“We’ve got a lot of teachers,” laughs the 38-year-old, who has managed the Eastern Counties Premier Division side since 2022.
“So they pretty much have to go away in August. They’re here, there and everywhere. I was looking at the dates thinking to myself ‘Jesus Christ, I don’t think I’ll get a team out first day of the season!’”
Such concerns were a world away when Crow, aged just 18, made his debut for Norwich City in a Premier League game against Middlesbrough in December 2004.
“I only played for them three or four times,” he recalls. “But I can always talk about it down the pub, can’t I?”
And talk about it he does. By his own admission, Crow could chat for hours about his playing days, which began at Carrow Road as a scholar, ended at Sudbury in 2017 and took in spells at Peterborough United, Cambridge, Luton, Newport County and Lowestoft Town over the course of an admirable 400-game career.
“I look back and I’ve met some unbelievable people and had some wonderful times,” says Crow, a combative striker who scored over 100 career goals.
“And you know what? If I was a kid coming through now, I’m not even sure I’d have made it. It’s just so much harder for these academy kids to stay in the game.
“Back then, professional deals were like gold dust. They were hard to get, but once you got one it was a lot easier to have a career. Now, it’s the opposite, because the incentive just isn’t there.
“Look at it this way. My first professional deal, if I took my missus out for a meal, that was my week’s wages gone. Now, you’ve got teenagers on £2,000-a-week. Mentally, what does that do?
“If you’re at Norwich Under-23s, going to play Sunderland at the Stadium of Light and getting paid £2,000-a-week to do it, why would you want to leave that to go and play for a King’s Lynn or a Boreham Wood?
Denne historien er fra June 30, 2024-utgaven av The Non-League Football Paper.
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Denne historien er fra June 30, 2024-utgaven av The Non-League Football Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
BARDS' LATE GOAL BLAST LEAVES YELTZ IN DESPAIR
STRATFORD Town struck two late goals to snatch a dramatic victory at Halesowen Town and stay unbeaten in five games.
GEORGE'S CUP ACES DIG IN AT THE BAY
MAIDSTONE UNITED were the FA Cup darlings last season and they made sure they weren’t on the other end of an upset this time.
NOW PAUL NEEDS TO FIND WHO CAN PLAY!
IT WILL be a case of wait and see for Bishops Cleeve manager Paul Collicutt’s team selection on Tuesday night – after a battling goalless draw confirmed a midweek replay.
TOWN PUT IN A BIG CUP SHIFT!
EX-PREMIER League playmaker Elliott Bennett whacked the bar as Shifnal Town went within a whisker of another FA Cup upset.
END OF LINE FOR PROUD MAGPIES
TAUNTON TOWN made it through to the final qualifying round after ending Amersham’s historic FA Cup journey.
BRY REFUSES TO LET IT LY AS SHAKERS MARCH ON!
BRYAN LY kept his cool to fire in a 90th-minute penalty to put Step 5 Bury into the fourth round qualifying in front of an FA Cup sell-out.
JIM'S DALE ARE SO STUBBORN!
KAIRO Mitchell’s eighth goal of the season in the eighth minute goal saw high-flying Rochdale see off Braintree Town and stay fourth in the table in a hard-fought clash at the Crown Oil Arena.
Steve's still Cott a magic touch!
BASHFUL Steve Cotterill refused to take any credit after his managerial masterstroke saw Forest Green edge out a dogged Hartlepool.
PROMOTION CONTENDERS FIRE BLANKS IN TOP CLASH
Defences reign as Spitfires hold York
YOUNG U'S LEARNING ON THE JOB
STEVE Morison’s revamped, youthful Sutton United side took the Surrey derby honours to close in on the National League play-off spots.