TAYLOR'S DOUBLE ACT INSPIRED ME!

THE GAFFER’S GREATEST GAFFER WITH QUENTIN TOWNSEND

- Andy Mitchell

WHO inspires the inspirations in the ever-changing world of football? Which traits stand the test of time?

In the latest in our series, we pick the brains of Stourport Swifts manager Quentin Townsend.

Having come through at Wolves, he joined Hereford United in the mid-90s where he played in Division Three and also against a star-studded Middlesbrough side featuring the likes of Fabrizio Ravanelli in the League Cup.

Relegation from the Football League saw Townsend opt for a different career, reinventing himself in Non-League where he helped Redditch United win a double promotion in 2004 to jump straight into the newly-formed Conference North.

Townsend managed Southam United and Pershore Town before taking the reins at Walshes Meadow ahead of the 2018-19 season with the aim of bringing Southern League football back to Stourport.

And that ambition is being fuelled by influences that take Townsend right back to the start and his days at Molineux.

WHO WAS YOUR GREATEST GAFFER AND WHY?

It would have to be the late Graham Taylor.

He believed in me when I was a YTS at Wolves and gave me my first professional contract, he backed me a lot.

He allowed me to realise that dream of being a professional footballer which was all I had ever wanted to do from the age of four.

WHAT IS YOUR TOP MEMORY OF PLAYING FOR GRAHAM?

I would say a lot of it was to do with Graham’s right-hand man, Steve Harrison. Graham brought him in as his former assistant when he left the England job.

That relationship was absolutely critical. Graham was the top guy but Steve was the one who interacted with the players and staff.