Farnborough FC

Farnborough's new King

By Charlie Oliver
May 21, 2009

There is a new king on the Farnborough throne: Steve King.

The former Lewes and Northwich Victoria manager was unveiled as the new manager of Farnborough FC at a press conference at Cherrywood Road on Thursday evening.

While Fleet Town manager Andy Sinton had been the favourite to take over from Francis Vines, who was sacked last month, King had emerged as the frontrunner in the last few days and was duly confirmed on a two-year, full-time contract.

Yes, full-time; while the playing staff will remain part-time, King and his assistant manager, Justin Skinner, will devote all their work to Farnborough. They will also manage and coach the club's academy team; Skinner has worked with the academies at both Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers, at the latter under the leadership of Aldershot Town manager Gary Waddock, a close friend of Skinner.

But it is King's imminent rule that is the main news and it is quite a coup that Farnborough have attracted the man who was voted as the second best manager in non-league football last year.

King, aged 40, orchestrated Lewes' dramatic rise up the non-league pyramid, from the lower echelons of the Ryman League, eventually into the Nationwide Conference in 2008, before sensationally being sacked by the Sussex club, as they struggled to cope with the scope of national football.

Last season he did briefly manage in the Conference at Northwich Victoria, in a 13-game spell blighted by poor results and chaos off the pitch, where King and his players were not paid. "I have nothing to prove after Northwich," said King. "It was a nightmare. Arsene Wenger would not have been able to turn things around as things were at the club then. I should never have taken the job." It sounds like a horror story of which Stephen King would be proud.

Still, this Steve King certainly knows how to win a promotion or two, which is just what Boro owner Simon Hollis has in mind, after Boro threw away promotion from Southern Premier in the season just gone.

The hope is that King will do to Boro what he did to Lewes and that the new Boro will soon be back to the level where the old Farnborough Town FC used to reside.

What is more, Boro already have the infrastructure, which continues to expand, off the pitch, to be at home in the Conference, which is something that King never had at Lewes, much to his chagrin.

"The potential was the big draw of here," said King, speaking to the media and a healthy number of Boro fans, who had come to welcome the new man.

"The club got in touch for a chat. It's the infrastructure that is important. I know from experience that you can get things right on the pitch but if the infrastructure is not there, it will catch up with you.

"Not so here. I know that Simon Hollis will deliver off the pitch and I want to manage at Conference level. That is why I am here, to do as well as I did at Lewes. I know what I want to achieve and I think we can get to the Conference. This, for me, is a step backwards, to go forwards. Nothing less than promotion will do at the end of this coming season."

That would take Boro back into Conference South but with the likes of Truro City splashing the cash, getting out of the Southern Premier is no foregone conclusion. Just look at last season.

"I watched a few Farnborough games," said King, who is based in Eastbourne. "Francis Vines is a good friend of mine, so we talked a lot about players here too. He rang me on my way here, to wish me well.

"There are many areas of the team that can be improved. I have in mind to bring in players I have worked with before. The budget Simon has given me is not endless, far from it, I will need to duck and dive. But I will bring players in here about whom the fans will go mad about, trust me.

"There are players who you might think would not want to play at this level but I will sell them the dream and show them where this club is going. I think we need about three new strikers, for a start."

So, a busy and exciting summer is in prospect for Boro fans, as King fine-tunes his squad. "I won't be making massive changes but the spine of the team needs a little more experience. Yes, we have good players like Wooz [Dave Woozley] and Laids [Steve Laidler] but I like the whole spine of my sides to be experienced and the rest of the side built around that."

King said that he thinks the best non-league players are ones who have learnt their trade in the non-league game and have lots of experience of playing at that level, rather than Football League players dropping down as age catches up with them. So, that would probably rule out a move for someone like Ricky Newman, the 38-year-old recently released by Aldershot Town.

King did sign Anthony Barness, the cultured ex-Chelsea, Charlton Athletic and Bolton Wanderers left back, while at Lewes but he said that Barness, 36, was unlikely to be arriving at Cherrywood. "He's a top pro but I won't be bringing him in, he's 36 now and I'm talking about say a few 30-year-old players being needed in the squad, to help the youngsters."

King starts work immediately and said that he will have to release some players, to bring in the ones he wants. "I will ring the players I am letting go, straight away," he said. "Even some under contract will go too. Others I am not decided about I will invite back to have a look at."

One young player King did single out was Adam Doyle, the young central defender. "He's a good player, with plenty of potential to go on to a higher level. He's a bit of a rough diamond, who needs polishing, but that is where Skinns [Skinner] will come in."

Skinner made close to 500 professional appearances in midfield, chiefly for Fulham, Bristol Rovers and Dunfermline Athletic, before moving into coaching at Chelsea and QPR and then helping Lewes win the Conference South, with King.

His and King's work with the new reserves side at Bisley and, crucially, the revamped youth set-up, is a key part of their new role, and one King is excited about.

"The youth set-up is very important," King said. "I watched the youth games at Lewes but not too many other managers get involved there, which is wrong. It's why I said to Simon that if you want me, it has to be full-time. I want to be working with football all the time."

Hollis backed King to deliver - not just promotion but the attractive football Hollis craves, as he bids to entertain the Boro fans and gets more bums on the rapidly growing numbers of seats at an expanding Cherrywood Road.

"We feel that we are playing at a level that is no befitting the structure and club we have," said Hollis. "While there is no God-given right to promotion, I'm confident that Steve is the man to deliver that for us.

"It didn't quite work out with Francis [Vines]. We are very busy building the club and the last thing I want to be doing is chopping and changing managers all the time.

"So, yes, this is an appointment with a long-term view. We want stability here and one of the qualities Steve has it that he's a loyal manager. He stuck by Lewes even when ground regulations meant that they could not be promoted. Steve has the same desire and ambition as we have and we all know that Lewes played good football under Steve and scored lots of goals.

"We have given Steve a budget to work with. We will back him, as we did with Francis last season," added Hollis.

"We will try to entertain and I always go flat out to win games," said King. "I'm really looking forward to the season. Having watched the team, as much as I think they should have won the league, I think a little bit more experience is needed in there. And nothing short of promotion will do next time around."

So, as befits his name, King sets himself high standards. Which is a good thing, as Hollis will not tolerate anything less; while the reign of King Stephen in the 12th Century was one wracked by civil war and chaos, hopefully the 21 Century reign of Steve King will prove to be far more stable and successful - although a little dash of excitement would not go amiss, either.

King said that there would be one or two changes to Boro's list of pre-season friendlies, as he wanted to put his 'own identity' to the fixtures. Hollis confirmed that the Brentford, Aldershot, AFC Wimbledon and Chelsea games would not be affected by any changes.

| Submit Comments