NEWTON FORCE IS STRONG AGAIN

SEAN NEWTON has been taking notes from managers for years.

- Matt Badcock

From his time with Paul Fairclough’s England C to his days at York winning the FA Trophy before success for Buxton and now as Ashton United player-assistant boss under Steve Cunningham.

Ideas from training sessions and team meetings have been jotted down, typed up, and saved on his laptop – or Bible, as he refers to it.

“I remember with England C we went away to Poland,” the former Droylsden, AFC Telford, Stockport County, Wrexham, York City and Buxton defender tells The NLP. “Paul Fairclough said I don’t want them to make more than four passes as a team. Probably because it worked, but it stuck with me.

“On the pitch you’re counting, ‘One…two…three… oh my god they’re getting to four passes’. They’re nowhere near your goal but you want to get the ball back so the whole team squeezes up together.

“On the night we were brilliant. We won 2-1. Little things like that I’ve written down from different managers I know would work in some way if I was ever a manager in certain situations.”