David Pleat Interview - With Audio

What part did Nuneaton Borough play in your managerial career, and what were some of the main things you learned from your managerial role with the club?

They had a massive role. They were very friendly people. I met the board after being recommended by Brian Clough and Peter Taylor I think. They were doing a favour for a man called Sam Downs who had a removal business in the area. There was also a man from a coach/bus company called Laws, and then there was the chairman Mr Scattergood. All well known people in the area in the Nuneaton area, all businessmen. Oh and Mr Openshaw, who was either a solicitor, an accountant or an estate agent. He was on the board too.

It was a great great experience and when I joined the club I was asked to get to work quickly. I got one or two players who I knew from previous experience and I bought John Gill and Tony Bircumshaw from Hartlepool. I gave a debut to Kirk Stephens at 16 at Chelmsford, and I promised him that in three years' time or before that if I ever became a manager of a league club, I would sign him which I did.

I paid Nuneaton I think five or ten thousand pounds for him, and he became a wonderful player for Luton Town and still lives of course in the Nuneaton area. And then there was Stan Marshall, who lived in the area, blue and white stripes right through his body, a real Nuneaton man.

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