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Will Powell

Will Powell

Vill Powell, first team manager of Sheffield FC, the world's oldest football club, and a guest on the BBC podcast Mud, Sweat and Cheers.

Sep 21, 2026

5:36
Well, look, needs no introduction, does it? Biggest game of the season, that's the way it is.
5:39
Yeah, obviously it took a lot of hard work to get to this point and, you know, finish the season positively.
5:46
Yeah, it's going to be a tough one, but we're here and we'll give it a go and we're at home and we'll have the noise, we'll have the crowd, so hopefully that'll get us over the line.
5:57
Three words.
5:59
Calm, disciplined, relentless.
6:04
No panic.
6:04
Stick to fucking gather.

9 MINS LATER

speaker_11GUEST
15:23
OK, stop
16:54
In the dressing room, Vil's message is very clear.
16:57
Physically, we're in the trenches.
17:00
And this is where I like to be because I like to be in the trenches.
17:05
I like to be, well, there's a question mark here.
17:07
Can they do this? Can they do that? Well, this week, you've answered every single one of them, yes.
17:13
Every single one of them, yes.
17:15
And as I said, that makes me proud.
18:19
Do your Saturday nights look different if
17:00
It starts with a draw.
17:03
The fact that we're trying to get a rhythm after such a long break, we have to take it and move on to the next one.
speaker_14SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
17:34
You knew that was my
17:35
next question, didn't you? You get one goal and it's denied.
17:39
Let's get them three points.
17:40
Well done!
3:13
not going to happen overnight.
3:14
Don't get frustrated.
3:15
Don't give them any hope by being sloppy, by not making the right decisions.
3:19
Make sure we win the game.
3:20
All the best.
3:21
Every competition we're in,
5:22
And with the way things have worked out, playing them again at the weekend at their place.
10:19
The man in charge is Will Powell.
10:22
In general, you're fielding four or five football-related calls per day or at least every other day as a minimum.
10:29
You're thinking about it every day.
10:30
You're either thinking about the last conversation or you're thinking about the next conversation.
10:34
You're thinking about the last session that you've just delivered or the last game that you've just played or you're thinking about the next game.
10:39
So it's constant with that and then you've got to compartmentalise that to be there for your family and my kids and be a father and a husband and a parent and manage all that as well and then do my day job.
10:52
they are three different people.
14:25
But the late postponement has left some at the club angry and frustrated.
8:00
just a job for the gaffer, because Will's a former player.
8:04
The buy-in for me was always Sheffield FC.
8:06
I wanted to come back here at some point as a manager.
8:09
But then when I got in, it's kind of like buying a new car.
8:12
And then you look under the bonnet and you see that there's no engine in there and all the bits are missing and the tyres are flat and there's all sorts of problems with it.
8:19
And that's what I entered into.
8:25
Thank you.
8:27
And how's pre-season been? It's been good.

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