Austin’s aiming to hang up his boots as Wessex Cup final winner
... and down the line he wants to manage Fareham
Gary Austin has set his sights on one day becoming manager of Fareham Town, the club he has made over 350 appearances for and scored a century of goals.
But the immediate priority is to celebrate his final Creeksiders game ahead of retirement by helping the club lift their first silverware for almost three decades.
Austin admits ‘100 per cent - my mind is made up’ that this Saturday’s Wessex League Cup final against Shaftesbury will be his last outing before hanging up his boots on a permanent basis.
Victory against the Rockies at AFC Portchester’s On-Site Group Stadium will, he remarks, ‘be the icing on the cake’ of a memorable Cams Alders career. It will also be the club’s first trophy since lifting the 1993 Hampshire Senior Cup.
After that, Austin plans to hold talks with manager Pete Stiles regarding his postplaying career.
‘The end goal is to be in management. We’ll sit down next week, have a debrief, see what I can bring to the table and see what they can offer me,’ he told The News.
‘I’ve played under a lot of good managers, they’re all different. I’d try and take bits from each of them.
‘Matt Parr was good at man-managing, Pete Stiles bonds the team well together, Duncan Pratt put on some very good training sessions.
‘Mike Benfield was a bit ruthless. There was a separation between the players and management - you knew he was the boss. Dave Carter, who I played under at Horndean and Moneyfields, he brings a good team bond. He’s the manager and he has good coaches working under him.
‘I believe I could be a manager one day. There’s a lot to learn, but I’m willing to learn. I would love to be manager of Fareham one day.’
Fareham will go into the Wessex League Cup final as underdogs, having finished 38 points behind Shaftesbury in the Premier Division table. They also lost 5-0 at home to the north Dorset club and 4-0 away, though keeper Henry Woodcock was sent off in the latter loss.
‘There’s no denying it, they are really threatening going forward. But Fareham can turn on the style.
‘We had a really good training session on Tuesday, when there’s a final coming up everyone puts in 10 per cent more.
‘It’s been a frustrating season, we have underachieved. Some things haven’t been right. But if we can win the final, it will turn a disappointing season into a positive season.
‘The final is about us, it’s not about them (Shaftesbury). They will probably be favourites but we don’t fear anybody.
‘We drew with (Wessex champions) Hamworthy, we beat Portchester in the semifinal of the Wessex Cup, we beat Jersey Bulls in the FA Vase (on penalties) when they were one of the favourites to win it. We were massive underdogs against them.
‘We went to (then Wessex leaders) Horndean and annihilated them (5-1). I don’t think Shaftesbury will underestimate us.’
Whatever happens in the final, Austin is confident the future looks bright at Cams Alders.
Asked if he could see a Wessex title challenge on the horizon, he said: ‘Off the field, two or three years ago the club was nowhere near it, regards the team and what was in the background.
‘I went to a committee meeting last week - I want to see how the whole club is run - and there are some great people on the committee, all volunteers, willing to give their time.
‘We probably had crowds of 50 or 60 two years ago, all of a sudden we’ve got the highest average gate (272) in the division.
‘We try and play entertaining football. For the neutral, if you pay your money to come and watch us you’d definitely come back.
‘If we were top four, we could be getting 350. I think we’re taking 500/600 to the final - everyone in Fareham is talking about it. We have to try and use that to our advantage, but not hype it up too much - you can lose energy that way. We need to stay grounded.
‘The club’s not the complete package yet, it’s a work in progress. But in the next two or three years, hopefully we will be challenging for the title.’