Non-League's youngest manager: You can't win anything with kids, right?
Ide Hill Football Club have put their faith in a 23-year-old Jamie McCloy to take them back up the football pyramid.
“There’s still life in this old dog”, said Jamie McCloy when speaking about his short-lived playing career and whether he’d return on the pitch; but the choice to manage rather than play was difficult yet inevitable for the 23-year-old. Now he is the youngest first-team manager in the Non-League football pyramid.
Hanging up the boots and picking up the tactics board
Turn back to 2018 and McCloy was at the EMC Academy, a professional football coaching company based in the south-east, doing a post-16 scholarship when the owners Jonny Elwood and Henry Muggeridge approached him with an opportunity to coach one of their teams.
“About a month in, one of the coaches left and they were short-staffed. The owners Jonny and Henry asked, ‘would you like to help out in a training session?’
“For them to ask me, it was a surprise at first but also a bit of a blessing and I’m happy that they did so.”
The EMC Academy provides the necessary preparation for young footballers to enter the professional game with its latest success story being 18-year-old Stan Sargent, who made his professional debut for Gillingham FC in 2024 and scored in a 4-1 against Fulham U21’s in the EFL trophy earlier this month.
As co-owner, Muggeridge has an impressive yet unusual football CV, beginning at the professional academies of Bristol City and Fulham before stepping down to Non-League, and representing England’s 6-a-side team. He is now acting as England’s 6-a-side team’s manager.
“Henry (Muggeridge) is one of the most well-known players in the south-east in Non- League football. Jonny (Elwood) is probably one of the most-qualified coaches in the area.” said McCloy.
It was clear at an early stage that the owners saw the potential ability in McCloy to take on the challenge, reaffirming their established eye for talent.
“It was amazing that people of that stature in the football industry, especially locally, would ask you to work for their company. They must have seen something in my ability or confidence in the first month to see me as a good fit.
“I never looked back from there. Going into coaching and becoming a manager, it was something I always wanted to do but I didn’t anticipate it being that early.”
Within one year of assisting with coaching sessions at the academy, McCloy was given his own team to coach and they now are Under 13’s. Alongside his new Ide Hill job, he still coaches a number of youth sides at the academy. One of his sides has not lost in three seasons.
After further seasons of coaching these youth sides, at aged 20, he joined the staff at AFC Uckfield Town in 2022 , who operate at step 6, then became the manager of Tunbridge Wells’ Under 23 side for the 2024/25 season.
His rapid rise did not come without difficult moments and sacrifices. Reflecting on his start with EMC Academy, McCloy said: “At the start I thought everything was going the opposite of how I wanted it to go.
At a young age, going into it I don’t think I was ready to find solutions (to the challenges) and I definitely doubted myself at the start.”
“There were a couple of moments where I said, ‘maybe this isn’t for me’.”
That first youth side he coached did not win for six games; the next season they won the league unbeaten.
Before the first Covid-19 lockdown, McCloy appeared on the bench for Whitehawk FC in a friendly against Dorking Wanderers. Both clubs were in the Isthmian Premier Division (step 3) at the time, which currently has big names such Dulwich Hamlet, Billericay Town and Hashtag United. Though he did not enter the pitch, the experience alone was enough to make certain that football was his path.
“It was one of the most surreal moments as a player. I didn’t come on but seeing the environment, the stadium and warming up was the moment I knew I wanted to do this… then lockdown happened.”
A matter that many can relate to is the mental and physical impact of Covid-19 lockdowns. Whilst for some it sparked a new hobby or skill, for others - especially amateur athletes- it was the end of their long-standing relationship with their sport.
“There was a brief moment where I fell out of love with the game. I think a lot of people felt the same, I wasn’t going out on runs or keeping myself fit.”
For McCloy, the boots were being hung up and that door had closed but another was creaking open.
“My main aim when we got out of it wasn’t to become a footballer, it was to become a football manager.”
Current standings
Following their relegation in the 2024/25 season, Ide Hill Football Club now play in the Kent County Division One; also known as Step 8 of the Non-League system which precedes the land of the rich, the EFL (English Football League) and Premier League. This small club from a tiny village in Sevenoaks, Kent, are in the deepest depths of Non-League football.
Their new manager has made his intentions clear and aims to climb the leagues as soon as possible.
McCloy added: “The ambition is a hundred per-cent get promoted this season, but going forward we’ve set ourselves a target of step five football in five years. So that’s three promotions in five years, I don’t think that is outside the realms of possibility.”
Achieving the goal of Step 5 football in the south-east would see Ide Hill competing in a division including the current FA Vase champions, Whitstable Town, and McCloy’s former employer Tunbridge Wells. Last season, he was the manager of the under 23’s and has brought the majority of that squad with him.
A youthful manager bringing his fresh-faced players with him understandably brings an element of doubt, especially when playing in a physically-demanding grassroots division. To eliminate any doubt and bring balance, the club have brought in players and coaches with a wealth of experience.
Joint-manager Jamie Wolvey is an experienced coach who has a long-standing relationship with McCloy spanning many years. Wolvey was his former coach at Hildenborough AFC and Southborough reserves, and brought his two talented sons into the squad.
Jake Blackwell and Phil Abbott have also joined the coaching staff. Blackwell played for Crowborough Athletic at step 4 and Abbott was at Tunbridge Wells FC before sustaining a serious injury. Additionally, Danny Powell has joined the playing staff - a player with over 500 games at step 5.
McCloy described him as ‘one of the older lads’ but ensures he’s ‘still got it’.’
Sid Sollis has also come into the squad with the necessary quality to achieve the aims set out by the management. Sollis played for Tonbridge Angels (currently step 2 - two promotions from professional football) first team at the age of 17 and has represented teams higher up the pyramid such as Sittingbourne, Margate FC and Hythe Town.
Regarding the state of the squad, McCloy said: “The thing is, we’re a really young team and we’re in a physical league and we have aspirations of doing well so we’ve tried to aim big with the players that we have got in.
“A big thing for us was keeping the same squad together that we had over the years.”
“Some of us have been together since we were 13, we’ve all been part of each other in their football journeys. It’s like a family.”
What Pressure?
Being a football manager has always been a job exclusive to ex-players who ‘knew the game’ and coincidentally were friends with the recruiters - it still is but the trends are changing. In the Premier League the average age of managers on the first match-day of the 2024/25 season was 46.7 but has dropped to 46.2 following Ruben Amorim’s appointment in November last year. This was the second lowest average age in Premier League history- since it became a 20-team league in 1994/95- according to transfermarkt.com.
Though this story is related to grass-roots football, the trends from the top of the pyramid trickle down eventually. It is not uncommon to see amateur sides including their goalkeepers in possession. You can draw comparison to Pep Guardiola’s arrival to England in 2016 when he threw out old-reliable English keeper Joe Hart for an error-prone Chilean in Claudio Bravo because he could ‘use his feet’.
The trust that Ide Hill football club that have placed in young McCloy is not simple blind faith, it is because he has foresight beyond his years in the way he wants to play and achieve his goals.
“I’d rather win a game 1-0 with the perfect goal and everyone touching the ball, than win 10-0 scoring six penalties and four tap-ins.”
“Total football: (His style of play). I love football. I just love watching the ball move. I say this to my team, we can keep the ball for 100 passes and I wouldn’t care as long as we’re progressive.
“The way we play is a bit of a hindrance to us… there’ll be a 40 year old striker who’s a lump and they’ll pump it up to him. I’ll never criticise anyone for playing the way they want to play. We’re not a long ball team but we can play long passes.”
That being said, the youthful exuberance that comes with a coach in his early 20s is irrelevant if he simply does not win games. No ‘style of play’ or ‘ideology’ can put the ball in the opposition’s net for you. That simplicity of success naturally comes with a lot of pressure for those who aspire to be managers. Though, McCloy doesn’t feel the pressure of being the youngest manager in Non-League.
“It doesn’t faze me one bit.”
“As a manager, I’ve got a job to do and the pressure is just another thing in football. Everyone is under pressure. Pep (Guardiola) could go into a game having played 30 games and won 30 games and there’d still be pressure.
“I see myself like any other manager who’s got a job to do, that’s all I’m worried about; winning games and getting the job done.”
Above is an audio clip recorded in August. McCloy spoke about facing the famous SE Dons in pre-season and names three young players you should look out for in the future.