Why Becoming Spartans New Head Coach was a "No-Brainer" for Jack Beesley.
Having been a playing legend for the Edinburgh side, Spartans New Head Coach Jack Beesley begins a new chapter in the dugout as he looks to lead them away from the SWPL relegation zone.
On Sunday Spartans’ New Head Coach Jack Beesley takes his place in the dugout for the first time following his appointment as successor to the Edinburgh club’s former long-serving manager, and now CEO, Debbi McCulloch.
“When the opportunity to come back to Spartans came along it was a no brainer”, smiles Beesley as we sit down for an extended chat ahead of Sunday’s trip to face Hearts at the Oriam to cover life in football, his relationship with Spartans' and the growth of the women’s game on the pitch and on the sidelines.
“I know the club very well and have lots of really good relationships. I’m not really the type of person that maps out career paths and will more throw myself into opportunities so I was quite flattered to be approached. Ultimately it’s a results driven industry and that will determine success but I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t think I would be supported to make things happen.”
A quick look at the SWPL table, where Spartans currently occupy the relegation play-off spot, highlights that things will be required to happen quickly if the Ainslie Park side are to extend their tenure in the top flight.
“It’s a challenge that I’m relishing but I’m not naive enough to think that I was going to get head hunted by another team competing in the top flight so my past with Spartans has helped me find that path and I’m eager to repay the faith they’ve shown in me.”
Having grown up in the Borders town of Kelso, where one primary school leaned towards football and the other rugby, Beesley, who was announced as a Spartans legend on his appointment following a successful seven year playing stint at the the club, soon found himself drawn towards chasing round instead of oval balls although sports of all different shapes and sizes would dominate his early years.
“One of my earliest memories is going down to a wee club at Kelso when I was five. I remember crying and leaving after ten minutes. My mum was keen for me to stick at it so she took me down again the following week, apparently one of my friends from nursery was there and that helped me settled into it a bit.”
“Despite growing up in the Borders it wasn’t until I moved to secondary school that I dabbled in rugby and cricket. My friendship group were mostly rugby players so they tried to pull me in.”
“I think there was a period I had a football match on Friday night, rugby match on a Saturday morning, football match on a Saturday afternoon and a cricket match on a Sunday but football was always the number one, especially when I stuck at 5”8 and everyone else around me was having growth spurts!”
Along with playing he would also spend his teenage years volunteering as a coach having been picked out by local SFA Development Officers before playing spells at East of Scotland sides Kelso United and Coldstream would follow. A move to study in the capital saw him become a regular for Edinburgh University under Dougie Samuel (current Head Coach of the Spartans men’s side) before he eventually arrived at Spartans where he would go on to make 239 appearances and score 75 goals.
“We were really successful during my time there as a Spartans player. We won a few trophies, there was one season where we won every league and cup that we entered and personally the 2014/15 Scottish Cup campaign was pretty special as I scored a 90th minute winner to knock out Greenock Morton at Ainslie Park.”
Beesley would eventually return to the East of Scotland Football League with Broxburn Athletic where he would move into coaching as a player before officially hanging up his boots to take on a football development role at Ainslie Park although it would be at Hearts where he would make his next step in the world of coaching.
“Spartans had initially recruited me as a Community Coach before I became Football Development Manager and then I moved on to be a Development Officer at the SFA. Somebody at Hearts then got in contact to say they were looking for coaches for their boys section. I did that for seven or eight months and then, when they had a bit of a reshuffle, they were keen for me to move up to the girls U18’s. It was a great opportunity and we had a good bit of success too.”
Along with his role as Spartans Head Coach Beesley acts as a Development Officer for the City of Edinburgh in partnership with the Scottish FA and how to grow female participation not just on the pitch but on the sidelines is one of a number of challenges he’s faced with.
“Developing the next generation of coaches is a big challenge, those who maybe start as volunteers but then go to university and then head down a different path, especially for young female coaches.”
“I worked with an S1-S3 Edinburgh Select squad for young high school students, that gave me that early experience of working with female players. Some of that side are now currently playing at clubs in the SWPL but away from playing there are now young coaches getting paid to stay in the game.”
“I’ve got four girls working at the moment, who had initially volunteered now coming in to help run camps and sessions. I would like more female role models and coaches, in the past maybe only if you were in the very top one percentile would you maybe get a job in football whereas now, as the game grows, there are more opportunities appearing.”
“I’ve noticed the big change in the last few years where as before girls starting points would be 14 or 15 it’s now 6 or 7. If you get that opportunity to see those visible role models earlier then naturally the standard base will grow and domino effect up the chain. Similar to the same way I first came through as a young player and coach in Kelso there are now young girls at Spartans’ U10’s, Edinburgh South U10’s…who are looking up at these female role models and thinking I want to be like these players.”
Back on the pitch and come Sunday, Beesley’s focus will be on starting to turn around an SWPL campaign that has seen his new side pick up just two victories and currently sit one point from safety.
“The elephant in the room is relegation and we’ve all been very open about that. We don’t want it to be what we are talking about but at the moment we’re in that play-off spot.”
“I think the quality in the squad belies where we currently are in the table but we’ve had an honest conversation. Saying you’re better than this is one thing but we have to start proving it and back it up on the pitch and picking up points.”
“One of the things I love about coaching in the women’s game is how process orientated female players are, they will soak up as much as they can and their questions always come back to development. I know myself as a player my process would sometimes boil down to whether we had won or lost come full-time and nothing else that happened beforehand would matter. I’m not sure that’s always right.”
The growth of the women’s game in Scotland, supported by increased media coverage and sponsorship means the importance of picking up three points on a Sunday have perhaps never come with more emphasis and for Spartans to maintain their place in the top flight results will have to come and Beesley (alongside his three year old son) was an interested spectator as Glasgow City ran out 5-1 winners at Ainslie Park when the SWPL season returned following a winter break.
“I thought the team did well but it’s a hard barometer against a side who generally win every game they play, however the fact they got a goal after going 2-0 down showed a bit of resilience and watching the footage of them this season that’s definitely something I’ve noticed.”
“The squad are very competitive and keen to get results. There is a bit of fine tuning between process and honing in on that desire to win. You can’t always control that of course, but you can look at how those processes during the week can help get you to a result on the Sunday.”
“Obviously Hearts are looking to break into the top three and it will be a huge challenge but it’s also a good opportunity for the team to show where we are at. The result matters but more importantly for me it will be showing that self-belief and a bit of doggedness.”
“With the way the league splits we know we’ll have lots of opportunities against the sides around us. In some ways that makes things harder because every point becomes crucial but on the flip side it can help move you up the table quickly.”
“I’m very fortunate that I get to work in football full-time and I’d much rather come into this challenge with a club that I know will support me than be doing anything else.”
Spartans return to SWPL action this Sunday, travelling to face Hearts at Oriam with a 3pm kick off.
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