by The managers of Accrington Stanley and Harrogate Town don’t seem to have much in common. Accrington’s John Coleman is approaching retirement age, an outspoken Scouser who said after an FA Cup match four years ago that he was falling out of love with football because of poor refereeing decisions.
Simon Weaver, his counterpart at Harrogate, celebrated his 46th birthday last week and has a style closer to today’s managerial norm, tough but modest, like a League Two Eddie Howe.
However, Coleman and Weaver stand out for the same reason. They are numbers two and one, respectively, on the list of longest-serving coaches in the four major leagues. Ahead of their teams meeting in Harrogate on Boxing Day, we spend 45 minutes together via video and more similarities emerge.
Between them they have managed more than 1,500 games for their clubs, Coleman in two long periods. He points out that this is the second time he has almost topped the longest-serving list, reaching number three in his initial spell at Accrington, which began in 1999. Back then he was stuck behind Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger and left to Rochdale. In 2012 he moved back to 92nd. He returned to Accrington two years later and Weaver, appointed at Harrogate in 2009, is now the only coach with a longer tenure.
Both have competition from numbers three and four on the list: Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. “I’m a big Liverpool fan,” Coleman says. “That would never happen, but you know those shows where people trade jobs for a week? I would love to see Jurgen and Pep swap with me and Simon.
“We’ll do their job and see how ours goes, it would be a revelation. I know the pressure is a lot greater on Liverpool and Man City compared to our two clubs, but there are a lot of little things we have to do and they don’t, because they have someone else to do it. There are problems that come to our door that would never come close to theirs.”
Coleman and Weaver have similar war stories about punching above your weight at the fourth level. Coleman talks about long nights scouting potential signings that translate into checking out opponents via video when they’re at home, in preparation for training the next morning. Harrogate has struggled to obtain planning permission for a road sign marking the location of its stadium.
Simply getting fans through the turnstiles is a major challenge; only Forest Green has a lower average attendance. “We recently had a great response when we played Wrexham,” says Weaver. “Everyone was eager to see me, or should I say Ryan Reynolds. “It felt like half of Harrogate turned up, but it didn’t make half the difference.”
He’s happy to top the list of veterans, but says he feels a deeper sense of pride when he sees more of his team’s jerseys in his area. “We once trained at a school in Harrogate a few years ago and people were saying ‘who is that?’ They thought we were a Sunday League team. I said: ‘We’re Harrogate Town, we play just down the road.’ “Now you see kids in the big Harrogate park really proud to wear the home team’s shirts.”
Accrington is so dominated by Burnley and Blackburn fans that every year chairman Andy Holt donates hundreds of shirts to local children in their third year of primary school. “If you get any superstars on your team, you have to sell them,” Coleman says. “That is the model that must be had. I tell our guys: I want you to earn 10 or 15 thousand pounds a week… Not with us. But we will give you the opportunity.”
“Players take more care of their bodies, mainly for Instagram”
Both have noticed changes in the current generation of players. “They’re fitter and taking better care of their bodies, mainly because they want to post videos on Instagram of themselves looking good with abs,” Coleman says. “Gone are the days of having to make them lose a couple of kilos when they came back for pre-season training.”
Weaver feels the omnivorous Category One academies attached to the biggest clubs leave too many players unsuited for a career in the lower leagues. “Athletically and technically they are through the roof. But many of those who drop out are not doing well with their mental development, it is a big culture shock and they need to be rewired most of the time. The vast majority of academies players drop out and there is a lot to do with them.”
“It is important to take time to imprint your culture on the club”
Both are grateful for the time they have had to shape their clubs and how unusual their positions are in an era when struggling teams often change coaches twice in a season. “I liken it to sourdough,” Coleman says, generously adapting his simile to the residents of Harrogate. “You have the yeast and you keep adding it and improving it. I think it is important to take time to imprint your culture on the club.
“It takes time to develop and can only happen in a few years. And once you have it you start to feel like if you move you have to start all over again and it will take even longer, but you don’t have time. “I’ve been drinking a few pints of milk longer than some managers have been employed.”
Relationships of mutual respect between manager and owner are essential, helped in Harrogate by the fact that the owner is Weaver’s father, Irving. It should be noted that he bought the club two years into his son’s reign as manager. For Weaver junior’s recent birthday, he invited Irving on a family hike. “Within the first 100 yards we were chatting about football. When we got a little further, I said, ‘Shall we meet on Friday after work?’, because moments like this, when we’re all together, are precious. After that he became my father again and my children’s grandson.”
It seems unlikely that a father would sack his son, but it remains a huge challenge to manage Harrogate. What keeps you motivated? “We got a good win against Notts County at the weekend. The boys went out to have their Christmas party, I went to a pantomime. I sent one of the players who’s been here for 10 years a picture of Jack and the Beanstalk saying, “I hope you’re having a good time.”
“But I could have been anywhere and absolutely stoked, because we got a win. You get your buzz.” Like all managers, they both chase them. Unlike most, Coleman and Weaver share a higher purpose, dedication to their community, and a sense of mission.
After Tuesday’s game, Weaver will have a drink with Coleman. It doesn’t have an office at its Wetherby Road stadium to offer a glass of Fergie-style Tignanello, but the drinks selection is more open: “You can have whatever you want in our bar, it can be a Coke or a beer, we ‘ I have everything”.
Crucially, and unsurprisingly given their longevity, their main shared motivation is a direct love of the work. “I wasn’t involved in professional football as a player, I just played non-league,” Coleman says. “So the excitement never goes away for me. The novelty will never wear off.”
