Relegation with Rhyl to success with the Silkmen: Niall McGuinness’ story

Four years ago, Niall McGuinness was the talk of the footballing world.

At the age of just 24, he became one of the youngest managers in top flight football when he was appointed manager of Rhyl.

Thrust into the role on a caretaker basis in February 2016, McGuinness had suffered the anguish of finishing in the bottom two on two occasions with a team which gave him his first opportunity in management.

Now a few years older and wiser, he returns to the Cymru Premier still the youngest manager in the league, but with a new club and a new outlook on life.

“When I was at Rhyl, I came through that system and started out doing the community stuff and the academy. I’d sort of been through every level. I was part of the furniture.

“It was quite difficult to earn a level of respect because they see me as sort of like someone that had been around the club and obviously with my age.

“I don’t think from a number of them (the committee) there was enough respect there, I always give respect to people who show it to me, regardless of age, I don’t think they did, so I think that was a big factor. 

“Going to Flint, I had to go earn the right, if you like, it was all about results and to make sure that the team improved on from when I went in, obviously, I was confident that I could.”

“I think massively I earnt the right at Flint whereas at Rhyl it was a little bit harder because when we were doing well I’d still wanted a level of, I’d call it respect, not from everyone, but from a number of committee members.

“When you haven’t got that, when they don’t support you, then you’ve got a job on your hands.

“It was hard enough as it was, with the circumstances that the club were in. It wasn’t easy, but again, they’re experiences that I’ve been through now that I wouldn’t let myself go through again.”

Because of his age, McGuinness drew attention from those who covered Welsh football extensively, as well as mainstream media attention.

The glitz and glamour of constant media attention, as well as the pride of managing in a top-flight league at such a young age, was a thrill at the time.

But after falling out of the league with Rhyl and later resigning from his post, offered him the chance to reflect on the harsh reality of management and how quickly things can change.

“I think one of the biggest things was when I was 25, I relegated from the Cymru Premier and the publicity around it is quite big so it really hurt me, but I had to hold my emotions in and keep going.

“That’s my character. I don’t like to shy away from anything, I’m honest and hard-working so it was a huge setback and people probably didn’t see at the time how much it affected me.

“It was a case of overcoming that for them. Being in the top flight and having that environment and exposure of working at that level, I loved it, to then have nothing was very tough mentally.

“I was lucky enough that six weeks down the line, I wasn’t waiting too long and I was offered the first-team manager role at Flint Town United and it just gave me a fresh start.

“The staff and players have done a really good job at the club and I know I’m in a much better position as a manager but also with a group of players, the infrastructure behind me as to what I had previously.

“I’m confident I can make a success of the football club with this group of players and the staff we’ve got.

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Some managers bide their time when choosing their next club in the hope of being a good fit for one another.

For Niall, six weeks was enough for him to decide to get back on the managerial ladder.

But after seeing part company with Andy Holden following a poor start to the 2017/18 campaign, McGuinness identified Flint Town United as the club to get in the swing of things with.

The Silkmen were identified as a club he could build from the ground up with no outside influence.

“I think why I went there really, is that I’ve always seen it as I could see where they wanted to go, but I didn’t think there was any structure within the club.

“I don’t mean that disrespectfully, just sort of there was no pathway and organisation, so that was one thing.

“I tried to restructure the club itself in terms of the way we do things and it terms of the professionalism of the first team and off the pitch as well.

“I’m always making sure we do the right things as a club to make sure we stand the best chance possible.

“In doing that, I was able to work on the on-field stuff as well, obviously the chairman’s really good.

“I got the backing from the day I came in and he said it’s gonna be a quick fit as we want to work and get to a certain level really, and the club needs to get into the Cymru Premier.

“I don’t think from the position we were in when I went in, he had supported this as quickly.

“But we’ve got things right and since we’ve been promoted we have to take it to the next level again.

“We’ve improved things such as erecting a television gantry, bringing in Elfyn as the groundsman.

“Another is bringing in Danny Bell, who has done a fantastic job so far with the organisation and structure from his time at TNS.

“He’s brought a much better philosophy in for the club and infrastructure within the junior set-up as well.

“It was to make sure we tried getting professionalism into it instead of just paying good money to players instead of them not having enough about them to get the team to the next level.

“It was about improving the right players that wanted to play for the club and then obviously delivering that professional environment.

“I’m not one of these that can just turn up and wing everything, everything I do needs detail.

“In every session, I’m preparing two or three days before the session’s even started. It was just making that environment more professional than what the club was used to previously.”

Despite arguably being the poster boy for the Welsh coaching pathway, Niall McGuinness does not hold the highest coaching qualification in football.

Earlier this year, he was rejected for a second time for a place on the course in which he could attain the UEFA Pro Licence.

Enrolling on the course, essentially makes you a become a student again, only this time your study is football coaching.

You learn with other managers and have to conduct coursework, as well as going on placement.

But McGuinness won’t be afforded that opportunity as he is made to bide his time before earning one of the highest accolades of management.

“I put my first application in after the A and thought I probably wasn’t going to get on it and it’s a two-year wait.

“But this one I was confident, I felt I’d done everything right in terms of Welsh football and I don’t just work within the top level, I work at a grassroots level and all the ages of Welsh football.

“I thought that maybe I deserved a shot so I was really disappointed to find out I wasn’t successful in my application, so now I have to wait another two years and my journey through the coaching badges would have been 14 years.

“I know a number of managers that go through five or six-year cycles from leaders to pro license.

“I’m not comparing myself to anyone but it does get disheartening because it’s my aim, I want to become a pro license manager and to wait that many years, it’s a long time.

“I’ll have to just bide my time and fingers crossed that I’m successful in the next application.”

And so with the new season on the horizon, the Flint boss has outlined his aims for the season.

“I think the aim will be to survive. That’s what the club have set because we don’t want to be a club that yo-yoes in and out of the league.

“It’s not good for stability so trying to survive and build upon that.

“Every manager will say the same thing that they still want to push to try and get into the top six, whether that’s unrealistic or not, that will be the ultimate challenge for me and the players but the main outcome from a club perspective is that we sustain ourselves.”

(Featured Image: Flint Town United FC)