mark warburton

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BEES REVIEW
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PICTURES: MARK CHAPMAN,MARK FULLER,
AND THE PRESS ASSOCIATION
THE BIG INTERVIEW:
MARK WARBURTON
Mark Warburton joined Brentford
two years ago, and became the
Club’s first Sporting Director.
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With over 30 years experience of
playing and coaching, he talks to
Bees Review about his role, and
his life in football.
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THE BIG INTERVIEW: MARK WARBURTON
role, not least the Training Ground
at Osterley.
“Agents,” said Mark, in a one word
response.
“Some managers might disagree,
but that’s my honest opinion.
“It wasn’t just the facilities,” said
Mark.
Mark spoke openly about their
first meeting.
“So much time is now taken up
both working with and dealing with
the guys who represent the players
that you need.
“It was the ‘them and us’ between
First Team and The Academy, and it
wasn’t healthy going forward.
“To say that they blight the game,
and should be removed is simply
“I knew we had to change the
short sighted.
facilities, but you can’t do that
overnight, so it was a case of
“They are part and parcel of the
prioritising and focussing on the
modern game, and if anything, their
essential matters.
significance will strengthen in the
seasons ahead.
“Food was a key one, and to make
sure that was right.
“In addition to agents, the intensity
and quality of the work on the
“You cannot talk of a culture of
training pitch has increased
excellence, if the guys are going off dramatically.
to MacDonald’s on the way home.”
“If you look at what a manager does
“We have first class Medical and
now compared to a few years ago,
Sports Science staff who could
the workload truly is significantly
not contemplate undertaking their different.
roles if the players were not suitably
fed and watered.
“When I was a young apprentice at
Leicester City, I’m sure the coach
“So, it was getting that right, Ose
would write his session on the back
[Aibangee, Academy Director]
of a fag packet two minutes before
has done a fantastic job for the
they stepped out.
Category Two status, but again, that
couldn’t happen overnight, you have “The quality of delivery is far, far
to plan and prioritise.
higher, I think the education, and
development of the staff is far
“The Board, and Matthew Benham, better, and that is reflected in the
have been incredibly supportive and quality of work that they deliver.
without such backing, none of the
changes would have been possible. “I think the all-round preparation
for match day performance is far
“So yes, the Training Ground has
more focussed and intense, and
really changed, but there’s so much hopefully my role alleviates a lot of
more work to be done.”
the burden for individual staff.
“Not in an arrogant way, and I do
not want it to come across in that
manner, but I feel we are gaining
access to a quality of player that
was previously out of the club’s
reach.
“If I’m honest, yes it was awkward,
I enjoyed the coaching of the First
Team, felt I did an OK job; we won
more than we lost, and didn’t have
access to the players we have
now.
“Hopefully, I reassured Uwe at
the meeting that the decision
had been made, and now we’re
moving on.
His mobile phone constantly
buzzes and rings during our 45
minute conversation as agents and
coaches get in touch over a variety
of matters.
summer, with Uwe Rösler being
appointed as Manager.
“My way of tackling the role was
to think, ‘if I was a manager, what
would I want?’,” said Mark.
“Rightly, or wrongly, that’s how
I played it, so when Uwe walked
in, I absolutely believed that our
Medical, Sports Science, Analytical
and Kit Departments were
outstanding, and their competence
would allow Uwe to concentrate
on the training and selecting of the
playing squad.
His programme notes for tonight
outline his frustrations of the
current Academy structure, and
talk about the need to overhaul the
way we bring our players aged 18 to
21 through the system to compete “I always get asked, ‘what is the
with the world’s best.
key aspect of this role’, and I reply
‘get on with the Manager’ because
Given the way England capitulated if there is not a strong relationship,
to an under strength German team it’s never going to work.
at Wembley last Tuesday, that need
is ever pressing.
“Thankfully, Uwe had worked with
a Sporting Director before, and he’s
Mark joined Brentford as Interim
a genuinely nice guy, passionate
First Team Coach in February
about the game.”
2011 as assistant to Nicky Forster,
becoming the Club’s first ever
Uwe revealed in his recently
Sporting Director that same
published autobiography that
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“The first meeting went as well as
it could do in those circumstances,
and we had another one quickly
after.
“Forget football and the roles, I
would get on with Uwe if he was in
a pub, I would talk to him for hours
about the game; I’m proud to call
him a friend, so that makes it so
much easier.
“Professionally, he is very
comfortable in working with a
Sporting Director.
“There are managers up and down
the country filled with trepidation
about a Sporting Director, and
the mistrust is clearly evident,
therefore it is so much more
beneficial to work with someone
who understands the role.
“The relationship is good, we have
a good team in place, and hopefully
we can move forward.”
The priorities for Mark were clear
on assuming the newly created
Certain people within the English
game have a long standing
suspicion of this Sporting Director
role.
A question that you commonly
hear, and I put to Mark, was why
do football clubs need them now,
when the manager did everything
15-20 years ago?
“This morning I met an agent at
Heathrow at 7.30am, another one
appeared for a 9.00am meet, I did
a report on a young player, and
in truth it is the type of work that
Uwe simply cannot fit in to what is
already a manic schedule.
“We have worked hard to develop
contacts and relationships in the
game and in addition, I hope we can
say that we have a decent eye for a
young player.”
For Mark, his introduction to Club
Owner Matthew Benham was
through a third party.
“I met via a mutual friend of ours,
Justin Andrews,” said Mark.
“We were doing a project called
Inside Soccer, where we filmed the
top Academy coaches, as a point of
reference.
“Justin introduced me to Matthew,
and we carried on from there.
“For me, he’s been extremely
supportive, very passionate about
Brentford, obviously a very clever
man, but this is clearly a passion,
it’s not just a fad, and he believes
in this project, so it’s a pleasure to
work with people who believe in
what they are doing.”
His start in professional football
was as an apprentice at Leicester
City, signing for a Brentford
manager.
“My best mate at school was
Neil, who was the son of Frank
McClintock,” said Mark.
“They lived in Winchmore Hill,
and so with Frank’s football
commitments, my parents would
pick up Neil, and would play for the
“I do not think that you can combine school, district, and county team.
both roles and still be confident if
the quality of your work.
“I know it won’t look good in the
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he felt “awkward” in the first
meeting between himself and
Mark, in the knowledge that Mark
had previously applied for the
manager’s role.
“It was at a hotel near Wembley
Stadium and I had been asked by
Club Owner Matthew Benham to
meet with him,” said Mark.
Bees Review sat down with
Brentford’s Sporting Director Mark
Warburton to talk about his career,
and passion, for football in a well
overdue programme interview.
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THE BIG INTERVIEW: MARK WARBURTON
BEES REVIEW
Brentford programme, but the
Queens Park Rangers team that
came second in the First Division
under Dave Sexton, was a joy to
watch.
“Every half term was spent
watching Frank and the team train,
and even now I can reel off Gillard,
Clement, Mancini, Masson, Given,
Thomas, Stan Bowles, Phil Parkes
in goal, because I watched them
being tutored, and that for me
triggered the love of coaching.
“Frank was made manager of
Leicester City; he asked me
to go up there, and I took the
apprenticeship offered.
“My mum saw an advert for a
‘competitive individual, good with
numbers’ – I was lucky, I found
maths easy at school,” said Mark.
“It was whilst working in the
trading room of a bank that
the comparisons between that
environment, and the world of
football, became so obvious.
“The similarities are too numerous
to mention: high pressure,
competitive team environment,
demanding good communication,
with good rewards if you do well.
is the lowest level in terms of
qualifications, and being assisted
by a great guy called Ted Dale,
who’s just been made Senior
National Coach Educator at
The Football Association - an
outstanding coach.
“I loved working with Ted, on levels
one, two, and three, and the UEFA
A licence course, so I was fortunate
to get quickly qualified and learn
from such a superb mentor.
“I thoroughly enjoyed it, and
embraced the many aspects of
working at that level.
“They talk about agents in football,
but there are no agents for the guys “I was getting up for work in the
in the city who in truth earn similar city very early in the morning, and
“I lived in a lodge at Leicester,
salaries.
going straight to Clement Danes
which is still there today; I’m a big
School in Watford, getting home at
supporter of that, it worked.
“Getting up at 4.30am, getting
half past ten.
home at seven or eight in the
“Some say it’s too much, 24/7 in
evening, with phone calls from
“It was tough but I had to work
your face every day, but you got to
overseas through the night was the through the transition period
mix with the pros, team building,
norm in those days.
of getting out of the city, and
the parents knew you were well
Watford asked me to go full time,
cared for.
“It allowed me to play Semi-Pro; I
and that was the move back into
went abroad and worked in North
professional football.”
“That’s important, and a message
Carolina, Chicago, but always
Ose, myself, and the staff push for coaching.
“The time between leaving the
today.
city and going to Watford, I spent
“I was playing pro in Charlotte,
my own money travelling round
“Unfortunately Frank left three
North Carolina, which allowed me Europe, looking at Sporting Lisbon,
months after I signed, Jock Wallace to coach boys, girls, young pros,
Ajax, Valencia, Barcelona, just
came in, and let’s just say he killed so although I was not qualified, I
to go round and look at the best
my love of the game.
had watched Dave Sexton and Don practices.
Howe, all these top, top figures in
“I went from loving every minute of the game as a youngster, so for me “I had a clear idea in my mind what
being a footballer, to hating it.
it was very enjoyable and a fantastic I wanted to do, not in an arrogant
learning experience.”
way, but if my chance came I
“Suffice to say, despite his having
wanted to be prepared for it.
huge success in Scotland with
Mark sought to leave his life in the
Rangers, I found his methods to be city for a career in football again.
“I took the nine to 16s, got on
against everything I enjoyed about
with the management there; we
the game.”
“You get to the age of 40 and think pushed really hard for the Harefield
’am I going to do this full time or
Academy, which was my baby in
Mark left The Foxes and spent
not at all?’,” said Mark
terms of pushing that link forward.
several years playing for Enfield,
who were then a power in non“So it was one of those career/life
“I got a call from Aidy Boothroyd,
league football during the 1980s,
decisions.
and I honestly thought I was going
and with the move to non-league
to be sacked, I thought they were
football, he began a career trading “I knew I had to get myself
cutting costs, and I was gone!
in the City of London.
qualified, I never forget going
However, he asked would I be
on a level one course, which
Academy Manager, a bolt out of
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the blue.
“It was great to work with him, a
passionate man, very knowledge,
but you learn so much from
different individuals like Dick Bate,
a font of knowledge, Malky Mackay
was there, Sean Dyche was the
Youth Team Manager, and Iain
Moody.
“It was great to learn from them,
but Watford had their financial
problems, and paid the price, but it
set the tone for what we do here.
“The nice thing is that Celtic and
Liverpool, other clubs too, are
now copying that model, so from a
personal point of view, that’s quite
pleasing to see.”
Brentford’s new partnership with
Uxbridge High School is part of a
building block towards the Club
replicating what Mark built at
Harefield with Watford.
Mark outlined the priorities to
have an outstanding Academy,
saying that “You absolutely must
secure the best staff, staff with a
holistic approach to the boys, and
their education, an approach that
allows them to achieve on and off
the pitch.
“They always used to comment
on the increased 15 hours contact
time, with the boys training twice
daily.
“However, it is far more than that,
as you observe the boys for ten
hours a day.
ensured they had the support in the
classroom, trained, secured private
tutors, trained some more, and
then transported them home.
“These kids then got home at
seven, homework done, so they
could go and be kids.
“Under the old Academy system,
they were training, getting home
at ten at night, with their siblings
dragged down.
“You see mums and dads
“If they misbehaved, if they were
desperate to get their sons involved
rude, if they failed to complete their in football, and the family unit is
work, they simply did not train.
broken completely because of
Academy football - it can’t be right.
“Repeat it, and they missed the
weekend fixture.
“I am very proud of what was
achieved at Harefield.
“Try your luck for a third time,
and you were suspended from the “The work being undertaken
programme.
at Uxbridge is of paramount
importance for the long term
“Some of these kids are in one
welfare of this Club.
parent families, with no food in the
fridge and siblings to take care of.
“You have got to foster passion
for this club; we want to make an
“We fed them three meals a day,
environment where they don’t want
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THE BIG INTERVIEW: MARK WARBURTON
“That goes for the First Team as
well, if the surroundings are good
enough, the food, gym, support,
they won’t want to leave.
“This is not being dis-loyal, but
simply allows staff to continue
learning and to better understand
the market in which they work.
“This is not peculiar to football,
rather it is common-place in so
many areas of work.
“Uxbridge allows us to get boys in,
make sure the discipline is right,
and hopefully makes them proud to “If you are employed by a local
be part of Brentford.
newspaper on 25k a year and get
approached by a Fleet Street daily
“When they become scholars,
to double your money, are you not
their fitness, technical, and tactical going to speak with them?
levels are high enough to walk
straight in.
“Rest assured, if the team does
well this season, the summer will
“It works, but you just have to
be spent fending off eager suitors
believe in it, and the investment is
for the services of Uwe and his
important.”
staff.
On the subject of creating an
environment that staff or players
do not want to leave, I asked Mark
about the reports last year that he
turned down the Sporting Director
role at West Bromwich Albion.
“Yes, it was a pleasure to meet
and talk with Dan Ashworth and
through our discussions, which
soon became interviews,” said
Mark
“I was very fortunate to be offered
what was a fantastic opportunity.
“However, with the support shown
by Matthew, Uwe, and the staff, I
could not at that time turn my back
on the very special project we have
here at Brentford Football Club.”
On this, Mark referred to the
recent Fans Forum and the
questions asked of Uwe, and
the Wolverhampton Wanderers
vacancy.
“I strongly believe that the more
approaches we have for our staff,
the better we will be doing as a
club”, said Mark.
“I absolutely encourage staff to
meet and discuss such matters
with other clubs.
“The better we do as a team, the
more fighting we will have to do.”
By co-incidence, tonight’s visitors
have a well known radio show host
as a supporter, who recently made
comments, on air and in print,
about Brentford that were neither
accurate, nor welcome.
Mark is only too happy to fight
attempts by outside parties to
destabilise what he and others at
the Club are trying to do.
“We try to go about our business
in a professional and respectful
manner, and you get certain
individuals talk erroneously about
our budget, and it’s damaging,”
said Mark.
“It’s a smokescreen to cover
deficiencies, we don’t tell anyone
what our business is, but it is only
right that we respond when people
make accusations as they have
done recently,” said Mark.
“The comments about our identity,
for me, are scandalous.
“Our Community Sports Trust is
second to none, with two massive
awards over the past few years, the
Community Mark been achieved,
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to leave us.
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only the third English club to gain
such recognition, and to say we
have no identity?
“We work with the local boroughs,
and the already outstanding
programme of Lee Doyle and his
staff is getting stronger by the year.”
Finally, is Brentford ready for
Championship football, on or off the
pitch, either now or in the midterm?
“Had we won promotion, as a club
we would have worked tirelessly
throughout the summer,” said
Mark.
“But we would not have been
inadequately prepared for that
transition.
“I think the playing squad
would have been strengthened
accordingly, and with the networks
we have in place, I don’t think we
would have fallen short.
“We have enough players in our
squad that can more than handle
Championship level football.
“I think we’ve come a long way in
two and a half years, but it’s about
getting the expectation right.
“We want to play creative, attacking
football, in a good manner, which is
mirrored throughout the club.
“We want to develop a style
and pattern of play that is both
attractive to watch and successful.
As with anything in life, it is about
getting the balance right.
“Hopefully, with the support we
have, the quality of staff in place,
the strength of the playing squad
etc we are in good shape to move
forward and achieve our aims and
ambitions.”
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