‘Football is in my blood’ - legendary non-league manager reflects on career
The second part of an in-depth chat with Tony Hesketh.
Tony Hesketh has looked back on his time in management as he takes on a new role at Fulwood Amateurs.
The 70-year-old became the North West Counties League side’s chairman last week after Brian Hersee, who oversaw their transition from the West Lancashire League, stepped back.
Hesketh had previously been manager at Fulwood between 2014 and 2024, the most recent of a number of spells in the dugout across Lancashire.
He retired from playing aged 26, having been on the books at Preston North End as a young midfielder, as well as Wigan Athletic and Chorley.
Over a 42-year managerial career, he has taken charge of BAC Preston, Netherfield - and, following its name change, Kendal Town - Barrow, Morecambe (as assistant), Lancaster on two occasions, Chorley and, finally, Fulwood Amateurs.
Asked whether he envisaged still being so directly involved in the sport at 70 all those years ago, Hesketh told the Lancashire Post: “Football’s in my blood, it’s been a massive part of my life.
“I always want to be attached to football, it’s like a drug to me and I get a kick out of it, even though I’m not involved in the dressing room side of things.
“I still get a tremendous buzz out of seeing the lads turning up, people turning up to watch the game, seeing the clubhouse full of people and fans enjoying the match.
“I just love football so much, we come down to the Fulwood ground [Lightfoot Green] every day. There’s six regular volunteers, we come down and we work on the ground.
“We’re on the tractors, we’re cutting all the six acres of land that need some attention. There’s plenty of jobs to do through the summer months and then the winter months. We just love being down here.
“It’s a massive part of our life and certainly a massive part of my life. It’s a daily thing down here, three or four hours every day from nine o’clock.
“Obviously the weekends are a bit busier. We have Sunday football down here, I go behind the cafe bar on the Sunday morning at eight o’clock.
“We have junior football played all day, all morning and afternoon on our grounds and some in the region of 400 or 500 people passing through us. It’s brilliant.”
Hesketh loved his time as a manager and looks out for his former clubs’ results, paying them a visit as often as he can.
“The only really difficult experience I had as a manager was maybe in the two years I had at Barrow. It was a difficult time to get involved there.
“Ray Wilkie had just passed away and he was a legendary manager at Barrow. He’d taken them to Wembley and I replaced him. I was fresh from Netherfield and at the time I was in my mid-thirties. It was a difficult time for me and the club.
“But I’ve been at Lancaster for two four-year spells and I loved it thoroughly. Many of the same people who were at the club when I was are still there now.
“Kendal Town, much the same there, and Netherfield as it was when I first went there. I had two four-year spells there as well.
“In between those, I had four years at Morecambe with Jim Harvey. I learned so much as assistant manager to Jim there in the Conference. He was the best coach I’ve seen operate on a football field, on a training ground.
“The club was so well run. I’m seeing [former director] Rod Taylor’s name still mentioned regularly by Morecambe fans. Rod was around when I was at the club and that’s going back 30 years.
“All the clubs I’ve been to, I’ve always been welcomed back and I do follow the results and I still keep in touch with many of the people attached to them. They are proper non-league people like I am myself.”
The achievements Hesketh is most proud of in his career include guiding Kendal to play-off victory, regular top-six finishes with Lancaster City over his two spells, securing the survival of then-Northern Premier League side Chorley in the 2007/08 season, and playing a big role in transforming Fulwood Amateurs into the club it is today.
Many would say non-league football has changed a lot in four decades but, for Hesketh, the fundamentals of the beautiful game remain much the same.
“I do hear a lot of managers talk for a long time about the tactics and strategies, but I think 11 lads are going out there, a group of 16 with your subs; if they’re fit, if they’re well-disciplined, if they’ve got good spirits about them, simple organisation, you’re always going to compete.
“If things progress the game, then so be it, but it’s still the same game and I can go back 40 years and think of games where I’ve gone ‘wow, what have I just witnessed?’ That was without all the technical side and the analysis and how many miles people have run and all the data.”
It’s an exciting time for non-league football in Lancashire. Newly promoted AFC Fylde are in the National League play-off positions and Lancaster City have recently announced controlling investment from Canadian firm Go North Ventures.
Bamber Bridge and Chorley are now on a steady footing after financial concerns over the past couple of years. Fulwood, meanwhile, are the latest in a long line of local sides to break into Step 6 football.
“It’s a fantastic time for football in the area. I do try and get out to a game a week if we aren’t playing.
“I love my trips to Clitheroe and the like, they’re going ever so well. Chorley and Fylde are going from strength to strength.
“Lee Ashcroft [manager of Longridge Town] is a good pal of mine. He’s worked wonders there to keep them in the division and they’ve been in the top seven on a couple of occasions.
“They are our rivals but we are both hoping the other does very, very well. Things are very much on the up in the local area. Football round here is thriving.”