We’ve teamed up with the lads behind Pitch Up Events to bring you the Pitch Up Podcast – A podcast sharing the extraordinary stories of extraordinary people in Cumbria, the perfect listen for your morning commute or down time.
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This week on the Pitch Up Pod’, hosts James Bonner and James Howden crack with Barrow AFC manager Pete Wild and explore everything from the ins and outs of his career to his famous FA Cup win and the behind the scenes of life at the Barrow club.
Pete, 36, was born and raised in Oldham where he had a working class upbringing helping and working for his parents who ran and owned pubs.
As a youngster he quickly became football mad and fondly recalls owning sticker books, annuals and watching matches on TV as well as being a causal player.
But at 16, Pete said he realised that he wasn’t good enough to play professionally, which set him off on a journey of figuring out how he would stay in the world of football.
He decided to start working for his coaching badges at 18 and worked several jobs to support himself whilst looking to land his first coaching job.
Eventually, he managed to begin working full-time in sport at around the age of 23 where he began working for his local council coaching children in football and in the background, he started a part time role coaching Academy players at Oldham.
Little did Pete know he would walk in as an Under-12s coach and walk out as manager of the first team 12 years later.
The 36-year-old goes on to chat about the importance of hard work, taking set backs and building determination and grit as well as the philosophies he has aimed to instil in all the players he has worked with.
“We always say we don’t want the best players, we want the best lads, because when there’s adversity, the best lads will dig you out of it and the best players won’t.”
He discusses his journey of becoming Academy manager at Oldham Athletic AFC, leading the U18s and youth development phase players and talks about how he landed his role as head coach of Oldham Athletic AFC in 2019.
The trio also discuss the sense of community football creates and how sport clubs provide more than just sport by helping youngsters develop vital social skills.
Pete expresses worries about the world becoming more introverted with the rise of social media and its resulting impact on sports and football clubs.
“That sense of belonging sport clubs bring is massive and they’re dying out. Everybody is becoming an introvert, we’ve got social media, everything on telly, your Xbox or whatever you’ve got at home, sports clubs are dying out and it’s such a shame.”
For young players looking to go pro, Pete offers gold dust advice about how to stand out from the crowd, the importance of finding a mentor to support you through life and knowing when to leave work at work to make the most of down time.
The trio go on to talk about Pete’s fairytale FA Cup victory over Premier League opponents Fulham FC which led him to feature on Match of the Day and be interviewed by rooms of over 20 journalists.
He talks listeners through the full-on week build up to landing the match and the first conversation he had with the first team when he became their new manager.
“If someone said to me you only get one week in football and that’s it, I would have took that week.”
Pete also talks with the James’ about criticism on social media while working in the public eye as well as being recognised in the street as a manager.
Moving on to discuss how he came to be manager at Barrow AFC, Pete explains what it is like to ‘switch jobs’ as a football manager and the brutal industry of coaching.
After eight offers to manage big clubs last year, Pete said he wanted a challenge and ended up signing with Barrow.
He talks about what, in his opinion, makes Barrow such a good club and what he likes about the team, the town and the fans.
“I think from what the owners have presented to me in the past 10 weeks and soon to the public in next 12 months – this is a forward thinking club that is really on the crest of a wave that is driving it in a direction that Barrow fans could have only dreamed of 18 to 24 months ago.”
He explains the League’s demands and the team’s focus on getting more experience and goals as well as the process of how players are found and brought in.
Pete also sheds light on the ‘Barrow Index’ – a data driven tool used to find the best possible players available based on what a Barrow player looks like and how just one poor reference from a manager can make or break a player.
He also shares some inside information on good, bad and funny players and how he has learnt to keep them on track and deal with trouble makers – and if you’re wanting names, you’ll have to give the pod’ a listen.
Wrapping up this week’s episode, the trio talk about Pete’s future plans for himself and Barrow AFC before signing off for another week.
