FRESHER THAN THE AVERAGE COACH At the age of 45, Jamie Clapham is heading back to school. Well, uni.

Ex- pro Jamie Clapham is in at Loughborough – but only allowed one promotion

The former Ipswich left- back isn’t awakening his inner fresher to sign up for a course, though. Instead, he’ll be putting them through their paces after taking the head coach role at Loughborough University FC.

That means Clapham, the assistant head coach at Leeds as recently as 2018, will guide a team of students in the snappily named United Counties League Premier Division North next season – some five promotions below the Football League.

Well, technically. The Loughborough job is one of the oddest in English football, and not only because of the age difference between the seasoned non- leaguers they face on the pitch.

The Leicestershire outfit also have to juggle term times, a gruelling BUCS ( British Universities & Colleges Sport) competition, and are prevented from earning promotion beyond the eighth tier due to an FA rule introduced after Team Bath went up to the Conference South in 2008 ( then folded a year on).

But far from being a fall from grace, ex- defender Clapham is excited by his new challenge, with Loughborough’s state- of- the- art training facilities the envy of clubs much higher up the food chain. In fact, Clapham was worried that the Scholars wouldn’t consider him because his predecessors had been former students and lecturers.

“It was a question for the university if they wanted to go down the same academic route again, or if they wanted to go in a different direction – and fortunately for me, they did,” Clapham tells FFT. “The programme itself has developed quite rapidly, going from struggling a little bit to where it is now. The facilities have improved as they’ve come on, and the university is steeped in tradition of elite performance. It’s inspirational to be around the place – there are Olympians and Paralympians training here. There’s all sorts going on.”

Despite limited scope for climbing English football’s ladder, Clapham says it’s the development of players that’s most important to him.

“What you want most is players who are coachable, want to learn and who are willing to put in the hard yards to do that – it doesn’t matter what level [ you’re playing at],” he explains. “Ultimately, a lot of these players at Loughborough have been in the football system somewhere before. They’ve all got great technical abilities and are competent. What we’ll offer them are the facilities to improve, while our link- ups with the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea – plus the other contacts we’ve got – will give them exposure. That’s potentially huge for getting them back into the programme somewhere, if that’s what they desire.”

It’s a well- trodden path – several former Loughborough students have reached the Football League, like new Bolton signing Dapo Afolayan, Bristol Rovers defender George Williams and ex- Coventry forward Robbie Simpson.

But before he gets to grips with helping the new intake move back into the pro game, has he decided if he’ll be going by ‘ Mr Clapham’ now?

“As long as it’s not derogatory, I really don’t mind,” he laughs. “It’s not something I’ve thought about, but I’m sure there’ll be times I’ll be their best mate and others when I’ll be the worst person on Earth.”

Some things in football just don’t change, whatever the level.

THE LOUGHBOROUGH JOB IS ONE OF THE ODDEST IN ENGLISH FOOTBALL