Journeyman with a mission to put England on top of world
Paul Simpson is not exactly Alf Ramsey but he has steered his under 20 side to today’s World Cup final
It has been an arduous and painful 51 years since England last conquered world football, so Paul Simpson is acutely aware of today’s significance as the under-20s stand on the brink of glory. Simpson was less than a week old when Bobby Moore held the Jules Rimet trophy aloft in 1966 and he is preparing for the biggest moment of his nomadic managerial career this weekend as manager of this level’s Young Lions.
England’s burgeoning group face Venezuela in the World Cup final with the opportunity to write their names into history following their 3-1 win over Italy in Thursday’s semi-final.
Simpson is the unlikely mastermind behind England’s stirring campaign, a journeyman winger with more than 800 games to his name who lists Carlisle, Stockport and Northwich Victoria among the clubs on his managerial CV.
History and expectation hang heavily on any player to pull on the famous white jersey but optimism is building of a rare, and sorely needed, trophy.
“It will be wonderful if we can win something and get that monkey off our back,” said Simpson. “It you look back over the years, and the record of the under-20s, it has not been something to shout about. But whatever you do in your life, nothing can change the way you feel about getting to a World Cup final.
“Before I even joined the FA I was always fanatical about our country and desperate for England do well. It wouldn’t matter where I had been before. It is just an amazing feeling to be there.”
Simpson has only been in charge of the under-20s since February, after joining the Football Association in October last year as a national specialist coach. Yet his reputation as a coach has been high within the game for some time, most recently in spells working alongside Steve McClaren at Derby and Newcastle. He has held a Uefa Pro-licence for over a decade and is also the proud owner of a certificate in applied management, achieved at Warwickshire University’s business school.
This is the moment he has been waiting for. He has undoubtedly benefited from an emerging group of talent, including Liverpool’s new signing Dominic Solanke, Everton winger Ademola Lookman and captain Lewis Cook, with England playing an attractive brand of attacking football. The incentive for these players to make an impression on their managers at club level is huge.
But Simpson’s part in this story cannot be underestimated, in what has been a capricious route to Sunday’s final in South Korea for the 50-yearold Cumbrian.
“You probably learn more when you do your early coaching badges because the first group I took were undereights, nines and 10s at Blackburn Rovers, and what that teaches you is just to be organised,” he said.
“On the managerial side, working at places like Rochdale, Shrewsbury and Preston, you have to be able to do everything. It’s also about learning how to treat people. There can’t just be one set of rules and everybody has to abide by it. There are simple guidelines that everyone has to have, and that’s what I am a real stickler for – being respectful, punctual, disciplined, and all those things.”
Simpson and England will face a significant test against Venezuela, however, with their opponents having conceded only two goals in the tournament.
But the stirring comeback against Italy in the semi-finals from a goal down has generated a wave of optimism in the England camp. On the same day another junior side will play in the final of the Toulon Tournament so, perhaps, the future is looking bright.
That is not lost on Gareth Southgate, England’s head coach. “It’s brilliant for youth development in our country, because everybody knocks it. Everyone says we don’t have good youth development, and people search the world to bring people in when players are there under their noses,” he said. “I know a lot of that team from the under-17s, and the other boys who have come in have lifted them to another level. There’s a lot of talent. Hopefully the world will see what is happening there. Our under-17s were minutes away from winning the Europeans as well.
“Our coaching and youth development and young players get knocked, but why shouldn’t young English players be able to achieve?”
By early this afternoon UK time, we will have an answer – and Simpson could have helped write one of the most uplifting stories in English football’s recent history.