{"id":298657,"date":"2023-12-07T20:24:28","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T20:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=298657"},"modified":"2023-12-07T20:24:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T20:24:28","slug":"wonders-of-the-pyramid-can-harry-redknapp-save-britains-worst-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/soccer\/wonders-of-the-pyramid-can-harry-redknapp-save-britains-worst-team\/","title":{"rendered":"WONDERS OF THE PYRAMID:\u00a0 Can Harry Redknapp save Britain&apos;s worst team?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> WONDERS OF THE PYRAMID: Can Harry Redknapp save Britain&#8217;s worst team?\u00a0Welsh minnows Cwm Albion have lost every match this season&#8230; their goal difference is &#8211; 191 and their star player is 73<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Harry Redknapp has dusted off his tactics board as part of grassroots campaign<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Tony Mowbray\u00a0knew his time was running out at Sunderland after play-off defeat<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Why Steve Cooper&#8217;s sacking at Forest could have a domino effect in the Premier League &#8211; It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This\u00a0<span>column promises to highlight stories, whether heartwarming or scandalous, at all levels of our sacred football pyramid. But this week takes us to Wales and the lowest reaches of the game, to an amateur club in Swansea called Cwm Albion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Cwm are, quite literally, the worst team in Britain. They lost every game last season, with a goal difference of -191. Their star player is 73-year-old John Rees, while goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald hasn\u2019t kept a clean sheet in more than a decade playing for the club.<\/p>\n<p>But a dismal record like that has also left them dubbed the best team in Britain, as part of a grassroots campaign led by Specsavers, which crowned Cwm the \u2018best worst team\u2019. It\u2019s true, they might be terrible on the pitch \u2013 but clubs like this are the lifeblood of sport.<\/p>\n<p>And now, the 100-year-old club has a new manager, none other than Harry Redknapp, who has dusted off his tactics board to take over the struggling side. On the surface, this is a PR stunt, but beyond that it highlights the lifelong service Redknapp has given to the beautiful game.<\/p>\n<p>So Mail Sport gave Redknapp a bell to find out why he has switched having his feet up in retirement for plodding around park pitches in freezing temperatures. \u2018I\u2019m lucky to have been in football all my life,\u2019 he says. \u2018I\u2019m a football nut, and this is why we all got into the game as a kid.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/07\/17\/78702227-0-image-a-1_1701968860721.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Former Tottenham, Portsmouth and West Ham boss Harry Redknapp is helping out Cym Albion<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Cwm are a lovely club, all different ages\u2026 different shapes and sizes to be honest! The actual manager, Dan\u2026 his dad plays for the team, which is strange. His dad would be in his late 50s. And the manager\u2019s mum washes the shirts and makes the cuppas and the sandwiches.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018They all turn up every week. They\u2019ve always got a full team out. They play and get beat 20-0 or whatever but they come back the next week. It\u2019s great, it highlights the community spirit of football. It\u2019s not all about the glitz and glamour in the Premier League.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I go and watch kids\u2019 games if I\u2019m out for a walk on a Sunday morning and you see parents shouting and screaming. We all want to win but we can\u2019t all do that. These lot are here to enjoy it, have a bit of fun, then they all go for a pint after\u2026 that\u2019s what football should be about.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Clubs like Cwm are so important to the game. When I was a kid growing up in east London, we lived on a massive council estate and we\u2019d get kicked off every day by the porters for playing football. We used to run off before he confiscated our ball!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018One day, the porter was giving us grief and a big fella, Albert Chamberlain, leant over his balcony and shouted down, \u201cLeave it out, what harm are they doing?\u201d And Mr Chamberlain started a team for us. Out of our team, all 11 kids got an apprenticeship playing!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018People like him, the Albert Chamberlains of this world, the people of Cwm, are the lifeblood of our game. Albert would come to watch us at West Ham when he retired, I\u2019d let him into the training ground to watch every day, have a cup of tea with him.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Anyone who gives up their time for football free of charge is far more important to the game than anybody. They\u2019re the lifeblood of the game. Unfortunately they don\u2019t get nowhere near enough support. There\u2019s nothing coming down.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018All the money is at the top and it stays at the top. If each top club could help or donate, let\u2019s say \u00a31million a year, to build better facilities, it would help no end\u2026 the facilities at youth level are disgraceful.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/07\/17\/78702229-0-image-a-2_1701968866970.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Redknapp has dusted off his tactics board as part of a grassroots campaign led by Specsavers<\/p>\n<p>Cwm\u2019s players were told they would have a former Premier League manager take charge for a few matches \u2014 but coach Dan was disappointed to see Redknapp turn up. \u2018He told me he was hoping for Brendan Rodgers! I said, \u201cWell thank you very much, Dan\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve had some great times \u2014 and bad, it can be very lonely as a manager when you lose \u2014 from the highlight of taking Bournemouth from the old Third Division to winning the FA Cup at Portsmouth.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018But I tell you what, if I can get a win with Cwm Albion, just three points on the board, it could top the lot. You know, if I can get a win, I reckon I\u2019ll have a Premier League team ringing me up. Pep Guardiola, be careful!\u2019<\/p>\n<h2>Motors Trophy running out of gas<\/h2>\n<p>I took a trip to Valley Parade on Tuesday night and was one of just 1,907 watching Bradford City versus Liverpool Under 21s in the, checks notes, Bristol Street Motors Trophy. It was a good scouting mission and a ground tick &#8211; but what is the point of this competition?<\/p>\n<p>Other attendances included 323 at Wycombe against Fulham Under 21s and most stadiums around the country only opening one side of the ground. Clearly, fans simply do not care about this competition, at least until the latter stages.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/07\/17\/78702483-0-image-a-4_1701969212697.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Arsenal\u2019s Under 21s were beaten by League One Peterborough on Tuesday night<\/p>\n<p>At Valley Parade, Bradford thrashed Liverpool\u2019s kids 4-0 &#8211; admittedly helped by the Reds going down to 10 men in the first half. Arsenal\u2019s Under 21s lost 3-0 at League One Peterborough and Nottingham Forest\u2019s youth team were well beaten at Doncaster.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, a trip to Wembley and the chance to lift a trophy is on offer &#8211; Bolton\u2019s win over Plymouth in last year\u2019s final had 79,389 there &#8211; but involving Under 21 teams doesn\u2019t seem to be helping anyone. It must be time for a rethink.<\/p>\n<h2>Mowbray knew his time was up<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/07\/17\/78702391-0-image-a-3_1701969054441.jpg\" height=\"430\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Tony Mowbray knew his time was running out at Sunderland after play-off defeat\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Amid the dancing and celebratory music boomed around the players\u2019 area in the bowels of Kenilworth Road last May sat a dejected Tony Mowbray, after Luton thoroughly defeated his Sunderland side to book a play-off final at Wembley.<\/p>\n<p>Mowbray cut a gloomy figure in his post-match media briefing and said: \u2018I\u2019ve enjoyed it but who knows what my future holds.\u2019 It seems that the 60-year-old knew his time was running out at the Black Cats, despite doing a stellar job in restoring pride at Sunderland.<\/p>\n<p>I thought back to that night at The Kenny when Mowbray was sacked this week. There might be a case of \u2018be careful what you wish for\u2019 in getting rid of him, but it shows the forward-thinking, proactive mindset of Sunderland\u2019s young directors.<\/p>\n<p>This is a squad full of promising talent that could easily challenge for a return to the Premier League in the next 18 months, and you can\u2019t fault the board\u2019s ambition to seek such a thing. Saying that, Mowbray\u2019s stock has certainly not taken a hit with this sacking.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12838601\/WONDERS-PYRAMID-Harry-Redknapp-save-Britains-worst-team-Welsh-minnows-Cwm-Albion-lost-match-season-goal-difference-191-star-player-73.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WONDERS OF THE PYRAMID: Can Harry Redknapp save Britain&#8217;s worst team?\u00a0Welsh minnows Cwm Albion have lost every match this season&#8230; their goal difference is &#8211; 191 and their star player is 73 Harry Redknapp has dusted off his tactics board as part of grassroots campaign Tony Mowbray\u00a0knew his time was running out at Sunderland after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WONDERS OF THE PYRAMID:\u00a0 Can Harry Redknapp save Britain&amp;apos;s worst team? 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