I had a good break in May and June, including a nice holiday away with Lisa in Cyprus and a couple of very boozy boys weekends. After a long season, I think its always important to relax and let your hair down for at least a month. Like anything else in life, you can get too much football and start to take it for granted, so a break from the game usually helped to build my appetite for the football when pre-season came around, as well as giving my body a complete rest and recharge.

I felt pretty well established going back for pre-season in 2001, but still had a little doubt in the back of my mind as to whether Harry felt the same, particularly as I’d have rated my performances as averaging around 6, maybe 7, out of 10 over the course of the previous season. Steve Haddon, a mate from York who had played with me at Rowntrees and had played for Whitby previously for a short while, decided to have a go and do pre-season in the hope of getting a deal. This was great for me, as Steve was and is to this day a good mate, and I had both a training partner and someone to travel through with who lived near me. He was a big, strong lad – good in the air and also quite comfortable in possession. The only issue I saw with Steve was that at a lower level he was mobile enough to get around the park and impose himself on the opposition. At step 2 football though, the step up in terms of the pace of the game and the physicality meant that he didn’t have this advantage. As far as footballing ability went, he was good but not great, possessing better basic control and skill than I did but in comparison to the Jim Dobbins or Mitch Cooks of this world, nothing out of the ordinary. I felt his best chance of playing consistently at that level was at centre half, which would have provided me with some competition, but I don’t think he agreed. He also suffered with injuries as he got older, and this I think took its toll on him.

Both Steve and I got ourselves in good shape, doing a few sessions together on our own in York and also a couple up in Northallerton, which Harry would sometimes use as a base for a fitness session with the lads who were based in Yorkshire. His sessions were very old school, and he was very hands on, unlike some managers who prefer to watch whilst their assistant or other coaches run the session. It all demonstrated a passion for football that I’ve rarely seen in other coaches – it was in his blood.

Harry – or “the tache” as he was referred to because of the big black moustache that makes him so instantly recognisable - played at Wembley for Scarborough and was a top non league player in his day. He was typical of football men of his generation from the north east. He lived for the game, and you got the impression that work and any other time not spent at football was all of little importance to him. He is a fairly simple and straightforward guy – underlined by the fact he goes on holiday to the same place in Benidorm every year where he can get his favourite pint to wash down his egg and chips cooked the way he likes it! His knowledge of the non league game is immense, and he’s picked up so many contacts in the game, including the professional game, that he can call upon. He had enjoyed success with Spennymoor and Bishop Auckland before going to Whitby, and was at the helm for the most successful period in Whitby’s history, master minding the Northern League and FA Vase winning exploits in 1997 before going on to win the Unibond Division 1 title the following season. He left Whitby in 2003 and went on to win the Unibond Premier league at Blyth as well as taking them to the third round of the FA Cup where they were beaten by Premier League side Blackburn 1-0, live on satellite television. I remember sitting down to watch the game with a sense of pride for Harry – it was his finest moment and to see him rub shoulders with Sam Allardyce was terrific, a fantastic reward for him. Blyth achieved massive coverage in the national press as a result and probably made over £200,000 from the cup run. I still speak to him occasionally and he is always willing to do anything he can to help, which he proved by giving a side I was coaching in Guernsey a pre-season game at Whitby in 2009, despite my request to him being only a few weeks prior when the busy pre-season had already been planned.

I was lucky to play under such an experienced manager at that stage in my career. He wasn’t really a coach, as I think he basically expected the lads he signed to be technically and physically capable already. He focussed on tactics and ensuring we had approached the game with the right mental attitude. He also had a huge array of little tricks that helped us gain an advantage. The side was well drilled and there were always two or three of us who he could rely on to drop with an apparent injury if he felt we needed a breather or to re-group. He made sure we slowed the game down at the right time but also stepped up the tempo when it was necessary. He also spent time on making sure that we dealt with our individual battles in the right way. If he felt one of their players didn’t fancy it, he’d get one of us to stick the lad on his backside early and one of our team mates to wander past and step on his fingers or help him up by his underarm hairs – a test of character that many failed because they’d subsequently disappear into their shell. This all sounds quite cynical and I suppose it was but the game at that time, at that level, was tough both physically and mentally. We were a pretty streetwise unit and more often than not used a combination of these tactics to gain a small advantage. The only time I ever disagreed with Harry ended up in a pretty big dressing room bust up. We played Barrow at home and got beat 2-0 after what was a distinctly average performance by all of us. Harry lost it after the game because I had given Nicky Peverill, Barrow’s former Middlesbrough centre forward, a hand to get up after I’d caught him late. The game was gone by this point and I was on thin ice having already picked up a yellow. I thought that it made little difference psychologically as the game was almost finished and we’d lost and I also thought it would help me stay on the pitch. Harry saw differently and it was the only time I had a big disagreement with him, as he accused me of being too nice and too soft. I can see his point looking back but think it is only right to act like that if you can gain a little advantage in the context of the game. Off the field I’ve no interest in carrying on little duals started on the pitch – I might not like some of the lads I’ve played against but I’ve always felt I’ve got better things to do with my time than carry it on off the pitch and act like a school kid. If I really felt they deserved it, I might make a point of going through them on the pitch the next time our paths crossed just to let them know I would be happy to mix it but that’s about it.

The first pre-season game was the North Riding County cup semi final against York City. It was a game a few of us were looking forward to. Some of the lads had played at York and been released and obviously I lived in York which added to my desire to perform well. Working at Nestle in York meant a few of my colleagues were big York fans and season ticket holders at Bootham Crescent, so the banter at work was great and they came along with a strong following from York to watch at the Turnbull Ground in Whitby. York were then a football league side, and had therefore been working hard on a full time pre-season schedule. They fielded an almost full strength side, including the likes of former Newcastle forward Alex Mathie. I was honoured to be made skipper by Harry - Logie started on the bench which gave me the opportunity and was a nice touch from Harry. We drew the game 1-1, and I had one of the best games of my career. I felt very fit, and gave very little away. I hit the bar with a powerful header from a corner at the other end and just had one of those nights when everything went well. Everything that is, apart from the penalty I took during the penalty shoot out. I went for power and struck it really well but leaned back too much and the ball hit the bar and bounced back at me. We went on to lose as two of my team mates also missed, but because it was only a county cup match and was really there for us to build on our fitness, the result didn’t sting too much. The York chairman said after the game that I was his man of the match and I have to say, I was over the moon with the kind words I got from him and others after the game, including my work mates, in whose eyes I had probably gone up a notch or two. My progress was reflected with an improved deal as well, Harry increasing my basic to £90 a week plus bonuses. Not long after, I was lined up to play a game for Scarborough’s reserves who still played in the Pontins league with all of the league clubs’ reserve teams– they were reportedly interested in signing me which would have meant full time football. It never happened and I heard nothing more – I wasn’t good enough to be a pro anyway, the money would have been less than my combined wage from work and football and as it was, Scarborough were heading for administration only a year later. Some things just aren’t meant to be, though there is a small voice in my head that sometimes begs the question “how would I have done”. As with many things in life, operating at a higher level usually meant I upped my game, as had been the case with my step up 4 rungs on the footballing ladder when I moved to Whitby. Maybe I’d have kept improving, and the full time schedule might have brought more out in terms of footballing ability and physical attributes. I’ll never know, but I reckon I actually achieved 95% of what I could with my ability and might well have struggled in more exalted company.