The former Burton Albion star now preparing for new adventure as Buxton boss

​In a six-year spell at Burton Albion, he was part of the side that was promoted to the Football League for the first time in 2009, helping keep them there until his departure 2013, since when they’ve reached as high as the Championship.

McGrath, meanwhile, was soon moving into management, taking over as player-boss of Mickleover Sports [now Mickleover FC] back in 2016.

"I had a fantastic eight years there,” says McGrath.

"It was a great place to start in management after 16 years as a pro and it was always very steady, with us usually in the top ten but also producing lots of players who would go on to play in the Football League.”

But at the end of last season, Buxton would come calling.

It wasn’t just another non-league club. The Bucks played a division above Mickleover, with whom McGrath just missed out on promotion following defeat in the Southern Premier League Central play-offs.

Not only that, Buxton were about to turn into a full-time outfit, something which McGrath felt made the move too good to turn down.

He said: “I couldn’t turn down the opportunity. It was disappointing I couldn’t finish on a high at Mickleover with promotion, although a 12-point deduction due to a system error didn’t do us any favours.

"But to get back into full-time football was a big thing for me and with Buxton being a level higher as well, it was a perfect opportunity.”

Having been a professional for so long, for McGrath the day-to-day life of full-time football is nothing new, but the boot is on a different foot now he’s the man in charge.

He said: “It’s very different as a manager to when I was playing, but I knew how it would work and having done it for all those years I’ve been able to take the best bits of pre-seasons I’ve done before and replicate them here.”

One of Buxton’s biggest challenges this summer has been not only recruitment but also seeing which of last season’s squad they could retain.

Key players have had to leave, not because McGrath want them, but with the switch from semi-professional to professional, they already have jobs they were unable to sacrifice.

McGrath added: “We had four agree to make the switch – Tommy Elliott, Diego de Girolamo, Josh Granite and Connor Kirby. They were the main ones I wanted to tie down and have been able to work it around their jobs, or in Connor’s case, make the switch entirely.

"It’s hard for players because they either quit their jobs and take the chance, knowing that if it doesn’t work out they may struggle to get their previous jobs back, or it might be that they earn more money doing their main jobs and that turning full-time with us isn’t actually financially viable.”

With those four on board, attention turned to recruiting several more players, with the full-time aspect meaning they can now look further afield.

McGrath added: “We’ve been able to cast the net a bit further now and we’ve brought in players who were all targets and in positions where we needed to strengthen.

"We now have a squad of 14 but we’re working on four or five more.”

As for the challenge ahead, McGrath acknowledges just how tough the National League North is continuing to prove, but believes he will be able to produce a competitive team, and referred back to his time at Burton as inspiration.

He said: “The league is getting stronger. With the English talent being pushed down the leagues given the amount of overseas stars in the Premier League, that has a knock-on effect and makes the whole National League so much more competitive.

"We need to use the advantage of being full-time. At Burton, we were the underdogs all the time but had to use that to our advantage and developed a bit of a siege mentality.

"You can have all the money in the world but you still have to have the right kind of players that can gel properly and fit into the club and into your system.

"My group of players will represent the chairman, the club, the supporters and the community, but also themselves.

"Pre-season will provide a good mix of tests for us but we need time to work on all the phases, patterns, set pieces and styles of play what with us being a new setup.

"We’ve got time – we were back early on June 27 – and we can’t wait to see how things come together ahead of the new season.”