Big Interview: Chorley boss Andy Preece says Magpies can target higher ground

It’s a famous old saying that resonates with every football manager across the land.

Chorley manager Andy Preece knows only too well the highs and lows the game has to offer.

A playing career which began in non-league and peaked with a move to the Premier League, Preece has spent the past two decades-plus in coaching, predominantly as a manager, since taking over as player-boss at Bury in 1999.

He’s had success – and failures – and the 55-year-old admits the art of management is sometimes knowing when you have perhaps reached the end of the line at a particular club.

That was the situation former Magpies boss Jamie Vermiglio found himself in this summer when Buxton came calling for his services.

Preece had worked as Vermiglio’s assistant for four years at Victory Park – the pair enjoying a fruitful partnership.

They guided the club to promotion to the National League – the top tier of non-league football – in their first season.

Although relegation the following season was perhaps inevitable as the part-time Magpies competed against full-time outfits, there was a feeling that the pair had been victims of their own success.

However, despite the interruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chorley bounced back the the following season, enjoying arguably the greatest moment in their long history during the 2020/21 season when they reached the fourth round proper of the FA Cup.

Famous wins against League One opposition Wigan Athletic and Peterborough United were followed by a 2-0 home win over Championship side Derby County, albeit the Rams’ squad had been decimated by covid cases.

The run was eventually brought to an end at the hands of Premier League Wolves by the narrow margin of 1-0 at Victory Park live on national television.

Last season, the Magpies continued to punch above their weight as they reached the play-offs once again in the National League North.

With his reputation and profile still high, Vermiglio had to weigh up whether a change was both good for him and the club.

Had he taken the club as far as he could, knowing that a poor start to this season could have seen his stock plummet and his popularity wane with the supporters?

"We had overachieved….overachieved, pushed again and been up and around it,” said Preece. “I just think there comes a time when you think, ‘How far can you take Chorley?

"You might get an opportunity which you might think you can take to that next level and sustain it.

"Jamie got the offer from Buxton and he had to consider it. I don’t think it was a surprise because he’s ambitious.

"Buxton have a backer who is putting money in and that could maybe turn into something full-time in the future.

"Sometimes opportunities come and they can disappear very quickly.

"He had to weigh up whether he could take Chorley on again. Sometimes a change is good for everyone.

"But I do know, it was a big wrench for him to leave.”

Preece was always the natural successor to Vermiglio and the former Stockport County and Crystal Palace striker is excited at the prospect of stamping his own personality as a manager on the Magpies.

While managing a club like Chorley at this level has its challenges, the former Stockport County and Crystal Palace striker believes there is still scope for progression.

He sees no reason why the club cannot sustain itself in the division above especially as he and Vermiglio moved the club towards a more professional way of working.

In recent seasons, the club has moved to a hybrid model in terms of training three times per week and there has been a policy to scout younger talent who perhaps would have less difficulty turning professional should the club move to a full-time way of working in the future.

There is, of course, the supporter base which a town like Chorley can attract.

"A club like Chorley does have to live within its means,” said Preece. “It is tough, it is difficult.

"I know some of the fans will look at the FA Cup money we made and ask where has that gone?

"We did have historical debt. At times in the past we probably over budgeted and that had to be paid off.

"It would have been easier for us to say, ‘Let’s invest in the team, let's have a go’.

"But at some point those debts will need to be paid off so it is a balancing act.

"I would rather be in a position where we haven’t got that debt, we’re living within our means and then we can build something.

"We have been clever with our recruiting in terms of signing players and making them want to stay at the club because they could go elsewhere for more money.

"I have to get the best out of what I have got and I think that has been a strength of mine over the years.

"We are still competing and I think we have done reasonably well this season so far."

The Magpies find themselves just below midtable in the NL North but are only three points outside the play-offs, as they host Leamington at Victory Park this weekend.

Preece believes his team are certainly capable of mounting a promotion push – and believes the supporters will play an important role.

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"One of my main jobs is to make sure everybody is together,” said Preece. “Our fans have a big part to play. it just makes us so much stronger when they are behind us.

"I know what it’s like to be in that crowd. I have been to games scouting; night matches, etc. You think, ‘Flippin eck, this is some atmosphere.

"I would be leaving early and you would then hear the crowd roar because Chorley had scored in the 85th minute and you just knew that goal had been coming because of the atmosphere which had been created.

"Victory Park is not the nicest place to come and play; with the changing rooms, etc, and that is to our advantage.”

Chorley is Preece’s sixth managerial job in a coaching career spanning nearly a quarter of a century.

Thrown in at the deep end would be the best way to describe his first foray into management.

In his early 30s and one of the senior players at Bury, Preece had begun to think about life after playing.

Handed the opportunity to take charge of the Shakers’ reserve team for a couple of games, the striker suddenly found himself managing the first team in December 1999.

He managed to keep the club in League One for two seasons before the club flirted with administration following the collapse of ITV Digital.

Ultimately the team suffered relegation to League Two in 2002 amid all the off-field-worries but the following season he inspired a promotion charge but they were beaten by Bournemouth in the play-offs.

The Shakers have since gone into liquidation in 2020 although a phoenix club has risen from the ashes.

"I was 32-years-old and still playing when I was asked to take charge at Bury,” Preece said. “At the time I just thought it was a bit of fun – never did I think it would lead to this long in management.

"It’s sad to see what’s happened to Bury in recent seasons because that’s what nearly happened when I was there.

"You would have fans shaking buckets and collecting money at games to help keep the club afloat.

"I am proud of what I did at Bury during that period because I know how close the club was to going out of business.”

Since then, Preece has managed hometown club Worcester City, Northwich Victoria, Welsh Premier League side Airbus UK Broughton – who he took into Europe – and Southport.

However, his stint at Bury remains his only job in the Football League. He has been outspoken in the past about the lack of managerial opportunities for black and Asian coaches.

"It’s tough,” he said. “You try to tick all the boxes. I have got all the coaching qualifications.

"Why I haven’t had another Football League job I don’t know? It’s a tough one.

"Look, it does get frustrating because in my first full season at Bury, we were in top two or three after 10 games with one of the lowest budgets in League One.

"I see managers now getting touted for Championship jobs, but that never happened with me.

"I felt I was capable of doing that, I still think I am capable of managing higher and you’ve got to believe in yourself.

"But unfortunately those opportunities didn’t come. All the opportunities that I have had have been tough.

"Bury we had no money; Northwich went in administration; Worcester were struggling.

"The only one you could say wasn’t struggling was Airbus – but they were struggling to make an impact and we built that up and had a team which was challenging year after year and going into Europe.

"You can’t say that Airbus had money but getting into Europe gave us money and so we could start bringing in better players although we couldn’t quite compete with TNS as they were full-time.

"But that showed that I could build something and then get some money in for the club and maintain it.

"I sort of get bandied around as some kind of firefighter. You kind of get that reputation so only get those sort of jobs.”

Next week: In the third and final part, Andy Preece looks back at his playing career