BIRCH WAS PURE ENTERTAINMENT!
THE GAFFER’S GREATEST GAFFER WITH PAUL COLLICUTT
WHO inspires the inspirations in the ever-changing world of football? Which traits stand the test of time?
In the latest in our series, we pick the brains of ex-Cheltenham Town defender Paul Collicutt, the boss who guided his home village Bishop’s Cleeve to the Hellenic League title last season.
Collicutt was at Bristol City as a boy and turned professional at Swindon Town after a stint with Cheltenham, then in Non-League.
From there he joined Trowbridge Town and thrived under his greatest gaffer, Leicester City legend and ambassador Alan Birchenall who defied convention by attracting star turns to Wiltshire.
Collicutt’s four years there included promotion to Non-League’s top flight and he had more success with Cheltenham followed by stints with Gloucester City, Forest Green Rovers and Newport County.
He managed Cleeve to promotion to the Southern League in 2006. Having returned in 2020, his current crop sealed last season’s championship in style, beating Shrivenham 11-2 in a match that they only needed to draw to guarantee top spot.
His story features what might have been at West Ham and a pop star shipping players to Kettering in a Rolls Royce...
WHO WAS YOUR GREATEST GAFFER AND WHY?
Alan Birchenall was my manager at Trowbridge and was like a breath of fresh air when he took over.
He was an entertainer on and off the park, he had a few things up his sleeve. We never trained, we met for pre-season and had two or three sessions but then we never trained again all through the season.
This was in the Gola League, now the National League, and to stay up in the way we did was an absolute miracle with the teams we came across week-in, weekout.
WHAT IS YOUR TOP MEMORY OF WORKING WITH ALAN?
We turned up at Kettering for the first game of the season. I looked around the changing room and we only had seven or eight players.
I was thinking ‘what on earth is going on?’ and went out to get some fresh air where
I saw Birch turn up in a very smart car. If I remember correctly I think it was a Rolls Royce and the lad driving it was the lead singer of Showaddywaddy.
The doors opened and out came George Armstrong, who played more than 600 times for Arsenal, Jon Sammels who was at Leicester for donkey’s years, Steve Kember from Crystal Palace and Leicester, and of course Birch.
Another one I remember is playing at Corby Town. I was playing full-back and having a pretty good season but for the first and last time in my career I got sent off.
After the game I was apologising to the lads and Birch pulled me to one side. “Colly, you’ve really f ***** up today,” he said. I went to apologise and he stopped me and told me West Ham had been there to watch me. Talk about gobsmacked!
HOW HAS ALAN INFLUENCED YOUR STYLE OF MANAGEMENT?
He was pretty laid back with things but hated losing, two things I share with him. The one thing he taught me was that there are good ways and bad ways of losing. He always encouraged me to play with a smile on my face and I probably had my best stint under him. He just wanted to play entertaining football and that meant scoring goals, a philosophy that stuck with me.
People pay good money to watch good football, they want to be entertained. As an ex-defender, yes, I take a lot of pride in keeping clean sheets and that has to be a priority but people pay their money – a lot of money the higher up you go – to enjoy watching.
I am not a lover of playing one up front. If you want to win you typically have to go with two in my opinion.
I love playing with wingers. There is no better sight than seeing one fly down the side and clip in a ball the forward gets on the end of.
ANY OTHER INFLUENCES?
The other one that springs to mind is John Murphy from Cheltenham Town.
He was a bit different to Birch, he was very much into discipline. When you put the two together, you have good bits to take from both.
I would like to think the lads who have played for me over the years would say I have looked after them. That’s the way it should be.
LAST SEASON SAW YOU GUIDE BISHOP’S CLEEVE TO PROMOTION TO THE SOUTHERN LEAGUE FOR A SECOND TIME – HOW ARE PREPARATIONS GOING?
We are far better prepared this time. It is going to be difficult, we know that, but if the lads continue to play the way they did last season you never know what we might achieve.
If my lads can turn up and match the increased fitness levels that you see at this level, we might surprise a few teams.
The club is in a good position to take this step now and that speaks volumes for everyone involved. The chairman Dave Walker has put so much effort into getting the new 3G pitch – it took him four or five years of constant paperwork and meetings – so we are determined to give it our best shot.
If I can add three or four players to the squad, I would like to think that we should be more than competitive.