Paul Heckingbottom was delighted to have signed his new contract with Barnsley Football Club and in an exclusive interview with iFollow Barnsley, he felt the deal was never in doubt having discussed it with Chief Executive Gauthier Ganaye.
The Reds’ Head Coach said: “It’s something that if we’re honest was done a while ago in terms of being agreed, but getting involved in the transfer window followed by the sad news about Patrick put it on the back burner. It’s nice to get it all out in the open and people can stop asking me about it now!
“I started speaking with Gauthier about it a long time ago, there was never any issue about getting it done. Gauthier and myself both knew it was going to happen and we were relaxed about it. It’s nice for everyone now to understand why we were relaxed, there was never any doubt.”
Born and raised in Barnsley, Heckingbottom has achieved a childhood dream being at the helm of his boyhood football club, being just a couple of days away from two years in charge of the Club!
“I don’t really think about it like that, I probably won’t until I’m gone as you’re forever working! I’m so busy because I enjoy it so much, I have to stop myself doing things at times to make sure my life balance is right. When you enjoy doing things so much it can take over if you let it, so that’s the biggest challenge.”
Having been part of the community for so long, having many friends in the area and being a well known face, Heckingbottom does embrace how important the connection is between the Club and the fans, who he always states can help his side on the pitch.
“I still live locally and my kids go to school here so I see all the fans here, there and everywhere! Football is the one thing we always talk about, this is a community Club and it does make me proud to be part of it. It’s not just myself though, we’ve got lots of people and staff here from Barnsley. We’ve got ex-players coaching in the academy, we have a really strong tie to past football teams, a tie to the area and that is a strength of ours.”
As stated, the Head Coach is not the only member behind the scenes that has a wider love for the Club having been part of the area for some time.
"I speak about our coaching staff a lot, the likes of Sedgy [Craig Sedgwick, Head Physio] and Nath [Nathan Winder, Head of Sports Science] have grown up Barnsley fans as well so sometimes I have to stop them from wanting to do everything as well because it means as much to them as everybody, like it does to me. If you love doing something, you can overdo it and work too hard.”
To see the full and exclusive interview with Paul Heckingbottom about his new contract, visit iFollow Barnsley now!
