Why I’m stepping down. Steve Workman on his decision to leave the hot seat at Kingsteignton

Steve Workman receives the Division One winners’ cup in 2022. Photos ©Al Macphee/MiraclePR

Interview by Neil Hocking

If you are interested in applying for the vacant management position, please contact the club via email (gordon-bates@outlook.com) or send a message through Facebook Messenger on the Kingsteignton Athletic Facebook page.

Steve Workman and trophies have been synonymous since he first turned his hand to management, but after leading Kingsteington Athletic to the Premier League title and successfully defending the Herald Cup, Workman and his assistant, Andy Paddon, are ready to hand the reins to a new management team.

In an exclusive interview, Steve explained to Clubnets why he made the decision to step down, and what the club will be looking for in a new management team.

“When we took over, the club was in a bit of turmoil,” he explained. “We took over to keep a bit of continuity and steady the ship. Having been with the club for years, it just made sense. It wasn’t a massive ambition to get back into management.”

Workman’s first spell in management was back in the 2000/01 season. Kingsteignton had been promoted a season earlier with Workman then playing under Mickey ‘Leo’ Stuart, Roland Gardner and Gary Taylor. As player-manager, Workman enjoyed immediate success, lifting the Herald Cup in 2001 and then successfully defending it the following year.

With Workman back in the hot seat, the trophies returned – and kept on coming. After lifting the Herald Cup for the third time, Workman led his side to the Division One title, the Firewatch Devon Senior Cup and the Dartmouth (Division One) Cup.

“Obviously, we had a really good year last year,” he continued. “And it didn’t feel the right time to put them back to square one, so we took it to the second year as well. But by the start of April, we started having conversations with Gordon Bates, the vice-chairman. I explained that when I manage a team, it’s all or nothing and there are other things apart from football, as much as I love it. There’s just not enough time in the world to do it all. My first grandchild is coming up to one this year and there’s another one due next month. Something had to give.

“But Andy and I are not leaving the club. We’re just going to step down and, hopefully, get somebody else in place to carry on the work we’ve already done. We will be part of the selection committee for the next management team because it’s important that they come with the same ethos as we’ve had over the last couple of years.

“We don’t want to bring in somebody that’s going to try and rip it all up and start again because we’ve done that before. We’ve had people from outside the club who’ve said they’re going to do one thing, then they go and do something completely different. We need to be careful that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past.

“From there on, we will still be involved but only to the degree that the new management team want us to be because it can be quite difficult if you’ve got somebody who was in the position before hanging around in the background. So they can use us as much and as little as they want to.

“We can be there, for both teams, to go and watch the opposition or players they might want to sign, and to still be part of the overall committee. But we won’t be involved on a day-to-day basis, running the team or the club.

We don’t want to bring in somebody that’s going to try and rip it all up and start again.

“First and foremost, the task is to make sure we continue to be a club rather than a first team and a reserve team. I think that’s the one thing, apart from the trophies, that we’ve done over the last two seasons. We’ve brought the reserves and the first team closer together as a club. So we all drink together and socialise together. We’ve trained together.

“These things are really important because one of the priorities is to get the reserves from Division Four to as close to the Premier Division as we can. I think that will happen organically because some older players from the first team will look to move into the reserve team to get more game time and also support the reserves. So things are looking really positive. We’ve just got to work together.”

Steve was keen to highlight the advantages that a new management team could look forward to at Broadpark – providing they are right for the role.

“Anybody that comes into this club are lucky because they’ve got the support of a really big committee that do everything for you,” he said. “All the kit’s done, the changing room’s ready, the first aid kit’s taken care of – even the water bottles are filled. Everything you would want, you will have. So all you’ve got to do is run your team, pick the team, submit the results and be at training nights.

“It would be good for the new management team to bring players with them and recruit players because when you get to a certain age, that becomes more difficult. But the teams don’t need wholesale changes. They just need, maybe, a different voice and a different point of view.”

By Workman’s side throughout the Rams’ most recent spell of success has been Andy Paddon, who previously played for Newton Abbot and Bovey Tracey.

“Andy has been a brilliant wingman for me,” Steve said. “Over the last two seasons, we have not had one disagreement, basically, because we view the game the same way. But we’ve both played for different clubs, so he’s given me a different slant on things.

“It’s really important to have a strong number two, but also someone who knows that one person has to take the responsibility. You need someone who might challenge you now and again on things, but at the end of the day, it has to be understood that there is a number one and there is a number two, and that’s the way it’s got to work. I don’t think it can ever be 50-50. Not in my opinion, and not in Andy’s either. I know in some clubs there are two assistants and a manager, and they say they each have equal input. Well, I’ve never seen that work, and I wouldn’t envision that working for the future management team. But I’ll be sat on that committee, so if they’ve got a different view then we can discuss that.

Andy has been a brilliant wingman for me… It’s really important to have a strong number two.

“Sometimes, looking in from the outside is really important too. If you’re taking all the sessions yourself, you can miss stuff because you can’t keep an eye on everybody all the time. So we’ve got people within the team that help with the coaching and the training.

“The person – or people – coming in need to understand what the club stands for and fit in that way, and they need to be sure that they’re the right people to do the job,” Steve added. “Because I think you will get quickly found out if you don’t. We’ve got quite a few senior players who’ve been around a bit, so they will see through somebody who’s winging it and doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

“On the other hand, we’ve got people around the 20 to 23 mark who already think they know everything. So you’ve got to drag them into line to show them they don’t know everything and they need to listen to what they’re being told. So it’s a fine balance, but I think we’ve struck that really well over the last couple of years, and I just really hope that the next manager works in the same sort of way.”

I asked Workman about his own management style.

“I’m pretty strong but always very fair,” he said. “I won’t beat around the bush with things. If a player challenges me because they think they’re not getting enough game time or they don’t agree with what I’ve done, I’m quite happy to take that, but they’ve got to understand that they are going to get an honest view back.

“Sometimes, that goes down well, but some people don’t like an honest opinion. What I won’t put up with is back-biting in the background or anything like that. We like a relaxed atmosphere where people enjoy their football, which is the most important thing. Anybody who isn’t on board with that sort of thing won’t last long in any of my teams or squads because it only takes one person with the wrong attitude to upset a really harmonious squad. And we’ve had that for two years, pretty much. They’ve been a joy to work with, and I love them all to a man.” 

Having added the Charity Shield, Herald Cup and Premier Division Title to Kingsteignton’s trophy cabinet this season, Workman and Paddon will certainly be a tough act to follow. I asked Steve about the kind of team the new manager would be inheriting.

“People talk a lot about formations, but we’re quite fluid in formation,” he said. “And any formation can be changed during the match if the situation changes. That’s been our biggest attribute, I think, over the last two years: our adaptability to different situations, even during games.

“We’ve got quite a small squad, round about 17 in total that play regular first team football. But I don’t think we’ve put out the same team two weeks running over the last two seasons. When we’re under the cosh, we can battle it out with the best of them. When the games are open, we can hit people on the counter. When teams sit back, we have the skilful players to unpick them.

We’ve got quite a few senior players who’ve been around a bit, so they will see through somebody who’s winging it.

“Seven trophies in two seasons! I couldn’t have imagined we’d get anything like that. It’s been brilliant. I’ve really enjoyed it, but I think I’ve aged about 15 years in two years.”

Workman has already proven that he can win trophies away from Broadpark. When he finished his first spell in management, in 2005, he went on to steer Totnes and Dartington to the Throgmorton Cup. But, for now at least, he is committed to the Rams.

“Futurewise, I don’t think I can say for definite that I’m retiring,” he said. “Maybe I could run a young team and try to bring them up through the club and help that way. Maybe that’s something for the future.

It probably won’t be the end. I’m sure there will be something else for me down the road at some point.

If you are interested in applying for the vacant management position, please contact the club via email (gordon-bates@outlook.com) or send a message through Facebook Messenger on the Kingsteignton Athletic Facebook page.