‘I THOUGHT MY WANDERERS CALL WAS JUST A WIND-UP!’
KEVIN Willetts is the only man to win Cheltenham Town’s Player of the Year award three times.
What makes this feat even more remarkable is that he spent the vast majority of his 381 appearances for the Robins playing out of position.
It is therefore perhaps no surprise that he enjoyed a resurgence late in his career at Kidderminster Harriers when he was finally used in his favoured role.
Willetts’ Football League chance never came, despite being linked with the likes of Bristol Rovers and Swindon Town. But his reputation as one of the best outside the top four divisions was confirmed by his selection for the England semi-professional squad and the Middlesex Wanderers.
Gloucester-born Willetts arrived at Cheltenham ahead of their first season at Conference level, following a Southern League title win in 1984/85 under boss John Murphy, now a director at Whaddon Road.
Willetts had been with local clubs Robinswood and Longlevens as a teenager, spending a week on trial at Burnley at 13 before being told he was too small to make the grade. He enjoyed a successful season in the Gloucestershire County League with Sharpness before earning his chance at Cheltenham.
“I played under Bob Etheridge, formerly of Bristol City, at Longlevens and he always talked about sending me to have a go in the youth team at Cheltenham,” Willetts said. “Nobody wanted to take a chance on me because I was only about 5ft when I was 15.
“A carload of us from Gloucester ended up joining Sharpness and it all kicked off when Pat Casey took over. We had a lot of good players including Doug Foxwell, Chris Gardner and John Turner, who captained Forest Green at Wembley in the FA Vase final.”
Willetts joined Cheltenham for pre-season 1985, but he quickly returned to Sharpness, who had by this time climbed into the Hellenic League.
“I remember Cheltenham’s changing room being very tight-knit and it was hard to break in,” he said. “There were a few whispers that the club shouldn’t be signing players like me who hadn’t played in the League, so it was daunting and I went back where I was comfortable.”
He returned to Cheltenham in October, but competition remained fierce in midfield, with the likes of Brian Hughes and Steve Brooks established.Willetts scored at both ends on his debut in a 3-3 draw with Wycombe, but he admitted his performances were “rubbish” in his debut year.
Honours
His big break came in November 1986, with regular left-back Kevin Baddeley struggling with injury and he went on to claim the first of his three Supporters’ and Players’ Player of the Year awards that season.
“I remember Murph telling me in the changing room just before a home game against Enfield that I was playing left-back,” Willetts said.
“They had won the title the year before and were absolutely flying, but we won 2-0 and while I hated playing there, that’s where I stayed.” Murphy resigned in October 1988 after a 3-0 FA Cup defeat by rivals Gloucester City and during a caretaker spell in charge for club record goalscorer Dave Lewis, Willetts was used in midfield. But after Jim Barron was appointed as the club’s new permanent boss, he swiftly returned to full-back.
“I came to terms with the fact that although I was a right-footed midfielder, I could play the position well,” he said. “I must have been doing something right because individual awards and representative honours started to come my way.”
Cheltenham turned down a £15,000 approach from Kidderminster for Willetts’ signature in 1989 and several more years passed before Harriers boss Graham Allner got his man.
Willetts took over the captaincy under Barron, retaining the armband for the duration of his stay and he remembers the buzz created by the arrival of ex-Everton and Aston Villa star Andy Gray in 1989.
“I remember when Jim walked in with Andy and we all thought he was having a laugh,” Willetts said.
“But he threw his bag down, got changed and trained with us; we couldn’t believe he was actually going to sign.
“He was only 33 and he’d just left Rangers, but there were no airs and graces about him and he was brilliant for us, even if it took him a while to score. He wasn’t afraid to rip into the lads if he didn’t think they were doing things properly.”
Gray’s debut was a goalless draw at home to Fisher Athletic, who were under the management of Malcolm Allison for the first time, on the opening day of 1989/90.
“We had a home game against Darlington and lost 1-0; that was our big chance because we were right up there, but we fell away and ended mid-table,” Willetts said. “Andy left after we were knocked out of the FA Trophy by Kingstonian, which was the night of the worst penalty I’ve ever seen, from Ray Baverstock, who kicked the ground and it just trickled to the keeper. I started taking them after that.”
Willetts was reliable from the spot, only missing once, and his performances remained consistent.
He was at home one summer evening in
1990 when the telephone rang and after answering, Willetts was convinced his teammates were playing a prank. “It was someone pertaining to be Ted Croker, secretary of the FA,” Willetts said.
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