I worked as BT engineer for 19 years, now I’m League Two boss aiming for promotion with Notts County
The new football season is officially here and for Notts County boss Stuart Maynard, it’s a little bit different than normal.
Maynard took over from Luke Williams at the League Two club in January, leaving National League side Wealdstone.
The 43-year-old left his job as a BT engineer after 19 years to take the plunge into full-time EFL management.
This has been his first full pre-season without needing to worry about a second job, or trying to get his message across to players in limited training sessions - with many themselves having to work around the football schedule.
Six months on, there are no regrets about giving up that job.
Maynard told talkSPORT.com: “There's risks in anything when you go into football. You know that within 10 games you're under pressure. It's one of those industries, but it's something that I had an ambition I wanted to manage in the Football League.
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“When Notts County come calling, it's a club that you just can't turn down. When I sat down with the owners and Richard Monaghan, the director of football, this was the club for us as a management team.
“Football was the first thought on my mind every morning, even when I was working for BT.
“I was always on the laptop first thing before I went to work. Even at work, I'm on the laptop watching games and I'm watching players and you're constantly on the phone.
“So, football was the first thought. I don't wake up thinking about having to go to BT.”
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Notts County finished 14th in League Two last season, but enjoyed a strong end to the season winning three of their final five games.
Maynard is benefitting from having more time to work with his players ahead of the new campaign.
“When we first joined the club mid-season, I think it's hard for any management team to come in to try and implement what you want to add into the group.
“Getting a full pre-season has been brilliant and we're really looking forward to the start of the season now.
“Contact time is the biggest difference. The good thing is you get a hell of a lot more time to prepare. You don't have to try and crush everything into one or two sessions like we had when we were at Wealdstone.
“It's been really good and really positive and it's been a really good pre-season for us.”
One big blow this off-season has been losing star striker Macauley Langstaff to Millwall in the Championship.
The 27-year-old smashed in an incredible 71 goals in 97 games across two seasons, helping Notts County win promotion from the National League in 2022/23.
Maynard added: “We didn't just lose a goalscorer. We lost an unbelievable human being and character about the place.
“He was loved by everyone and that's all the backroom staff through the whole club. He was brilliant about the place and that's why he was going to be our captain this season.
“But it's something that we kind of had to prepare for in the background because when you achieve what he's achieved in the last few seasons, you can understand that there's going to be clubs coming calling for him.
“We wish him all the best and we're excited with what we've got in the building as well with the players that we've got at the top end of the pitch. We believe in our structure.
“We believe that it's our responsibility as a management team to create chances for the forward. So, we believe that whoever plays down the middle for us will score goals.”
Managing a club like Notts County comes with its own expectations, a club who is the oldest in the world.
They were relegated out of the Football League for the first time in 2019, taking four years to return.
Now they want to kick on and climb up the league again.
“Before you start every season, our aim is to get promoted,” Maynard added. “We want to compete at the top end of this division, but we also know that it's going to be very difficult.
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“There's probably another 16 clubs within the division that have invested heavily this summer to try and have the same aim as us. So, we understand it's going to be really difficult every game.”
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