Norfolk man becomes one of the youngest football managers
Alex Riches won his debut match when Lowestoft Town went against Mildenhall Town.
A 20-year-old from Great Yarmouth has become one of the youngest managers to take charge of a non-league match.
Alex Riches led Lowestoft Town to a 2-0 win over Mildenhall Town, at the end of February.
He is a second-year BSc (Hons) Sport Performance Analysis student, at the University of Suffolk.
On the day of the game, Riches was 20 years and 335 days old.
Riches says the opportunity came unexpectedly.
“So it was a bit of a last minute thing to be honest,” he said.
“My role at Lowestoft, I'm the goalkeeper coach and ever since we had a change in management about a month and a half ago, I kind of stepped up on an interim basis as an assistant.”
However, shortly before kick-off he received a call that would change his role for the evening.
“It got to about half five in the evening, and the player manager phoned me and said, ‘I'm going to start tonight, so you're the manager.’”
He added: “So I was like, OK, bit of a last-minute thing, but I had to do the job that I needed to do and we got the result in the end.”
Passion for coaching
Riches is currently an intern at Ipswich Town Football Club, where he works as a goalkeeping analyst for the Under-18 and Under-21 teams.
Speaking previously about the experience, he said:
“The internship has also been massive. Working with professional goalkeepers at Ipswich Town has taught me so many details, little and big.
“Being able to bounce off some of the best coaches in the game has been eye-opening.”
Riches said building trust with players and colleagues has been an important part of his coaching journey.
“Someone that I know really well says I'm a 50-year-old in a 20-year-old's body,” he said.
“As cheesy as it sounds, I probably wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d like to be the person that someone could go to and have a mature conversation with.”
He added that having responsibility in football management was something he had wanted from a young age.
“Being trusted and having responsibility is something I’ve craved ever since I started in football management back at 18,” he said.
Overcoming setbacks
Riches originally played football but decided to focus on analysis and coaching after an injury at the age of 18.
Since then, he has built experience across a number of roles, including working remotely as a match analyst for a Swedish under-19 club and coaching goalkeepers at Great Yarmouth Town.
He said breaking into the sport had required persistence.
“I’ve not had it too easy. It’s been a bit of a quick journey for me, and I’ve been very fortunate in terms of the people I’ve known and the people I’ve met along the way,” he said.
“For people who want to get in a similar position to me, it’s probably just about getting yourself out there.”
Riches said he had also experienced anxiety and nerves earlier in his career, but encouraged others not to let that hold them back.
“I struggled with anxiety and nerves like many people will, but you just have to put yourself out there,” he said.
“Be willing to do the hard graft. Just do the hard work, and you’ll get to the places you want to be.”