2433: Kettering: What are Paul Gasco
by : Hugh Larkin
The news that Paul Gascoigne has stepped into the manager’s chair at Kettering had been trailed extensively in the media but it still has a slightly surreal feel to it. Then again, this is a place where the former world star is more likely to feel at home than the wilds of China (where he went briefly) and an amateur set up on the Algarve (didn’t happen thankfully).
There’s no reason why managers starting out in non-league shouldn’t rise to the top. Martin O’Neill is the latest classic example, having begun at Wycombe, then outside the Football League. Such luminaries as Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough began their stellar careers at East Stirling and Hartlepool (though these were League clubs-just) and Jock Stein began in the humble surroundings of Aberdare.
The world Gascoigne is entering has changed greatly in the past 15 years. Since the creation of the Conference and granting of promotion to the League there has been a gradual move to full-time professionalism and so the Geordie playmaker should at least be able to ward off the problems that could afflict him if he has too much time on his hands.
Gazza still enjoys huge goodwill among the football community and on his rounds in the lower leagues he will meet many former colleagues and opponents who are themselves making their way in management. His name should be able to ensure top quality players are interested in coming to Northamptonshire.
Kettering Town are now in Conference North, the second tier of non-league soccer, although there have been times when the club has been one of the premier sides outside the Football League. They were members of the Conference at its creation in 1979 (then the Alliance) and only lost that slot in 2001; in the last 3 seasons they won the place back then lost it again. At the moment they sit 5th in the Conference North.
In the mid-80s especially, the club were one of the elite non-league sides; though they never won the Conference they consistently finished in the top 5 and were runners-up three times, the last only 6 years ago. They are one of those clubs that suffered from the absence of an automatic route to the League when they were at their peak and inevitably this has had a sapping effect on a club.
Like most things in football, money is the critical factor. A glance at the 30 highest attendance figures for Conference games shows Kettering’s name to be absent. The list consists purely of clubs that are currently in the Football League or who have at least been there. The Poppies have not been able to compete with the sort of crowds Yeovil, Doncaster, Halifax and the bitter rivals Rushden, were able to draw in.
Rushden remain an example of what can be done if a non-league club gets a sudden injection of funding and build a structure and leadership to utilise it. If the consortium can inject funding then Kettering may well be able to regain their former status and crowds could push up well past the 1,000 the Poppies get now.
On the down side, Conference North will be an extremely difficult league to get out of as there is only one automatic promotion slot and already the unbeaten leaders Northwich Victoria have established a 12 point lead over Gascoigne’s new squad. The current odds have Kettering at 14/1 to win the title, which seems a fair assessment.
Many people have jumped in to say that there’s no guarantee that Paul Gascoigne will succeed at Rockingham Road just because of his status but that surely misses the point. If the former England star is ever to have a management career he needs to prove himself and this is a place to do it.
The Poppies are by no means certain to win the division but neither are they a hopeless case. The town has supported a team that nearly achieved League football before and if some momentum can be produced this might be Gazza’s chance to shine again and what a story that would make.
Hugh Larkin
28 October 2005
