Every so often, George Burley takes a walk through the park and bumps into a vision of his younger self. Kieran McKenna is practically a neighbour; the greetings are always warm and the common ground bountiful. They are the only two men alive who know exactly what it takes to guide an Ipswich side to the Premier League and both have come to understand how success in Suffolk can propel a reputation towards the stars.
In Burley's case it was a fifth-placed finish in the 2000-01 top flight, straight after going up, that sent him into the pantheon. He was named manager of the season, the first of only five times when the recipient did not win the title, and it capped a fairytale story that barely feels possible now. "It couldn't get any better, it was an honour, an incredible feat," he says. "I don't know if a team that comes up could equal or beat that now. It might never happen again."
Burley is now 68 and a long time out of football. He moved back to Ipswich 11 years ago after his final role in management, a brief stint at Apollon Limassol. The heights of those days in the Portman Road dugout were never quite recaptured but there is little sense of what might have been. He felt he owed his family some of the time they had missed ever since, as a 15-year-old in 1972, he came down from East Ayrshire to sign terms with a club that would take off under Sir Bobby Robson. "Some managers say they can't do without football but I've never been that way," he says. "I think there's more to life."
Denne historien er fra November 21, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra November 21, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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