Jonathan Sayer thought it would be straightforward when he opted to put aside his life as a stage writer and actor to take over the ownership and running of his boyhood football club, seventh-tier Ashton United.
Yet before his first season as an owner in England’s Northern Premier League was a month old, he had been rudely awoken to the harsh realities of life in the world of semi-professional football.
Sayer is better known as the co-writer and star of the West End hit show ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ and its subsequent BBC adaptations.
The title might have been a better fit for his first year at the helm at Ashton, the club he bought in 2019 in partnership with his dad but which quickly presented far greater challenges than either of them imagined.
Those struggles are the subject of Sayer’s book ‘Nowhere to Run’ which is published on Thursday, an at times comical but mostly revealing look at the realities of balancing a tight budget in the trenches of non-league while striving to keep supporters happy.
Sayer and his dad bought Ashton immediately following relegation after a single season in the National League North, the promised land of the sixth tier that the club had ultimately not been cut out to survive in.
At a meeting to introduce himself to fans, in a rash move he would quickly come to regret, he promised supporters instant promotion. The die was cast for a turbulent campaign.
“The year we were relegated I was filming a TV show in (nearby) Manchester so I was around to go to games on Saturdays a bit more,” Sayer told the PA news agency. “There was a tweet that said the club needed help, so my involvement began like that. I did not at that stage say ‘I’ll buy the club’.
“I’ve had a lot of luck in life and this felt like a way to put back into my community. They had a gap with the wages which I now realise is just an ongoing thing in non-league football.
“I thought it would be a really fun thing to do, particularly for me and my dad to have a project together. I thought it would be easy – put a bit of funding in, be really organised, and it’ll be great.”
The book charts the progress of the pair’s first season in charge, the 2019-20 campaign that was curtailed at non-league level by the Covid-19 pandemic and ultimately expunged from the records.
The season was not a successful one. Despite significantly increasing the playing budget and taking the risk of putting all players on contracts – highly unusual for a club in the seventh tier – in a bid to secure promotion, the team soon became mired in a relegation fight.
Rivals caustically dubbed them ‘Cashton United’, and despite Sayer’s involvement raising the profile of the club locally, the squad failed to gel and results failed to arrive. Despite the investment, there never seemed to be enough money to pay the bills.
There was also farce. After an internal falling out, a club member whom Sayer calls “part of the old guard” absconded with the only keys to the stadium dressing rooms.
A TV expensively installed for the manager to go over footage of matches with the squad stubbornly refused to work even a year later, and an outdoor bar built to raise matchday revenue was shuttered after the council pointed out they had never granted planning permission.
But it was on the pitch where Sayer’s worst nightmares became realised.
“I thought ‘we’ve been relegated, we’ve increased the budget, therefore we’ll go back up’,” he says. “There was all this momentum. But the reality was so hard. The first three or four months we lost a lot of matches.
“I feel like I’m personally letting everyone down when we lose. It’s a robust feedback environment, football. It can be brutal. I’m a sensitive soul and I feel things very acutely.
“Theatre can be similar. You get harsh reviews, people either laugh or they don’t. The difference is that on a show day I can affect things, I can rewrite things and I can rehearse, and all the energy goes into performing.
“With this, you can’t do anything. You have to stand there like an absolute tool. You can clap and cheer, or you can go for the Sven (Goran Eriksson) emotionless approach.”
It is four years since Ashton were relegated to the Northern Premier League. Sayer and his dad are still awaiting the elusive promotion they promised fans in 2019.
Yet this remains a long-term project. After 14th-place finishes in each of their full seasons (Covid also saw the 2020-21 campaign abandoned), there is optimism that lessons have been learnt to finally put the club on track for the step up.
“For me football is just like a play,” says Sayer. “I don’t understand how you can like theatre and not like football.
“It’s exactly the same – it’s people coming together and having shared moments of catharsis and emotion and watching a story with characters play out.”
PSG not obsessed with scoring twice against Dortmund - Luis Enrique
Paris Saint-Germain lost their Champions League semi-final first leg 1-0 to Borussia Dortmund last Wednesday, but that does not mean they will go all out to score twice in the return game, manager Luis Enrique said on Monday.
The Ligue 1 champions overturned a one-goal deficit against Barcelona in the quarter-finals, winning 4-1 in the second leg, but PSG are prepared to take the game with Dortmund to extra time if that is what is needed.
"The aim isn't to win by two goals, but to win, if you think you have to score two goals, that seems like a big target," Luis Enrique told a press conference ahead of Tuesday's game in Paris.
"We just want to play and score. If we score in the 89th minute, it will carry on. We don't need to score right away, we just want to win the game.
The Spaniard wants his side concentrated on all aspects of their game, not only in attack, and a goal from the Germans won't be the end of the world.
"You could score twice in two minutes, but you could also concede a goal," he added.
"We have to be 100 per cent focused on attack and defence. If we concede a goal, it is not serious, we have to stay calm. If we score twice very quickly, our opponents will have to react.
"It will be an even game with a high level of play on and off the ball, so it will be tough for both teams."
Since last week's loss, Luis Enrique has declared on more than one occasion that PSG will win the return game, saying: "That is the only sentence I know in French, 'on va gagner' we are going to win.
"It is a sentence I like, and I always think my team will win, so that is what I say."
PSG have home advantage for the second leg, and Luis Enrique has no doubt that the Parc des Princes will once again be a driving force for his team.
"I think the role of the fans will be vital, as it has been throughout the season," the manager said.
"We have a total guarantee that the fans will be fully behind us as they have been all year, particularly when we need them, and this isn't a normal thing.
"We will all be together, and I hope we can celebrate a victory and a place in the final."
Van Dijk insists he will be part of Liverpool's transition from Klopp
Virgil van Dijk says he will be "part of" the big transition following Jurgen Klopp’s departure at the end of the season.
The German will leave Liverpool after nine years in charge, with a deal agreed for Feyenoord manager, Arne Slot, to replace him.
Van Dijk, who signed for Liverpool in January 2018, is going into the final year of his contract, and admitted he has not heard anything about an extension.
"There is nothing for me to discuss because there is no news," Van Dijk said.
"I think the club is very much busy with who is going to be the new manager and that is the main focus.
"I am very happy here. I love the club, and you can see that as well. It’s a big part of my life already. The focus is now on the last two games and then the club will focus on who the new manager is and there will be a big transition, and I am part of that.
"When the season is over and there is news, we will focus on what is coming next, but it is a fact that there will be a lot of changes happening, and it will be interesting. I am here to be a part of that and looking forward to it.
"I am the captain, so I want to help, I will help, and I should help. If he [Slot] is the one who comes, then let’s see.
"There will be a lot of changes happening. I wouldn’t say scary is the right word, but it is quite interesting and exciting what will happen now."
Liverpool beat Tottenham 4-2 on Sunday, putting recent setbacks behind them to return to winning ways at Anfield.
The Reds won the EFL Cup in February, and though a Premier League title now looks unlikely, Van Dijk is hopeful that they can finish Klopp’s reign strongly.
"Listen, if you said at the start of the season that this is how it would have gone, then I think we would have taken that," he added.
"We are winners, and we were close. We weren’t good enough in the decisive moments, but that is life. We have to stick together, and we will.
"A few of us have been in title races and on the losing sides at times and it hurts. But we have to take this experience with us, and you only improve if you learn and that is the aim, and we can take that into next season. We want to give the manager a good farewell and do it for ourselves as well."
Zidane rules out Bayern move as Bundesliga giants linked with Ten Hag
Zinedine Zidane has ruled out taking over at Bayern Munich, amid suggestions Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is also of interest to the Bundesliga giants.
Bayern have been frustrated in their search for a successor to Thomas Tuchel, who is set to leave the club at the end of the season after overseeing their first failure to win the Bundesliga since 2012.
Preferred candidate Xabi Alonso – who was also linked with Liverpool – has reaffirmed his commitment to Bayer Leverkusen, while Julian Nagelsmann decided to continue as Germany boss after being linked with a return to the Allianz Arena.
Ralf Rangnick was the latest coach to be linked with the Bavarian giants last week, only for the Austria boss to follow Alonso and Nagelsmann by saying he will stay in his current role.
That leaves Bayern back to square one in their bid to find a replacement for Tuchel, who has refused to rule out a dramatic U-turn. One man who will not be taking over, however, is Zidane.
While attending the Miami Grand Prix, the former Real Madrid coach was asked by Sky Sports Germany if he expected Los Blancos to overcome Bayern in the teams' Champions League semi-final tie.
Asked who he thought would reach the final, Zidane said: "Hopefully Madrid, but it's going to be a difficult game."
Zidane was then asked whether he was in contention for the Bayern job, to which he said: "No. I'm just going to watch the game."
Another man touted as a possible candidate to replace Tuchel, Julen Lopetegui, has reportedly agreed to take charge of West Ham at the end of the season.
On Sunday, a report from Sky Sports claimed the Bundesliga giants are also considering a surprise move for United boss Ten Hag, who coached Bayern's second team between 2013 and 2015.
Ten Hag has come under severe pressure this season with United facing a fight to qualify for the Europa League, but the Dutchman is reportedly uninterested in a move.
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