‘Man of the future’ back home after Scandinavian adventure...
CITY-BORN BURCHNALL IS NEW BOSS AT NOTTS COUNTY AFTER SPELLS IN NORWAY AND SWEDEN
LEICESTER-BORN manager Ian Burchnall has taken the reins at Notts County after an eight-year journey in Scandinavia, writes Guðmundur Ásgeirsson.
The 38-year-old was appointed as head coach by the Magpies yesterday, tasked with taking the club back into the Football League.
It is the latest job on a unique path into management for Burchnall, whose coaching career started in his early 20s while he was studying sports science at the University of Leeds.
He said: “I needed a job to get some money to pay my student bills.
“I contacted Leeds United and got a job in football in the community.
“Nothing big; coaching in primary schools, basic grassroots coaching. I enjoyed the process as I love football, and I’ve always wanted to be involved in football.
“It’s hard when you are a grassroots football coach to make a living out of it.
“I said, ‘I’m going to give it a few years to see if I can pay the bills by taking every coaching job I possibly can.’ I was never comfortable; if I wasn’t going to work hard, I wouldn’t make a living out of it.”
Burchnall worked hard in that department and managed to get a place working in the youth academy at Leeds United.
He was there for four years before moving to Bradford City’s academy.
He also worked at the University of Leeds as a head coach, and there he met former Leeds and Leicester City striker Brian Deane.
“I knew I had to do something different,” Burchnall said.
“I had been in academy football for seven or eight years.
“I wanted to be pushed to a higher level and see if I could challenge myself. I was close with Brian Deane, and he helped me with coaching the university when he was doing his badges.”
Deane had a great playing career, while Burchnall was a more experienced coach.
“I think we complemented each other quite well.”
The pair went to Norway and took charge of Sarpsborg.
With Deane and Burchnall at the helm, the club managed to keep its place in the top division of Norway.
After two years in charge, Deane decided to go back to England while Burchnall stayed in Norway.
He then went to Viking – another club in Norway – where he was an assistant manager.
He became Viking’s first team manager in 2016 and held that position for a year.
In 2018, he was hired as the successor to Graham Potter at Ostersunds in Sweden where, in his first season, he was one point and one place away from equalling the club record set under Potter, now manager at Brighton.
Burchnall stepped down from that job last year.
At both Viking and Ostersunds, he was very popular with the fans and at both clubs there were parties thrown in his honour when he left.
Burchnall had been on a break since he left Ostersunds but is now back in management in his first job in England.
Before he was appointed at Meadow Lane, he said: “I left (Ostersunds) for personal reasons to relocate the family back to England.
“We’ve been on the road for eight years around Scandinavia. We felt it was time to put a base in England. The first priority was to do that.
“Other than that, I’ve been talking to clubs, networking with different coaches and reflecting on my journey.
“It’s been quite nice to have a break, but I am at that point where I’ve done everything I need to do, and now I need to start working again. “
Burchnall held positive talks with the Icelandic FA about taking on the national team job.
Gudni Bergsson, the Icelandic FA chief, described Burchnall as “the man of the future” but the job went to Arnar Vidarsson and Eidur Gudjohnsen.
About the Iceland job, Burchnall said: “In my eyes, and certainly in England, the Icelandic national team has got quite a status after a certain game a couple of years ago.
“It’s a high profile job. I put my CV in and got a positive response from Gudni.
“We spoke for a long while, and I was impressed with Gudni and the federation’s vision.
“I was keen to be a part of that, but I think it’s a good decision to promote Arnar and Eidur from the U21s.
“It was nice to be considered, and I was flattered. I enjoyed my talks with them. Who knows if, further down the road, I’ll get more experience and have another go if it comes up again?”
The time spent in Scandinavia has given Burchnall some excellent experience for his next step at Notts County, who will hope this “man of the future” can take the world’s oldest professional club back to where they feel they belong.