From Buxton to the Cambodian Premier League – “I’ve given up everything and moved away...twice”

In fact, it’s fair to say that Alistair Heath may well be the only person to have taken it, albeit with a few other stops along the way.

The 39-year-old has no regrets in choosing that route in trying to establish himself as a football manager, a career he still covets despite now being back in his home town of Sutton Coldfield.

And it was in Buxton where it all began.

“I was studying at the Buxton campus of the University of Derby, doing a foundation degree in Football Studies,” he said.

“I had a desire to be a coach from the start, and getting the degree was about getting into coaching and achieving my badges. That was the sole aim – not for the traditional university lifestyle. It was about the long-term goal.

"I met someone who was involved at Buxton and managed to get involved with coaching the under-9s. I also did some work with Macclesfield and Sheffield Wednesday, but Buxton was where it all began and I was there for two or three years.

"In my mid-20s I then went to Birmingham to work with their academy, but my aim was to get involved in senior football as soon as possible and I then got a job at Matlock Town as their reserve team boss before moving to Bromsgrove Rovers as assistant manager.

"Rovers were a great club and we achieved a lot there, and would have gone further but the club folded which was a massive shame as I felt that would have been my opportunity to eventually manage in senior football.”

Heath’s desire to continue working in the game saw him make many sacrifices.

He said: “I didn’t get a full-time job, I just wanted to dedicate all my time to coaching and ended up back at Buxton for a bit, coaching the same team I had done before but who were now in an older age group.

"I also spent a bit of time as PE teacher but I was keen to get back in the game as soon as I could.”

It was then that the next opportunity would arise – but it wasn’t to be a local one.

"A guy phoned me from the agency I was with, telling me there was a club in South Korea that needed a coach for their under-21 side,” he said.

"I had no ties here and it was a one-year contract that I thought I had little to lose by taking, so off I went. It was the first of two occasions in my life where I just gave up everything I had and moved abroad.

"I’d not experienced anything like it before. It was a different culture, with a different environment and coaching techniques.

"It was a good experience but I never truly felt comfortable there as I was entirely on my own and I ended up coming back home after the year was up.”

Leicester City would then be the next port of call, working with the academy team but also the Thailand national side given the country’s links with the Foxes. Frequent trips between the UK and Far East followed.

Heath added: “I spent six years with Leicester and it was another great experience. I must have made 10-12 trips to and from Thailand and helped develop several players who went on to play professionally both in Europe and in the Thai leagues. It was comfortable, but the mentality in my head was that I wanted to be managing and I spent those six years developing myself.”

That theme of travelling far afield would soon continue, and it would provide Heath with his first serious taste of senior football management, with the call coming from Angkor Tiger FC of the Cambodian Premier League in October 2021.

"I’d been working with people in Singapore who were connected with the club,” Heath said. "It wasn’t somewhere that had ever been on my radar but it suddenly gave me the chance to get a breakthrough as a manager, even if it meant giving up a comfortable role.

"I agreed to take it. I did some research as it’s not the sort of place you can go to and fro checking it out, and I hope that one day I’ll look at it as being the right decision.”

Heath spent nearly two years in the city of Siem Rep, helping Angkor Tiger to improve attendances to over 5,000 and having mixed fortunes on the pitch.

He said: “They’re very dedicated and passionate about what they do. They have a discipline side of things which is far superior to Europe.

"The players were good to work with and fit and strong, but culturally there were big differences and like in Thailand, it was hard being there alone as I’d feel quite isolated.

"I just had to adapt and adjust, at the end of the day it’s still two goals and one football.

"I loved it though – the people involved with the club were fantastic and although there were restrictions in the budget and training facilities, we had good success in beating some of the top sides and getting some of the best attendances the club had ever had.

"We made lots of progress, but in the second season I was sacked after we won one and lost three of our first four games. I was disappointed as I felt we’d put together a team that would do well, but the Japanese owners disagreed.

"I took a lot out of it and there were so many positives. It developed me as the kind of manager I want to be.”

Since his return to the UK, Heath has struggled to get back into football, something he is keen to do as soon as possible.

He said: “It’s been a challenging time. I’ve been doing lots of personal development and Charter Management Institute courses, learning Spanish and watching lots of football.

"It’s competitive market and my CV is very varied and unique. I’m happy to go anywhere if the opportunity is right, and want to manage at the highest level possible. I believe in what I can do and am eager to continue in this career.”