Alfreton, Alfreton Town, Baldes, Chris Wilder, Halifax, Halifax Town, National League, NLP, Non-League, Reds, Sheffield United, SUFC, Wilder

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder showing the way after Non-League beginnings

(Picture: Action Images via Reuters)
By Matt Badcock
WHEN Chris Wilder turned up at , there was a key ingredient missing – footballs.
“We've got 15 here,” Wilder laughed, when he took over Northampton Town in 2014. A little over two-and-a-half years later, the 50-year-old's United are sat third in the Championship just outside the automatic promotion spots for the Premier League.
Early days, of course, but having delivered the League One title with a century of points last season and beaten Sheffield Wednesday last Sunday, Wilder has got the red side of the Steel city smiling.
It's been a long, hard road to this point for Wilder. But his path shows that managers with tactical nous and first class man-management can go from the bottom to the top.
A full-back in his playing days, Wilder played for the Blades, Rotherham United, , Bradford City, Brighton and Halifax Town.
He dropped down into with – then of the . He'd already dabbled in Sunday League management, but within a few months Reds chairman Wayne Bradley put him in charge.
Just seven months later, they would celebrate the league title, the league cup, the Derbyshire Senior Cup and President's Cup.
He had former Premier League defender John Beresford at left-back, future Premier League players in winger Ryan France and goalkeeper Matt Duke in his side, along with a prolific strike partnership of Micky Goddard and Mick Godber – dubbed ‘The God Squad'.
It taught Wilder one of the cornerstones of successful sides that he still leans on today.
“We had some good players and a really good team spirit,” he said, last year. “That's one of the things I've based every team I've tried to assemble around, off the pitch. We had a great group and that was a big part of the success.
“It's a lot easier when you're winning, but after the games we always used to go and have a drink together, it was good.”
Wilder's side dismantled everyone in sight as they racked up 94 league goals. Again, an insight into how his future teams would go about their business.
His next step was Halifax where his education took a slightly steeper learning curve. Lack of footballs was one problem, so was the training ground, as they toured the area for grass spaces.
But he got the Shaymen going and, in 2005-06, saw their Conference promotion dream ended in extra-time of the play-off final when Ryan Green hit a 109th-minute winner for .
It proved to be the beginning of the end for the club in its previous guise. Within two years they'd gone bust. Once again his man-management skills came to the fore.
“Chris was good for all the lads,” striker Jon Shaw, now at , said. “We knew that next week the club could be gone. But he kept us together and kept our minds on . We had a tough time at the end of the season but, while we were playing, Chris made it an enjoyable time.
“I always say that Chris saved my career. I was at Burton, going a bit stale and going nowhere. But he took a chance and turned me right round. Even though Halifax went under, I always knew he'd go on to better things.”

Wilder during his Alfreton days

Wilder took his Blades side to the Shay last pre-season and reflected in The Sheffield Star: “Being there taught me so much because we were at the sharp end of everything. People can talk about doing their badges and being ready for management. Yes, they help, but being there, with everything that was going on at the time, really prepared me, looking back.
“When you're at a club like that, where your fingerprints are on everything that happens, it's a real education. Obviously it wasn't nice for those concerned but, in a career sense, I don't think you can put a price on that.”
Halifax Town went into liquidation in June 2008. By December – and after a brief spell as Alan Knill's assistant – he was back in the hot-seat at an expectant Oxford United. It was a club in the doldrums and in need of serious revitalisation.
After a point deduction saw them miss out on the play-offs in his first season, Wilder delivered on his vow to “get out of this poxy league”.
In fairness, he always insisted that the U's accepted just where they were and a year later they were celebrating promotion at .
“It's no exaggeration to say Chris saved the club,” said Jim Smith, Oxford's former manager and now lifetime director. “We'd have been in serious trouble financially if we'd had another year in the Conference.”
Oxford stabilised in the league above over three years but after trusty chairman Kelvin Thomas moved on, it was no secret Wilder didn't enjoy a similar relationship with his successor. When the club refused to give him security of a new deal, he moved onto their league rivals Northampton Town.
It proved to be another club where Wilder would have to pour all his efforts into keeping a squad level despite the Cobblers going through turmoil off the pitch. Wilder helped get Thomas on board, turned down a managerial switch to Cambridge United – for the second time in his career – and eventually took them to the title in 2015-16 with 99 points.
But a chance to take on his boyhood club that summer was too difficult to resist. Within 12 months he was celebrating another title, this time with 100 points. Team bonding began with some old school bonding at their pre-season camp in La Manga.
“We tested them and they all mucked in,” he told The Sheffield Star. “There was one day when we went for a run in the heat. They weren't expecting it, but they all followed the captain who led from the front.
“We let them have a few beers that night. I think some of them were a little bit surprised by that but, so long as they were all back by 11 and didn't abuse it, we didn't see any harm. You've got to enjoy yourself. If you do, you usually put more in.”
His methods are paying off in English football's second tier now and shows managers can start at the bottom and work their way up. His rise will inspire the current crop of Non-League gaffers. Should Wilder win promotion this season he would complete the Conference, League Two, League One and Championship promotion set.
The manager who signed him at Notts County is part of that club. Neil Warnock has got all the medals from the four tiers having bagged the first at Scarborough. Their paths will cross this season with Warnock now at Cardiff City. But the master still has one over the apprentice; his side sit top of the pile.

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