Meet England's youngest manager with toughest job and Premier League ambitions
Over the past decade, there has been a growing trend of young coaches jumping into management at a very early age.
That is something that inspired Sammy Mould, 20, to become the youngest manager in the top nine tiers of English football when he was appointed as the boss of Northern Premier League Midlands Division strugglers Yaxley last week.
Mould, however, is under no illusions about how tough the job is at his disposal. The Cuckoos boast one of the worst records in the country, having failed to win any of their 25 matches this season, conceding 84 goals in the process. They have picked up just one point from their 23 league games and unsurprisingly sit rock bottom, 18 points off the relegation play-off spots.
A former defender himself, Mould was at Northampton and Luton as a youngster, before moving into non-league with the likes of Coleshill, Stratford, Enfield and Crawley Green. His own playing career was recently "cut short" due to health issues he says were brought on by Covid and the vaccine, prompting him to step into the dugout and try his hand at management.
"I think to be honest, touching on sort of why I took the opportunity, my own football career was cut short by a few health issues, so that includes long Covid," Mould told MirrorFootball.
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"I am still struggling with side effects to this day, and also the vaccine. I took the vaccine, on my second vaccine I had a bad reaction to it. I got [blood] clots in my lungs and all this sort of stuff, so I haven't played since and haven't looked like playing anytime soon.
"So, it's forced my hand if you like into another area of football whether that be helping players come through the leagues or whether that means taking a managerial job.
"In terms of Yaxley, I have been helping behind the scenes over the last sort of four or five months and obviously there’s been a transition period at Yaxley, such as players coming out of the club. We have the smallest budget in the league, so that presents challenges itself, but I've given some of the players set challenges to make it more competitive.
Yaxley have conceded 60 goals in 23 league matches (Shepshed Dynamo FC)"So, knowing the players and the timing, it makes sense for me to come into position. Obviously, it's a difficult job, they have got one point in January, everyone at the club is aware of that but we've got 15 games left to see what we can do is what I would say."
Mould had aspirations of playing at the highest level as a teenager and wanted to go all the way to become a professional footballer - a dream that was all but shattered in December 2021. Having returned from a scholarship in the United States, Mould explained how he had negative aftereffects from the Covid-19 vaccine, which has prompted him to turn to management with eighth tier Yaxley.
"I was young. I grew up in a professional academy, I wasn’t a Sunday League player," he said. "I was at clubs from the Premier League to League Two, probably between 15 and 16 clubs in my time, so I know the system.
"I was actually in America at the time [when I had the Covid issues], playing top level university football out there on the scholarship. I have always been fairly bright, I came back to see my family last Christmas, took the vaccine and had a very bad reaction to it. I had a period where I had a blood clot and then Covid, so it was a bit of a nightmare.
"I sort of got better to a certain extent, but I always had aspirations to play at the highest level. I believe I could have been a professional footballer, if I put the time in and settled myself down, and failing that I would've had a good non-league career. But on the flip side, I have always been fairly bright, so there was always a back-up option for me.
"Although it was a blow, it knew that I could take myself into other areas of football or education without too many problems. If my body allows me too I would play again at some point, but I haven’t done any cardio for about a year, so that’s an issue itself."
Following his post-Covid issues, Mould has started his own business and runs a full-time football management company. The 20-year-old is also a self-employed agent and has been doing this since July, before stepping his toes into coaching at Yaxley as the first-team gaffer.
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After the announcement was confirmed on the Cuckoos’ social media channels, Mould received some mixed messages but claimed this is nothing new as he tries to miraculously save Yaxley from relegation to Step 5 of non-league. Mould even suggested Pep Guardiola would have a "hard job" of keeping Yaxley in the division.
Yaxley sit rock bottom of the Northern Premier League Midlands Division (Shepshed Dynamo FC)"It’s not new to me to have a challenge," he continued. "For various reasons, I have been doubted for a lot of things in my youth career. I am very aware of my age, and to be fair, some people have been brilliant with me. Other people, not so much but that is part and parcel of football, obviously running a sports management company I am aware some people have nice things to say, some people don’t.
"Listen, they (Yaxley) could have got Pep Guardiola in and he’d have a hard job, they’ve got one point and have the smallest budget in the league. I think there needs to be a bit of realism behind it, but at the same time I’ll give 100%.
"I'm not going say we're going to be staying up, but I’m not going to say we're going to be going down either, it’s not over until it’s over. What I would say is that a win will spark confidence at the club and we will be doing our utmost to get as many points as we can."
Sammy Mould's first game in charge of Yaxley ended in defeat (Shepshed Dynamo FC)As the youngest-ever manager in Northern Premier League history, Mould is already breaking records and wants to follow similar managers to go from non-league to the Premier League, such as Neil Warnock, as he outlined his "lofty" ambitions. Mould is a Manchester United fan and has hopes to manage at the top level one day.
Mould finished: "I want to manage in the Premier League. It might seem lofty, it might seem ambitious, but I believe I will manage at the top level. I will tell that to anyone I speak to, I think I can do it, I know people at that level, whether that be players, officials and managers. I don’t think there are a million things I can’t do that they can.
"I have got a lot to learn, and I will learn that on the job, but at the same time, I have got time on my side. I have got 40 years and if there is anyone that can get experience young, it’s me. I don’t want to limit myself to non-league or the lower end of the football league, I want to manage at the top level."
Mould's first game in charge of the Cuckoos ended in a 4-1 defeat against 17th-place St Neots Town on the weekend. Yaxley will be looking to claim their first win of the campaign when they face Chasetown on Tuesday evening, before hosting Harborough Town.
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