74 November 2020 FourFourTwo
he press room was heaving
with reporters.
Spilling into the walkways
and leaning on the floor to
take notes, journalists jostled for
position, trying to find a snug spot
totell their story.
Kettering vs Droylsden was the
hottest ticket in town, but it was
the home dugout – rather than
the pitch – that was attracting
allof the interest. Inside it was
Paul Gascoigne, 38 years old and
forever the headline maker. This
time, he was diverting a spotlight
tothe sixth tier as the Conference
North’s newest boss.
The Poppies, a part-time outfit
getting sub-1,000 crowds, were
now the centre of attention. More
than 2,000 supporters queued to
see Gazza take his bow, while the
nation’s press descended on the
Northamptonshire market town for a new
chapter in the life of English football’s most
colourful character.
“I lived in a flat that was walking distance
from Rockingham Road,” says defender Craig
McIlwain, who was playing for the club when
Gascoigne grabbed the reins in October 2005.
“Ordinarily I’d walk to the ground and rarely
encounter anybody, but once Gazza arrived
there were national press vehicles and vans
all around the stadium. That was an indicator
of how things would change while Gazza was
in charge. It was a crazy time.”
STRICTLY SILLY SEASON
The circus had rolled into town a couple of
days earlier when a dapper Gascoigne, suited
and booted in open-collared ensemble, was
officially unveiled as the Poppies’ boss.
The only anomaly in the former Newcastle,
Spurs and Rangers midfielder’s smart new
appearance was a large bandage on his neck,
protecting a scar from surgery on vertebrae
damaged while training for the BBC’s Strictly
Ice Dancing the previous winter.
Kettering represented Gazza’s second foray
into management, coming just months after
a stint at Algarve United in Portugal’s lower
leagues had failed to take off.
But despite some cynical bookies offering
short odds on his stop in the East Midlands
being similarly brief, more excitable coverage
focused on his appointment inspiring Town –
formed in 1872, making them one of English
football’s oldest clubs – to reach the Football
League for the first time in their history.
Gascoigne’s arrival was the brainchild of
ambitious new owner Imraan Ladak, a Spurs
fan who believed the recipe for escaping the
clutches of non-league was to lure big names
to Rockingham Road. His new boss would be
joined by ex-Arsenal midfielder Paul Davis as
assistant manager, while gossip of former
Premier League players pulling on Kettering’s
red shirt ran amok.
“There were rumours that Gazza was going
to make high-profile signings,” explains Dave
Singh, a lifelong Poppies fan of half a century.
“Les Ferdinand and Teddy Sheringham were
initially mentioned, plus other ex-Spurs and
Newcastle players. Because Gazza had been
appointed as manager, we didn’t disbelieve
that those names were coming to Kettering.
If they’d have said Kettering would be in the
third tier in five or 10 years’ time, we wouldn’t
have disbelieved that either, because Gazza
was the manager.”
To begin with, though, Gascoigne would be
working with the players he had inherited.
While a few former professionals graced the
Kettering ranks, most were career semi-pros
who combined playing on a Saturday with
jobs away from the pitch. Hardly any were
used to coming across people with the global
profile their new gaffer had, which provided
some early challenges. Without the chance
to get players in for training before his first
game against Droylsden, Gascoigne decided
to call the squad instead.
“It was a weeknight and Gazza had started
to phone several players, introducing himself
to the team,” reveals Kettering stalwart Brett
Solkhon. “Back then in non-league you had
some real characters, and the first thing you
thought was, ‘This is definitely a wind-up’. He
was saying, ‘Seriously, this is Paul Gascoigne’.
Players were telling him to get lost or using
other unsavoury terms. Paul Davis then had
to phone around because none of the players
could believe it was Gazza on the other end
of the line. They had to be introduced through
Davis before putting Gazza on.”Solkhon,whois stillatKetteringtodayand
approaching 600 appearances, was among
the players with full-time experience, having
turned out for Rushden & Diamonds in the
Football League as a 20-year-old. So, when
Gascoigne and Davis set about instilling high
standards, shaking up training sessions and
bandying around the idea of taking the club
professional, Solkhon was better prepared
than most of the squad.
After enjoying a 1-0 victory over Droylsden
in his first game, Gazza used the next seven
days to show he really meant business. He
wanted to make his players feel loved and
protected, imparting his wisdom about how
to cope if they were followed into a nightclub
or pictured with a woman – hardly Kettering
Evening Telegraph fodder. The England icon
also told his players he would be introducing
pre-match meals to increase the feeling of
togetherness among the team, and brought
a culinary experience he had gleaned from
Serie A during his three-year spell with Lazio.
“Gazza would have done anything for us,”
defender Solkhon tells FourFourTwo. “After“HE STARTED PHOnInG PLAYERS,
BUT THEY ALL THOUGHT IT WAS
A WInD-UP SO SAID, ‘GET LOST’”
KETTERIn G
TOWnAbove Journalists
jam in as Kettering
greets Gazza; fans
flock to watch his
first game in charge
Below “You’ll never
drive a Ferrari with
finishing like that!”