PAUL OAKES, CHAIRMAN OF FAIRFIELD VILLA, WRITES ABOUT HIS LIFE IN FOOTBALL...

 Paul Oakes, the legendary Chairman of Fairfield Villa FC answered my interview questions about his life in football.

Thanks for spending time working on this article, Paul…

“The earliest memories for me began in 1966 as a 5 year old, sitting with my family around a black and white TV watching the World Cup Final and hearing those immortal words: “They think it’s all over… It is now…”

I was then given an old leather case-ball complete with laces which became my prized possession and I even took it to bed with me. Christmas presents were always football related and I remember getting a blue tracksuit and a claret and blue kit, although not like today’s replica ones. They were all the same styles but just in different colours.

I started playing football at Peterbrook Junior school in Solihull as a left-back and although I was keen I wasn’t very good!

I suppose I got into team football after moving to Redditch at 11 years old. I was always a heavy kid and everyone knows the rules of playground football: the heavy kid is the 'keeper.

I played for Dingleside Middle School in Woodrow, which is now a housing estate and I really enjoyed it, progressing to the Leys High School, now called Tudor Grange Academy.

By then I was getting to be fairly decent and despite my stature and size I was surprisingly athletic. Our school won the District Cup and we had seven of that team go on to represent the Redditch District at county level.

The next step was selection for Hereford and Worcestershire County to play in the National Cup. We got through a couple of rounds until getting knocked out playing Oxfordshire at the old Manor Ground where I got voted player of the match.

During this period I was asked to go to train at Aston Villa for the team playing in the Birmingham Boys League and got selected as the first-team’s ‘keeper. The players were the pick of the area and we won everything for a couple of years and I was 13/14 by then.

The most amazing time was to come, for we toured Germany, in particular Hamburg when Kevin Keegan was their hero. To actually tour and room with the team and play foreign opposition was amazing. Pulling on the shirt of my boyhood heroes was a dream.

My favourite memories were winning the tournament over there and playing in a Cup Final at Villa Park against a certain Brendan Ormsby who went on to play for Villa and Leeds United.

The training in the early days was at Villa Park itself in the car park under the watchful and very stern command of Frank Upton and Ron Wylie, who were very tough, uncompromising characters who took no nonsense. Eventually we were able to go to Bodymoor Heath, where the facilities were amazing. 

I eventually finished at Aston Villa as every school year had a team and the fact was that there were better players in my position than me and schoolboy terms were never going to come my way, but for those few short seasons I felt like a star. 

I remember going into Harry Parkes’ sports shop in Birmingham with a form stating I was playing for AVFC and getting 25% discount on my boots and gloves…

From leaving school at 16 I didn’t really play much as work took priority and I messed about just playing low-level Sunday football with my pals. Eventually, having kids at 19 years of age, my playing days were over.

Looking back at my time made me realise what a really tough task it is ahead of any young footballers with aspirations of making a living in the professional game. We had some fabulous kids in our side but none came through the process to progress.

After having a son at 19 I got my football fix by watching AVFC and saw the glory teams of 1981/82 and in 1991 my son began to show an interest in football, so I got involved as a coach at Feckenham Juniors, where my love and passion began again as I watched him develop and enjoy his football.

I probably enjoyed those years from 1991 until 1995/96 the most. We had moved clubs by then to Knowle FC and we had a fabulous side including a future star, Jimmy Davis who was probably the best kid I have ever seen. Jimmy was killed on August 9th 2003 in a car crash whilst on loan at Watford from Manchester United…

JIMMY DAVIS, CENTRE...

Jimmy was the jewel in the crown however and in the same side we had Josh Walker who later signed professional forms at Manchester United, also Jason Lanns the current Romulus manager and he played at Rotherham United and Leeds United. He was a top kid too…

It was during the early 1990s that the professional clubs really started investing in junior football with the introduction of schools of excellence and every Sunday our games were being watched by the local teams. Peter Withe, John Trewick, etc, were all looking for the next talent and most of the Knowle team spent time with these schools of excellence but the three aforementioned players were the ones who progressed.

Jimmy was wanted desperately by Manchester United but the rules in the day meant that kids had to live within a certain radius of the club they signed for, so Jimmy signed for AVFC until he was old enough to sign for Manchester United.

Knowle FC came to a natural conclusion in '97 as we reached the end of the Central Warwickshire age group, but seeing those kids doing so well was a pleasure and it gave me a sense of pride.

JASON LANNS FEATURES ON THIS KNOWLE FC IMAGE, BACK ROW, 5TH FROM LEFT...

I could recall so many happy and heart warming times with that side and those memories will stay with me forever but the death of Jimmy was a devastating time and as I’m writing this now, I’m fighting back the tears…

The bug was still in me however and my next appointment was as Youth Team Manager at Alvechurch FC with Pete Eacock, who later became Chairman of the club. In the Midland Floodlight League my son Kevin captained the side for two seasons, with lads like Andrew Johnson, Anthony Savoury, Danny Pilgrim, Junior Hewitt, Michael Campbell, Earl Jordan, Robert Brassington, Stuart Rhodes, Danny Lewis and Adam Guest, all of whom have gone on to play significant numbers of games for teams in the Midland Football League. 

The pinnacle of those times was beating Nuneaton Borough at Queens Road on penalties after a 3-3 draw, for Danny Lewis went on to save the first 3 spot-kicks to send us through to the final of the Birmingham County Cup.

We faced Paget Rangers in the Cup Final who were playing at Castle Vale’s ground at the time but it was another fortunate night for us as we beat them 2-1 to become champions and if memory serves me right it was the only game they lost all season…

The next step saw me take on the Alvechurch Reserve team job, a team which was playing in  the Midland Combination Division 3. The remit was to progress as many players as possible to the first team under the guidance of Mick Preece and Lee Shaw. We had a very good season, finishing as runners-up to a team called Hagley and losing the Cup Final at Northfield Town.

ALVECHURCH RESERVES...

Following a change in the chair at Alvechurch and a difference of opinion, my next stop was to take the whole squad over to Coventry and a team called Mount Nod who played in the very tough Coventry Alliance Premier League. In our first season we won the Stan Ould Trophy which at the time was played over New Year, then one of my most enjoyable games occurred when we played in the Coventry Charity Cup at Highfield Road, Coventry City’s old ground. Our very young side lost to Bedworth Ex-Servicemen 2-1 with Savoury scoring our goal from the penalty-spot.

OAKESY & MOUNT NOD FC...

ABOVE & BELOW: LOSING FINALISTS IN THE COVENTRY CHARITY CUP AT HIGHFIELD ROAD...

A PROUD DAY FOR PAUL THOUGH...

So, on to pastures new and a brief spell at Northfield Town when I joined up with Lee Shaw for the 2004/5 season. It was a modest season though which saw us finish in mid-table but a chance remark to our last opponents of the season Fairfield Villa saw both Lee and me take over the hot seat in 2005/06.

This is a chapter of my football life which I have thoroughly enjoyed and the club is without doubt the friendliest, warmest, most welcoming club with wonderful people involved. Charlie Harris is a non-league icon and both he and former chairman Paddy Eades have both been recognised by the County FA for 50 years of service to football.

CHARLIE HARRIS IN THE FAIRFIELD CLUBROOM...

Since the club escaped relegation in 2004/05 we have had some great success, winning the President’s Cup twice, the County Cup in 2008, as well as being finalists in those two Cups a further 5/6 times, along with a losing final in the Smedley Crooke Cup.

We managed the side from 2005/06 until 2016/17 and in those years we had a runners-up finish, a 3rd place finish and 7 times we ended up 4th, with some good memories along the way.

OAKESY SEEMS TO LIKE WINNING.
WELL, JUST A BIT...

FAIRFIELD'S 2017 PRESIDENT'S CUP WINNERS...

I then decided due to ill health to step down as Manager and I took over as Chairman but I still have high hopes for the club.

We are restricted by our current landlords from erecting floodlights but we still have hopes that one day we might resolve this. However, we are very proud of the facility and pride ourselves on being a community club.

The season 2022/23 will be an exciting one for the club. Keith Draper has stepped down as manager after doing a magnificent job in very troubled times and I have enjoyed his style of management and football immensely but he will be very hard to replace.

I’m pleased to say though, that we have managed to persuade another non-league legend of the game, GJ Singh to take over the helm and I’m very much looking forward to seeing him develop our club.

I have been extremely fortunate to witness some fabulous talent in over 40 years of football management and some wonderful memories and friends have been made along the journey.

The Fairfield side of 2008/09 which won the President’s Cup and the County Cup, as well as finishing 4th in the league was probably the most complete squad I have ever had at Fairfield Villa:

Marc Rogers, Craig Cosgrove, Scott Walsh, Spencer Kenward, Andy Nicol, Martin Townsend, Richard Atkinson, Andy Pike, Joe Walsh, Dave Rousell, Lewis Cosgrove, Dean Beagan, Stuart Hall, Atli  Coakley, Darren Price, Stephen Morgan, Duncan Tye and Marty Harris.

There are loads of others who have have done me proud too, in fact far too many to mention here…

Finally, the things I hate about non-league football are kids who think they are too good to show respect to the club but they don’t last long with me! 

The things I love are the honesty and togetherness of the players, the friends that I’ve made and the memories which no-one can take away from me…”

OAKESY QUITE LIKES THE PRESIDENT'S CUP...

Paul Oakes, Chairman, Fairfield Villa FC…