A PRESENCE ON THE TOUCHLINE

WORDS // RHIAN TILLEY

Assistant Coach Paul Knights has always loved football, whether playing or getting involved on the touchline, so its no surprise he has found a home along side Head Coach Richard Kay here at Southam United. Paul has worked with teams like Stratford AFC, Leamington Hibs, Kenilworth Town and Long Buckby as a coach, physio or committee member and when Kay asked him to join him the staff at Southam United Knights was excited to be part of an exciting team with a friendly and family atmosphere.

Many supporters will be familiar with you from seeing you on the touch line with Rich, but to provide some background, how did you first get involved with the club?

I got involved with Southam when they were planning to restart the team in2019/20 season. Rich asked me to join the set up as kit man & physio. Also my son was a player with the club.

What coaching experience do you bring to Southam United?

Have been the manager of two Sunday teams, Stratford AFC and Kenilworth Town, and after getting to know Rich at Leamington Hibs I began working with him as an assistant and physio when he moved to Long Buckby. I believe I bring different points of views on match days. Winning a cup final with Kenilworth, which was the first trophy the club had won for many years, was special. Also, winning two preliminary rounds in the FA Cup with Long Buckby, the second being

against local rivals, Daventry, who were a higher level, and working with that team were some of my best times in football. Even though we ended up losing in the 3rd preliminary round to a side from London it was a privilege to have been part of a team that played a team of much higher league status and to see that quality and how we reacted to it.

You’ve been in and around the club for a while now, what makes this season, and this group of players, exciting for you?

There is something special with the players we have at the moment. Everyone gets on well with each other and this can be seen in how each player works for each other on the pitch. There is a great atmosphere around the club in general as well. of league matches, due to so much squad turnover and change. From a coaching perspective what has been the underlying improvement up to now that’s leading to the successes we’re seeing on the pitch since the beginning of the season?

There was a major change within the squad at the end of last season with a number of players moving on. The players that were here last season have stepped up and Rich has brought some good, talented players in. Preseason there were a lot of new players who had not played together before, so we knew it would take time and feel that we are now benefiting from that patience, and you can see it with the results on the pitch. And the squad is still learning and will only get better.

and off the pitch. What do you think the hurdles will be? And what are you and Rich doing to prepare the team for that journey on the pitch?

There are exciting times ahead. Firstly with the new take over of the 2019 part of the club and Mike coming in as CEO. Also, we as a management team want to get promoted this season. This is the level that Southam was at before they folded years ago. And hopefully we can get our own bar set up which will bring more revenue into the club.

We’ve just finished up a very busy month full of cup matches. It’s been an interesting time with one automatic advancement, one loss, and one win. What is the feeling in the changing room with the players and staff as to our chances in the cups we remain in?

We have had a successful month in the cups with just the the one upset, which we could have forced a draw. The lads are not afraid of any team and on their day could beat anyone. There is no reason we can not win a cup this season.

This weekend sees us back in league play with a home match against a local side, Cropredy. Is there the feeling that the league is ours to go and get, and any team we come across is just another chance to pick up 3 points? Or is there still a cautious approach?

Our league position is good. We have 2 games in hand, we win them and beat the leaders here at home we could go top. But, we do have to be cautious with games as teams arriving here at the BHP will always up their game because of the facilities we have.

Where is the focus over the next few matches before the winter break?

The focus is to finish where we left off in the last game. Focus on each game to prepare correctly and win the remaining games. We will do all we can to help the team achieve this. We then can have a good Christmas and New Year break.•