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KEVIN BETSY: It's the business end, players start falling out



Woking midfielder and Fulham Academy coach Kevin Betsy returns for his latest Footballers' Football Column in which he looks at the struggles of relegation. The former Wycombe, Bristol City, Oldham and Barnsley midfielder recounts the pressures from his personal experiences and takes a look at the pros and cons of young players playing in front of big crowds...


This is the business end. Dreams are made, hearts broken and lives can be changed. The financial consequences of success and failure in football are all too real for the chairman and boards of directors. This filters down through the management and players, on to the unsung heroes like kitmen/women, admin staff etc and out to the supporters.

A relegation battle is without doubt one of the most stressful situations I have been involved in. You meet supporters and look them in the eye and realise their desperation for you to survive.


Your performance and that of the team can affect the lives of others. We have chosen this profession so while we revel in the adulation, we have to be ready for the boos and insults if they come.




In a battle: Kevin Betsy has been involved in a relegation fight at Oldham





Going up: The Bristol City fans celebrate promotion on the pitch and in the stands at Ashton Gate




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MARTIN ALLEN: Winning titles is not all about money. City pay the big wages but it is United are at the top of the table... they have spirit, tenacity and drive and I hope my squad is similar to Fergie's in that way 12/04/13
KEVIN NOLAN: West Ham need big European nights at the Olympic Stadium and Big Sam is the man to deliver the dream 09/04/13
ROHAN RICKETTS: Footballers think they are untouchable... but the reality is life without a contract can be very tough 07/04/13
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VIEW FULL ARCHIVE


Nothing in my early years prepared me for relegation and being highlighted with an R - for Rubbish! - by your team’s name on a league table.


Escaping relegation is a feeling of immense relief and supporters and players alike treat the day as if they have won the league. I recall the last game of the season at Oldham at a packed Boundary Park.


We played Bradford and only a win would keep us up. We players understood the magnitude of making a mistake but we won, Oldham stayed up and a crowd invasion followed. Relief...

By contrast, I have experienced failure in this situation twice, the first at Barnsley having just joined the club a month previously. It was a very sad time for the community and the knock on effect was that the club went into administration the following season.


Championship wages could not be retained when relegation was added to the ITV digital collapsed deal of 2002, redundancies were made to long-serving staff members and players went months without pay. This made me realise the consequences of going down.


I recall one talented youth-team player at Barnsley not getting a professional contract because we had to cut the budget.


In a relegation battle you can see players falling out as the tension builds. You get some lead swingers - the on-loan player who just really doesn’t care, the players that can be found lying on the treatment table with a suspicious injury as a big deciding game approaches.


You soon weed out these characters when it really matters. Whatever the circumstances, you soon learn shin pads must be worn in training. The second failure was at Wycombe. I was fighting to stay at the club and every match I played made a difference to what the club may or may not offer me.


Regrettably we lost at Orient away to send us down but the club had seen positive steps made by Gary Waddock, who had taken over midway through the campaign, and luckily for me I was retained by the club. We put the record straight and were promoted the following season.


Some other players were not so lucky and that dreaded day shortly after the final game of the season where the manager sat many a player down to tell them, you’re not in his plans going forward and the P45 is on its way.

In the months after relegation you feel numbness and depression as failure eats away at you, but with adversity comes a burning desire to get back and try to rectify the wrongs and make people smile again.


In both scenarios I took a holiday with my girlfriend (now wife) and there was not a day that went by that she asked, ‘What’s wrong?’ She could do nothing to cheer me up as my mind would play back key games we lost and goals I should have scored.

Success is something that in my early days as a professional, I took for granted as being part of the Fulham squads that achieved promotion from League One to the Premier League. Open-top bus parades around the streets of London became normal.


I look sadly at the predicaments of my former clubs Barnsley and Bristol City. The latter have been relegated, a far cry from the unbelievable day I took part in when at Ashton Gate.


We won our final home game to gain promotion to the Championship after so many years of failure in the League One play-offs. I have not witnessed so many happy people in one city, all because of football.




Different approach: Gary Johnson took his Bristol City players to a restaurant the night before a promotion decider

Manager Gary Johnson did something quite unusual prior to the game but it worked a treat. He told us to meet at a local restaurant at around 7:30 on the day before the massive game. As pros we are creatures of habit and like routine and were a not best pleased to leave our homes for a team meeting.


I would not dream of being seen out in public before a big game. He thought differently and ordered attendance. This settled the players as instead of thinking too much at home we were relaxed around friends and switched off and ended up sleeping really well. We brought our ‘A game’ out that sunny May afternoon to clinch promotion.

No matter how long you’ve played for, nothing prepares you for the experience of playing in these pressure cooker games. So when people use the phrase ‘ business end’ it makes a lot of sense to me as the long-term implications can be life changing.




Early sucess: Betsy enjoyed two promotions with Fulham, the second to the Premier League under Jean Tigana





All aboard the promotion bus: Betsy and the Fulham squad celebrate promotion to the Premier League

Now, in the twilight of my career, my challenges are still to continue to achieve high standards and be successful with my club. I still want to win every game. Our achievements at Conference side Woking on our return to the level this year have been a fantastic effort.


For a part-time club on a part-time budget to compete with clubs with more finance and full-time players has been great. Ourselves, along with other part-time clubs like Dartford and Braintree should be praised for their top half finishes. It has been like a promotion for us all.


Woking, sometimes have to rely on favours from kind-hearted individual supporters of the club like BBC journalist Garry Richardson, who recently made it possible for us to train at St George’s Park prior to a big game.


We have had to deal with a ridiculous schedule, playing four games in seven days which has been quite a feat for someone at 35. I have never experienced this as a professional player and it is something that is a long way off the international breaks that the Premier League and Championship players experience. Dubai? Those were the days..




Famous fan: BBC presenter Garry Richardson used his connections to help Woking train at St George's Park





Helping hand: Woking were able to train at The FA's training base of St. George's Park ahead of a game

On one away trip we did not return home till about 5am. My team-mate, former West Ham and Peterborough man Adam Newton, is currently studying the Knowledge to become a cabbie and is has to be at work for 7am and do a 10-hour shift.


This is real life for a part-time footballer. Let’s not forget the supporters at this time as they were at the game too and also have jobs to wake up for and a living to be made.

While we are still on the non-League focus, I must mention two young up-and-coming managers who are doing superbly well at their respective clubs. Sometimes, instead of going with experience, chairmen should be looking for fresh, innovative coaches.

Jamie Day at Welling (on the verge of promotion to the Conference) and John Brady at Brackley Town (in the Conference North play-offs) are two guys I know well and I believe given the chance will do very well.Tthey have been doing their apprenticeships for a few years managing clubs in a tough environment and deserve some recognition for their recent achievements.



Training the next generation: Betsy coaches the Fulham youth teams






Training day: Betsy and his Woking team-mates take up the invitation to train at the FA's new centre at St George's Park

My other part-time job is coaching at Fulham’s academy. My main group this year, the Under 13s, performed in their own pressure environment last week, a regional tournament run by the Premier League as part of the new EPPP structure.

Superbly run and put together by Neil Saunders and staff at the Premier League, it was held at Arsenal’s training ground where I must say we were very well looked after. We managed to come top of the group consisting of the hosts, Reading, Southampton and Norwich.


We now progress to the European finals where the other best regional teams will meet along with Europe’s best at St George’s Park at the end of the month.


Despite the excellent work going on and the progress we are making in youth development, I still think we are missing a trick by not allowing our young elite players the experience to deal with pressure and uncomfortable situations, which would benefit them in the long term.


VIDEO: Watch Lech Poznan fans support the club's U11 side at the Lech Cup





The tournaments run in this country at elite level are predominantly parent free, which means the only support or noise comes from players and coaching staff.


This is probably borne out of the days of parents arguing among each other but I must stay that the education in recent years has seen a real positive change in the attitudes of parents watching academy and centre of excellence matches.


Parents at tournaments are persona non grata but on the continent allowing their players to experience crowd noise - both positive and negative – is encouraged. Perhaps in these tournaments we should expose our youngsters to the challenges they may face should they make the highest levels of professional football.

A 12-year-old taking a penalty in front of a few hundred noisy parents instead of a scout and his dog may be the difference between him missing for England and scoring in World Cup.


Are we providing the necessary competitive environment for are young elite level players? Or is this element of not much competitiveness and minimal pressure setting them up to fail later on?

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