FORMER soccer boss Mick Wadsworth has swapped his tactics board and cone for watercolor pencils and paper.
Wadsworth, 70, had a notable coaching career, directing Carlisle, Scarborough, Colchester, Oldham, Huddersfield, Chester and Hartlepool in the Football League.
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Mick Wadsworth traded football for artPhoto credit: Dave Pinegar
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The ex-soccer manager presented some of his drawings for SunSportPhoto credit: Dave Pinegar
He was also assistant to the late Sir Bobby Robson in Newcastle and on his English coaching staff at the 1990 World Cup.
But now he’s turned to art.
At the start of the pandemic, Wadsworth decided to join two of his greatest passions, football and drawing, to raise money for charity.
He has designed a number of soccer fields including Carlisle’s Brunton Park, Burnley’s Turf Moor, and the now demolished former homes of Scarborough (Athletic Ground) and Darlington (Feethams), as well as local scenes from his life.
On Saturday night, he sold 12 of his adorable framed sketches at auction in Carlisle to raise funds for the Eden Valley Hospice, which cares for patients from Cumbria and south-west Scotland.
Wadsworth told SunSport, “Me and my Carlisle team wanted to get together last year to be May 25th.
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Wadsworth drew various locations during the coronavirus lockdownPhoto credit: Dave Pinegar
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He hopes to raise money for charity at his upcoming auctionPhoto credit: Dave Pinegar
“But because of the lockdown, we had to postpone it for a year.
“I’ve always loved the arts – Lowry, Turner and Norman Cornish are my favorite artists.
“I drew a lot as a child and painted passionately in my youth.
“I grew up in a mining village in Yorkshire called Dodworth near Barnsley.
“My father was a miner and I started my work career in the mine, so this part of my life was important. It was a great grounding.
“I drew everything that was around me back then – be it football or local scenes.
“And then, during the lockdown, I started doing sketches and watercolors again.
“I’ve made a few soccer fields, but through the lens of a few years ago.
“I researched all the reasons I had drawn and acquired old pictures to make the architecture as accurate as possible.
“Then everything else comes from my strange and strange imagination.”
Wadsworth’s artistic talent extends further as he also plays guitar, piano and harmonica.
But football has always been his great passion and he wanted to do something in memory of former Carlisle midfielder Tony Hopper, who died of motor neuron disease at the age of only 42.
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Football fields play an important role in Wadsworth’s drawings
He said: “I made Tony his debut when I was a coach and he sadly passed away three years ago. Tony was being cared for by the Eden Valley Hospice, which was struggling with the pandemic, so we decided to raise funds for her.
“We want to remember not only what we achieved in Carlisle all those years ago, but also Tony and our physiotherapist Peter Hampton, who passed away last September.
“It was an incredible time for the club. In both of my seasons at the club, they made it to the play-off semi-finals, which we lost to Wycombe; won the title to be promoted and made it to the EFL Trophy final against Birmingham at Wembley for the first time in Carlisle history. On that day there were 76,663 fans!
“I made senior debuts at Carlisle for the likes of Rory Delap and Paul Murray.”
The Cumbrians will always have a special place in Wadsworth’s heart as they became the first club to appoint him as a professional football manager in 1993. And he regrets that he stepped down a few months after the 1995 triumph.
He said, “Carlisle – and later Newcastle – are the two clubs that I look back on and think I shouldn’t have left when I did.
“I should have stayed here, but I was stupid. But that’s life, isn’t it?
“In the Carlisle case, we had just moved up to the third division and we didn’t invest, so it got difficult and frustrating.
“Norwich came in and made a good offer to join Gary Megson as an assistant manager.
“It was a big mistake because after just a few months they declared they were broke. What a great action it was!
“One day I went to work and they said, ‘Can you return your car? Oh, and by the way, we sold your apartment! ‘”
Wadsworth will always have fond memories of working with Robson for England and Newcastle.
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Wadsworth tries to raise the money to commemorate Carlisle midfielder Tony HopperPhoto credit: Dave Pinegar
He worked as a regional trainer for the FA in the Northwest and met Robson there. And the former Three Lions boss took him to Italy to become part of his coaching team for the 1990 World Cup.
Robson later recruited him as his assistant in Newcastle and Wadsworth said, “Bobby knew what I was good at.
“He really relied on me to lead the coaching in Newcastle so the daily training was my responsibility, along with the coaching team so to speak.
“John Carver was there then and Tommy Craig made the reserves.
“It wasn’t a dictatorial situation under Bobby.
“I did what I enjoyed most, namely on the training ground.
“Bobby was fantastic and always very attentive to everything we did.
“If Bobby said, ‘No, I don’t agree,’ it was fine.
“I’d make a point, John would make a point, he would make a point and in the end we agreed that Bobby was right all along. Everyone held him with such awe and working with him was a pleasure.
“He was a wonderful person – a true gentleman, but also as tough as old boots.”
Wadsworth is working with Sheffield Star’s chief football writer James Shield on a book detailing his life and memories that will most likely be published sometime next year.
Renowned football photographer Stuart Roy Clarke also hopes to soon be able to use some of Wadsworth’s drawings in a book and at an exhibition of his work in Carlisle.
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Wadsworth added: “I was so blessed to have had such a great career in football.
“I only played 20 odd games for Scunthorpe in the Football League, the rest of my game days in the non-league.
“So I was lucky enough to have a successful career in professional sport.”
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