KOA special: David Wright on why he's staying on as Ipswich Town Women's manager

0:08Stuart Watson:Hi everyone, Stuart Watson here from the Kings of Anglia podcast and today we bring you a special guest. Those watching on video will see the man to the side of me. It's David Wright, former Blues defender and now permanent Ipswich Town Women's Manager. David, thank you for joining me. How are you? You well? Yeah, all good, thanks. All good. Good man, good man. I'm going to give you a little bit of an intro before we get started and tell me if I get any of this wrong or if I've missed any bits out, but we'll whiz through your career for those that don't know. You're a man that played more than 500 games across all four of the top divisions of English football, is that correct?

0:47Stuart Watson:Yeah, started out at Crewe, three and a half seasons at Ipswich, of course, went on to play for crystal palace and colchester before hanging up your boots and then we'll go on to your coaching career um brief spell in charge of malden down in essex for a bit um assistant and caretaker manager at colchester united for a while um you helped out liam manning at mk dons and then a decade plus in academy coaching in men's football um a club just up the road who I won't mention and then back down here at Ipswich for quite a while coaching the 18s and the 23s which has led you finally to becoming manager of the women's team in January interim basis and then as of this afternoon you've taken on that role permanently it's been quite the journey in football for you hasn't it yeah yeah to be fair it's the only thing I know to be honest with you You know, I've been fortunate in terms of playing the game for a long time.

1:49And then having the opportunities, you know, once retiring, actually staying in the game because, I don't know, without football, I'm not quite sure where else I fit. I'm sure I found something in the end. But in terms of, yeah, football is just everything that I've known and would like to be involved in.

2:06Stuart Watson:Yeah. Your coaching journey then, it's letting it up in women's football. Was that ever anything in your mind in the start of your coaching career? How has this come about? And was it a surprise to you that it's kind of all roads have led to this point? Yeah, I mean, like I said, I've had many different experiences. I didn't plan any of them, to be honest with you. I just knew I wanted to be a coach as my career was coming to an end. I knew that's where I wanted to be. and obviously when I was playing for Colchester, I was coming in during the week and working with actually Liam Manning. That's where our relationship grew, taking the under-14s and the 15s and 16s part-time coaching at night.

2:52And that's where that fuel, obviously, it started to grow that fire in terms of what I wanted to do. So yeah, as I moved through the journey of coaching, just different opportunities have come my way and yeah I've had some great experiences which has been good and then come the new year obviously I came in to help Joe Joe wanted some support and Joe was great when I came in obviously he asked for some support and hopefully I helped him as much as I could and then yeah then it was obviously Joe left and they asked me just to take it to the end of the season. Even at that point, really, I didn't have any thoughts of going into management full time.

3:46But it's like anything, I think when you're with the staff, with the players, you work with good people and you come in every day and you enjoy what you're doing. All of a sudden it's like, well, why not? Why not? Like I said, the staff have been great. players have been great, worked so hard in terms of trying to execute how I see the game and coming in every day and enjoying it it's been great and that's probably one of the big reasons why I took the job

4:20Stuart Watson:It sounds like maybe there wasn't then a master plan when you sort of finished it was just stay in football we'll give coaching a try and you've just kind of followed your nose and gone wherever it's taken you is that is that kind of how it's been there yeah definitely definitely I mean I'm always I always want to get better I always want to experience different things and maybe maybe obviously experience you know that likes of Moulding and Tiptree I was working with the 21s and the 18s at Colchester at the time and doing the Moulding at night as well Robbie Cowley asked me to do that and the amount of different experiences that that brought up.

5:01I mean, I worked with Liam Bailey, who was a coach at Colchester. I think he's now at Moulding and Tiptree. He was unbelievable for me in terms of I had very little knowledge of the non-league game and how it worked. So he taught me so much that that six-month period taught me so much. So it's all them different experiences that I never thought an opportunity like that would come about. Actually, Robbie rang me about that opportunity when I was on holiday in Cyprus. So it's little things like that that just come completely out of the blue. And then to go, you know what, let's have a go of this.

5:35And once again, working with the likes of Liam and Robbie and good people in and around it, it was a really good experience for me.

5:42Stuart Watson:You touched upon it, the varied experiences in the coaching side of things, from men's non-league football is completely different, I imagine, to then doing under-14s football within academies to now the women's game as well. that sort of varied experiences that you've got, has that made you a better coach? How much have you enjoyed the different aspects of it so far? Yeah, I think so. You know, all them, I mean, all the experiences, good, bad and indifferent, if you can learn from them, I think they make you a better person, better whatever you're doing job-wise. And having them experience has been great.

6:20Like you were saying, I had more than a tip tree, where I had some Colchester under-21 boys who were on loan there. But I also had, for an example, I'll use this story, Gav, who was a centre-half for me, who was a mechanic on lorries during the day and then come and play at night time. A number of times he turned up at the game full of oil. He'd have a wash in the sink and then go out and play 90 minutes. I mean, I'd never seen anything like it, to be honest with you. So, yeah, things like that. and then I'll probably say one of the most important, I didn't realise it at the time, probably one of the most important five or six months of my coaching was when I retired from cold testing around Christmas and then I asked Brian Clue if I could come in and work, just come in and experience the academy and work like that and Brian said, I haven't got any roles or anything and I was like, no, no, no, I'm going to come in and just experience it, I don't want to be paid or anything, I just need to build my experience.

7:21I'd probably say that six-month period was, looking back now, the experience of that was invaluable. All of a sudden, in my head, thinking how football, from a first team, how it works first team, where the first team manager always has the exact numbers that he wants, always has all the equipment that he wants and this, that and the other. For me then to all of a sudden get thrown into taking the under-14s and being told, oh, you've got 16 boys tonight. All right, great. So I plan all my planning. And then half an hour into the session, I've got like eight boys. And then 45 minutes into the session, three more turn up.

8:00And then you end up, you don't end up with 16, you end up with 14 or something. And it's constantly chopping and changing. It's difficult for a young coach to do so in terms of having them experiences, I'd say are invaluable and working with the young ones to working with under-18s to 21s to working with first-team players the likes of MK Dons and lads that have gone on and playing championship football and the likes of Matt O 'Reilly who's played for huge Premier League clubs in Europe and stuff having them experiences like I say sets you up but I've still got loads more to learn loads more to learn and I'm really looking forward to it.

8:45Stuart Watson:Yeah. You mentioned earlier that you had to kind of learn on the fly about non-league and rely on other people to tell you a bit about the side of the game that you hadn't necessarily been in before. Is the same true of women's football? I mean, I guess you've had to really be a sponge and soak up a lot of information about the women's game since coming into it. Yeah, definitely. Obviously, my knowledge of the women's game was very little coming in. And obviously I'd followed the, obviously the England women's team who've done absolutely brilliant over the, over the years. And obviously I know I've known Joe for a long, a long time.

9:20We've played golf and obviously speaking to him together. So I had a knowledge of the girls and even previous to that, I'd come out Thursdays and take the attacking unit. So when I kind of came in to help Joe, I knew the majority of the group anyway, which obviously really, really helped. and then just it's the same game it's the same game it's just I know it's a bit of a contradiction but it's the same game but slightly different it's working with female players rather than male players that's the only difference for me Yeah

9:56Stuart Watson:so you think the only difference is I mean is there any differences maybe there is none I was going to ask you football's football but is it's different in terms of coaching women as there are to men tactically, physically I mean we see there's a lot of for example a lot of knee injuries in the women's game and you've got to sort of work out different loading for players and things like that is there any examples or things that you've learnt along the way that you can think of where you thought that's different I'd say probably what's been really pleasing how much the girls want to learn they're desperate to learn they're desperate to get better they desperately want the knowledge so when you're coaching they're fully engaged they want to know and that's probably the thing they want to know the why like why are we doing this like I said they want to understand why to then go in and have a real clarity in how to execute what you're asking them to do and that's been great I think for any coach, when you've got a group of players in front of you who really want to learn.

11:11And by the way, they've taught me loads as well, like everyone has within the staff, within the players. They've taught me, I'm sure they've taught me more than what I've taught them. So, yeah, I'm really pleased about that.

11:28Stuart Watson:Yeah, what an impact it's been so far, David. with 10 games, three wins, three draws in there, obviously big victories against Portsmouth, Durham, and Sheffield United in the week. I know you've still got work to do in these final two games, but you've given yourself a great chance of retaining that second-tier status for this season. What do you put the turnaround down to? How do you feel about these two games coming up? I think I mean for me just in terms of hard work it's not yeah it's probably no secret and it might be quite a boring answer but I don't think there's any magic pill in anything the girls have applied themselves brilliantly they've tried to do everything that I've asked of them and more I think we've created a really nice culture within the group which was already which was there anyway in terms of we had a lot of change in January and obviously the girls that were there, they welcomed in the new long knees, the new full-time players brilliantly, which obviously really helps when you come into a dressing room as a new player.

12:44It's difficult. You've moved away from what you've known. You're in a new dressing room. You want to prove to everyone you should be here. so for the girls to enable the new players to settle so quickly I think it's then enabled them to perform at the level that they have done a bit like myself really in terms of the staff as well they've really helped me settle to then obviously then put the plans in place how I see the game how I see us playing how I see us getting victories and and getting where we want to get. And like I say, everyone's pulled in the right direction and worked really hard to do that.

13:29And I'm just, I'm really pleased for them. I'm really pleased for them that they're finally starting to get the rewards, all the hard work's put in. But as you've said, we've still got two games to go. We've got to make sure, it's really important that we make sure we continue working hard. it's important that we continue to drive ourselves to make sure we stay in this league.

13:54Stuart Watson:What are your playing principles as a coach or non-negotiables, if you like, David, whether that's playing style, whether that's off the pitch with culture, how would you describe that? Probably a lot. The behavioural stuff is really important to me in terms of that as one of the first things I came in and spoke to the players about in terms of just for example of like always wanting to learn and get better, having that real humility to understand like where we all are and having that open mindedness to learn and get better. That's really important to me. And to do that, you need to work hard at it.

14:37you know you need to it's like i say it's not gonna be it's not given to anyone um so you've really got to work hard for it so the the behavioral stuff is is really really important to me i think that's the foundation of of everything that i like to do i think if you don't get the behavioral stuff right then when you start talking about uh your principles of play or the structure of your team until you get the behaviors right that's the foundation for everything um and we've got that the the girls like i say have taken it on um taking on board great which then has allowed us then to to move quickly into the next bit in terms of the principles of how i how i see the game um how i see games opponents were playing against and then certain structures that we we we will take to uh even nullify um their you know their principles or or obviously exploit their weaknesses.

15:35So like I say, the girls have been great. They've taken this on board and really tried to execute as much as they can. But also I'll give them, I would say I think it's really important as well. It's important to me anyway that within that framework, the girls have got room to express themselves in that. I'm not a massive fan of, you know, do this, do that, do this, do that and you're constantly telling them exactly what to do this is my framework of how I see how I see the game and I want the girls to have the confidence to feel what's required in that moment and then try to execute it.

16:16Stuart Watson:Yeah, who have been the big influences on you throughout maybe your playing career, people that you you've taken bits from I would imagine people you've worked under coaches you've worked alongside you've mentioned some people already but there must be lots of different people you've taken bits from along the way. Yeah, 100%. I think you take bits from, I think you take good and bad bits, you know, in terms of, I didn't realise at the time, but I went into Kral Alexander at the age of nine and left at 23, something like that. So in terms of having a massive influence all the way through my development of Dario Grady and then Steve Holland, obviously what they've done in football is brilliant I didn't realise the education, how lucky I was in terms of that point I think then you have certain coaches that you move through just in terms of I obviously talk about my time at Crystal Palace, I think that was Dougie Freeman's man management was tops them things of actually treating every single person as an individual it's um every single person has individual needs and trying to find out about them needs and and helping them along the way and and then there's other coaches in terms of yeah i've known brian clue for a long long time and steve foley as well who when i signed for ipswich were absolutely brilliant absolutely brilliant you know that supporting jimma gildan um they were not not just their knowledge of the game but how they how they how they treated you as a person they could see the times because football is up and down, it's never all that unfortunately, them really good moments and the really tough moments that always be with you so like I say I've probably got hundreds and hundreds of people that have really influenced me, players I've played with, looking at real senior pros just for an example when Ariane Desu signed at Wigan unbelievable just unbelievable professional unbelievable pro top person you know just watching watching him and what he was doing was yeah like a big influence in terms of like professionalism and things like that so yeah I think that's what you do I remember Dick Bates saying to me many years ago that he told me to be a magpie go around and just pinch as much as you can and use it obviously don't copy what they're doing you know make sure you you put your you you make sure it works for you uh but yeah make sure you be a magpie and just go around and pinch everything everything you can to help you on your journey and uh yeah what a brilliant uh brilliant man and brilliant coach he was um so them words were obviously invaluable yeah just going back to the women's game obviously you touched upon the the lionesses has has been such an inspiration to to many and and the game has grown hugely over the last five ten years um watching that from afar is that something that's that's pleased you you'll have women in your life like like um all of us do um i don't know if you've got daughters or anything like that but the people around you how important is it to you to see the women's game growing and becoming what it is yeah definitely i've got a 19 year old daughter who's It was very sporty.

19:54So, yeah, probably my wife more weekends because I was always at football, but in terms of netball and hockey and horse riding, all them things, we've been up and down the country supporting her as well as my son. I think it's great. I think it's great. I think the England team, what the Lionesses have done has probably accelerated the sport in this country, I don't know, tenfold. It's great. You know, you look at, I mean, we've played at Portman Road a couple of times and you look at the crowds that we're bringing in. You look in, you know, Arsenal in terms of pulling like 60 ,000 in and stuff like that.

20:34I think the game's growing and it's getting bigger and bigger. And it's something that's why it's really important that we keep progressing. I know the plans that Mark and Luke and Dimitri have for the women's team. We've got to make sure we obviously be staying in this league first and foremost to then give us a real good springboard to move in the direction that the club and we want it to move in.

21:04Stuart Watson:Yeah, I was going to say about the ambition of the women's side of things. I've spoken to Mark Ashton a few times on and off over the years. It's clear that the club is putting a lot of stock in the women's side of things and how that sort of meshes in with what Ipswich Town is as a football club. First season in WSL 2 after a rise. Hopefully you're going to keep them there. New training ground obviously will be hopefully complete in the summer. You've got great facilities coming for the women's side of things. What is the ambition? What is the ceiling? Where can you go? Well, sure, obviously in the next week or so, we want to make sure we stay in this league.

21:46Because like I say, I think it gives us a great springboard to move forward in the direction we want to move in. And then it's just building then. We've got to keep building. I don't think it's going to be all of a sudden we finish wherever we finish in this league. and then all of a sudden we're at the top of the league next year. I mean, that would be absolutely brilliant, but I think we've got to be very realistic in terms of how we build. We've got to take it step by step and make sure we move the women's game and the academy, in terms of the women's academy, we move that forward. Like I say, we've got real ambitions to create something that the club can be really proud of and the people in Suffolk can be really proud of in terms of the, obviously, not just the men's game, but the women's game as well.

22:41So it's exciting. I'm excited because I know how ambitious the club is and what they want to do with the women's game. So I'm really looking forward to being a part of it.

22:54Stuart Watson:Yeah, feeling that ambition must have been a big part of you taking on this job longer term. I mean, you were well backed in the transfer window, I think nine signings that have come in. There's obviously assurances that the club wants to keep pushing forward with the women's side of things? Yeah, we want to. I mean, we want to keep evolving. You know, we can't, we, you know, we're not going to get anywhere by standing still. So keep moving it forward. Obviously, Sean came in and done a brilliant job in January in terms of his knowledge of the women's game and players. The girls that obviously were here anyway in the dressing room and the girls that came in have done a great job.

23:35Like I say, we want to make sure we stay in this league and then we want to keep evolving and moving the club forward and making it bigger and better. Obviously, we're all really looking forward to being part of it.

23:49Stuart Watson:10 ,000, close to Portman Road, walking out as manager. There must have been a special moment for you. Yeah, it's great. It wasn't just good for me. It's great for the girls to play at Portman Road, great for the girls to play in front of a fan base of nearly 10 ,000 people. And it's just unfortunate they didn't get what they deserved. I thought the performance was really good that day. And we could tell we're up against the Southampton team that are really strong and having a really good season. And we managed to create 22 opportunities. obviously we had 22 shots which against a team like that is a really good effort and to be beaten by an offside goal in the last seconds of the game was harsh but yeah that's football isn't it I'm hoping we're going to have a lot better moments than that last 10 seconds of the game Colchester is your home at the moment a place you know well how's that working out and you're hoping for more more Portman Road games further forwards yeah it'd be nice obviously Colchester's been brilliant it's a it's a really good stadium obviously the the men's under 21s play there as well so we've got a we've got a great relationship with Colchester I think I don't know in terms of the plans next year in terms of home games and this that and the other that's something that will obviously get worked out in the next month or so.

25:27But it would be great to maybe have one or two more games at Portman Road. Not just for the players to experience the stadium, but also for families, young kids who actually come and watch and a bit like what we touched on before. My daughter, 10-12 years ago, to come and watch a game of football and see women perform really good level is so, so important. And obviously after the game as well, that's one thing that I really like about the women's game, just in terms of the fan interactions after the game, the girls go over, sign loads of autographs and get to meet the kids. I think it's a really good way of bringing the fans closer to the players, closer to the sport.

26:21and hopefully we'll have a few more days at Portman Road. It'd be great.

26:28Stuart Watson:Yeah. The phrase, if you can see it, you can be it, kind of springs to mind. And my daughter's just coming up for 10 now and she's grown up seeing it on TV. She's seen me watching it. It just creates a topic of conversation. Your daughter, as you say, is 19. Probably if you rewind 10 years, that probably wasn't there for her, was it? She's done other sports. maybe she'd have followed football had that had it been a little bit different i don't know does is that important do you think for it to be yeah yeah i think massively important i probably didn't realize how how important it was i go back to um it was the olympics um and obviously it would be the london olympics you know like usain bolt and mo farrell winning all these uh absolutely brilliant brilliant um achievements um and then you had the the girls in terms of the hockey and obviously my uh my daughter loved loved hockey and she was she was fixed she was fixed to the tv i remember obviously this is quite a few years ago and she was she was quite young um she was uh yeah she had a favorite player i'm trying to think the favorite favorite player now it's obviously it slipped my mind but i think it it what caught her eye was she had the same she said uh daddy look she's got pigtails like me yeah and i'm just having that having that connection of of seeing someone just like her achieving brilliant brilliant things i just it's got to be important um so if we can do that if we can bring if we can bring obviously um more people into the stadium uh enjoying the football giving young girls these great experiences then yeah like like you said If you can see it, you can be it.

28:11I think it's so, so important to move the game forward and evolve it.

28:17Stuart Watson:And are football dressing rooms, football dressing rooms, regardless of whether it's men's academy football, women's football, is it the same? Does it change at all now you're in the women's game in terms of everything that goes into preparation and all the rest of it? It's the competitive beast that want to win games of football? Yeah, 100%. It's exactly the same. It's exactly the same. I'm prepping, just actually, I'm probably prepping more than what I was doing in my time with Liam at MK Dons. It's exactly the same. It's just as important. The tactical element of giving real clarity to the players of what you want from them in and out of possession.

29:03Yeah, it's... Yeah, we work really hard in terms of not just myself, but the staff, of making sure we give the players as much as we can. So when they walk onto the pitch, there's no blurred lines. There's real clarity in what we expect from them individually and as a collective.

29:28Stuart Watson:What about yourself, David? For your longer-term thoughts, is it just a case of suck it and see where it takes you? Do you want to get back into the men's game? Can you see yourself becoming a men's manager at some stage? Or is this you now for the foreseeable? What are you thinking? Yeah, no, this is me. Like I said, I've really enjoyed it. I think that's obviously important. I'm coming to work with good people in terms of working with staff, in terms of working with players, which is really important. I'm sure we've all had the opposite experience in our life. And I understand how lucky I am to be in this position.

30:12And then coaching football, that's what I want to do. I love it. That's all I've known. So to me, in terms of academy, boys, men's, girls, it doesn't really matter. I enjoy coaching. I love working with players. I love being part of a staff to help players get better and achieve what they want to achieve. And if they're achieving that individually, then as a collective, we'll be achieving and we'll be moving forward. So I don't see myself doing anything else but this.