ONE MORE PROMOTION TO CREATE A PERFECT LEGACY

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY: GAZ DEAN

By CHRIS DUNLAVY

GLORY DAYS: Gaz Dean became a legend at Brackley Town and, below, as a youngster at Nuneaton

PICTURE: Alamy

GAZ Dean thought his dreams of a life in football were over when Nuneaton Borough were liquidated in 2008.

Instead, that catastrophe provided the launchpad to a legendary Non-League career that has seen the 34-year-old captain England C, win promotions with Nuneaton and Solihull, lift the FA Trophy at Wembley for current club Brackley Town and earn a reputation as one of the finest central defenders National League North has ever seen.

Still going strong in his twilight years, Dean explains why Nuneaton’s demise was so beneficial, remembers a set-piece routine that went hilariously wrong, and reveals which Premier League striker was his toughest-ever opponent.

FIRST CLUB

Nuneaton Town. The club got liquidated, reformed two divisions down and they put a bit of faith in a few lads from the youth team.

I’m humble enough to admit that I wouldn’t have been ready for Conference North in my first year, so what happened was good from a selfish point of view.

It meant I got to play games, which is so hard for a youngster now. Too many of them want to play at the highest level and they’re reluctant to drop down and get game time.

They want that stamp on their CV to say ‘I played for suchand-such’, but you don’t learn that way. There’s no education better than playing proper games and learning from your mistakes, regardless of the level. By the time I was 23, I felt like I was 35, just because of how much I’d played.

BEST MANAGER

I absolutely love Gavin Cowan, our current manager. He’s one of my old mentors from when I was at Nuneaton so I hate to upset him… but I’d give this one to Kev Wilkin, just because of how many years we spent together.

Gav’s game strategy and attention to detail is probably better, but Kev nurtured me from a young age and probably made me the player I am today.

He’s just a great person. His ment skills are brilman-manageliant. He treats you like a human being. He understands Non-League football, with work commitments and holidays and all those sorts of things. Never mind ten per cent – peoplee would run an extra 50 per cent for Kev. A top bloke.

BEST MANAGER: Brackley Town’s Gaz Dean with Kev Wilkin at Wembley

BEST TEAM-MATE

During my time at Nuneaton, I would share it between Andy Brown and Simon Forsdick. At Brackley, Glenn Walker, pictured below, and Shep Murombedzi.

I used to play against Andy and I hated it because he had this ability to hang in the air and was really irritating to play against. He used to run around like a dog all game, he never gave you a minute.

Simon Forsdick could have ten pints the day before a game, smoke a pack of fags and still be the best player on the park. Left-back, centre-half, left-mid, it didn’t matter. His performance levels never dropped. He was quite a small guy, maybe 5ft 9ins, and you could put him at centre-half and he’d look like Cannavaro.

He was such a laidback guy as well. He didn’t love football.

TOUGHEST OPPONENT: Callum Wilson

TOUGHEST PLACE: Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium

He had no burning aspirations to be the best. But every time he crossed that white line, he was an eight out of ten, minimum.

Glenn is similar. Comfortable on the ball. Good in every position. I’ve seen him play practically everywhere, and he was even a good goalkeeper in training. He was 36 when he left Brackley and he was still like a Rolls Royce – he looked like he had four or five years in him.

Shep does all the horrible parts of football that often get overlooked. He intimidates people before you even get on the pitch. He hits people from behind, from the side, from every direction. He has these legs that seem to elongate and wrap around people. You almost have to play with him to appreciate what he does.

FIRST PROMOTION

My first year with Nuneaton. We came second to Leamington, then beat Chasetown in the play-off final. I was 17 or 18 at the time, and I thought ‘This is easy’. As I’ve got older, I’ve realised that isn’t the case!

FUNNIEST PLAYER

James Armson, comfortably. He’s that guy where all you need to say is ‘You won’t do that’ and he’ll do it to prove you wrong.

He’s a proper character, pulls the weirdest faces, and can do impressions of anyone. He’s always up for a laugh and will do absolutely anything on a day out or night out regardless of whether he’s drunk or sober. You get some people who act funny and play the class clown just to get the attention. With James, he’s just naturally a hilarious person – and it helps that he looks funny as well!

FUNNIEST INCIDENT

We had this throw-in routine at Brackley with Lee Ndlovu, where he starts off lying on the floor, rolls into a somersault and uses the momentum to fling the ball into the box.

We worked on it all week in training and it went perfectly. Then he tried to do it in a game. He went through this whole routine, lying down on the floor.

As you can imagine, everybody in the ground is looking at him thinking ‘What’s all this about?’.

Then he did his flip and the ball landed about a foot in front of him.

Their players were looking at him like ‘What the f*** was that?’. Our entire team had our hands on our knees, laughing our heads off. The crowd weren’t far behind.

There’s a video of it somewhere and it’s honestly the most ridiculous thing you’ll ever see on a football pitch!

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT

Being captain of England C was something I never envisaged, but I’d probably say winning the FA Trophy final with Brackley in 2018.

We had to play 11 games to win that competition. We played Braintree twice, Barrow twice, Wealdstone twice. We played Salford, Sutton and Stockport, then beat Bromley in the final on penalties. And we still got to the National North play-off final as well.

Playing in front of 35,000 people at Wembley isn’t something many people do at our level of football. And I’ve never been in an academy, so for me to do that – when a lot of the lads I used to play with are drinking down the social club – was very special.

Because I was captain, I went up the stairs last and I kind of hung back a bit just to soak in the moment.

LOWEST MOMENT

I’d say the most recent playoff defeat, last season against Boston. They all hurt; Harrogate away, Kiddy as manager. But this year, we really felt like it was our time.

In previous years, we’d never gone into the play-offs with much momentum. This year, we were unbeaten in ten games. We’d won eight of them. We weren’t playing fantastic football but we looked fitter and stronger than everyone we played against.

Then one lapse in concentration before half-time, they equalised, and it seemed to suck all the energy out of us. We ended up losing 2-1, which was devastating.

TOUGHEST PLACE TO GO

I played against Cambridge at the Abbey for Nuneaton in the National League and that was an unbelievable atmosphere. We were small fish in a very big pond and that really brought it home.

At this level, I’ve always thought Chorley was difficult. Not the best of surfaces, half-decent crowd, always a strong, resolute group of men.

TOUGHEST OPPONENT

Without dropping names, I played against Callum Wilson in a pre-season friendly when he was at Coventry.

I’d played against him before and never thought he was that good. Then he came back one summer and I don’t know what they’d been feeding him but he was a different beast – bigger, quicker, stronger, sharper.

I’ve never seen anyone go shoulder to shoulder with Theo Streete and come out on top but Callum dunked him on the ground then ran through and scored. I remember thinking ‘This is going to be a tough day’.

He was seriously good that season, scored a hatful of goals and within the year had got his move to Bournemouth.

FAVOURITE PLACE TO GO

I’m quite old fashioned. I love grounds with a bit of character and history. My favourite one was York Street, Boston’s old stadium.

It’s a proper football stadium, the atmosphere was brilliant and we always seemed to get it on a Tuesday night under the lights.

Plus, I don’t think I ever lost there, either.

AMBITION

For me now, it’s about legacy. I want as many trophies and medals as possible. Short-term, that’s promotion with Brackley.

I’d love to look back on the day I retire that I got promoted with every team I played for. I’d love to say I’ve played in the third round of the FA Cup. Those are the only things missing, really.

After football, I’ve got no burning aspiration to be a manager. I’d love to explore different things and I feel some of my characteristics would be suited to a sporting director, or some role of that nature. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll be on the golf course!