, Marc Farrell was offered the manager’s job at Wadham Lodge (renamed Leyton Athletic this summer) and I came to help him.
“After a few months Marc decided to move on and I was suddenly offered the job. It was an opportu- nity that I just couldn’t turn down.”
Ngandu admits to being slightly daunted at first but explains how he took inspiration from his father.
“Some of the players in the dressing room are older than me so the first team talk I gave was very nerve wracking!
“My Dad used to preach in front of thousands of people though and after thinking about that I soon realised that speaking in front of a group of players wasn’t so bad!”
Ngandu’s enthusiasm for coaching is clear and with a headstart, he could be a name to remember.