“The County players know me as ‘De Niro’”
With County’s Beeline team coach safely tucked away and snoozing for the summer (please don’t ruin this subheading, Tranmere) after the trip to Orient, we thought we’d have a chat with Adam Bradshaw
Wednesday 3 May 2023
I know, I know. I’m tempting fate suggesting County’s team coach is already parked up in the garage with a sheet over it. As we’re relying on a mediocre Tranmere side to do us a favour on Monday, I am fully aware that Adam Bradshaw might have to remove that sheet, get his bus out of the garage, and fill her up with enough petrol to get us to Cumbria, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire for an additional away game we don’t want at this stage (although we’d have been happy with it back in August). But I’m sure I’ve seen a YouTube video from some hippy influencer sat in a tree in Romania saying you have to visualise your dreams in order to turn them into a reality. So until Northampton find the net at Prenton Park, I’ll keep imagining a big old bus parked in front of the Tranmere goal and a delicious-looking 0-0 on their scoreboard.
For those of you who don’t know Adam, by the way, he’s the bloke who runs Beeline VIP Coaches, County’s official travel partner. He kindly agreed to sponsor The Scarf My Father Wore recently and after we had a bit of a chat, I thought it would be interesting to develop that into an article for the website. You and I follow Paddy Madden and Co around the country, but what’s it like to be the one who drives the players, spending hours with them on the motorways and dropping them off right outside the front entrances at Field Mill and Spotland? Adam reveals all below.
Finally, today’s edition is sponsored by Greenshoots Yoga. A big thank you to Claire, who runs yoga and mindfulness sessions for children, young adults and families. Most County kids are brought up on a Saturday afternoon can of Coke and a packet of crisps on Castle Street, which there’s nothing wrong with at all, but yoga is probably a little more conducive to their development. If you’ve got your own little County nippers, it’s definitely worth giving Claire a call to see what it’s all about. You never know, get them into yoga from a young age and they could be banging in the goals for County when they’re older!
Enjoy today’s issue.
Des Junior
You’ve been working with County since 2019. How did it all come about?
I was approached by a mutual friend to cover County’s away game at York in the FA Cup in October 2019. I had a meeting with the great man himself Jim Gannon when I was invited to pop over to Edgeley Park to show the club our main first-team coach. County were so impressed with our services, I was asked to tender for the following season; I did, and the rest is history!
What’s involved on a matchday when you're driving County to an away game?
The work starts the day before, doing a full safety check, sorting out the water tanks, and generally ensuring the vehicle is in tip top condition for the team. Once we arrive at Carrington we load the coach up with all the kit, the food, and the most important thing of all, the players! The lads know me as “De Niro” - a nickname given to me by some of the players! We get on really well and they all know me by first name too which is nice, and we often stay in touch outside of work; I’ve had many messages from players and managers with jokes and the odd catch-up.
After the match, the driver gets the food ready for the players to eat when they’ve finished playing. This means the driver will usually miss the second half of County’s game, as they have to get the ovens fired up and make sure the food is hot, but we do have a link to all the matches through the TV on the coach so we never miss a kick.
What are the County players like to work with?
Honestly, County are the best club we deal with. The players and management are great, funny, seriously polite at all times, and really helpful in loading and unloading. They’ve made myself and my drivers feel so at home within the club, we’re now season ticket holders, attending nearly all the home games. We’ve also brought lots of our visiting teams to Edgeley Park. We share the highs and the lows with the fans.
Do you work with any other football clubs?
I’ve worked with many local clubs including Salford, Rochdale, City and United’s youth teams, as well as a few clubs from outside the area when they need travel, such as Millwall, West Ham, Newcastle, PSG and PSV Eindhoven. We’ve also provided transport for lots of amateur teams arriving in the UK from USA, South Africa, Australia and Brazil.
Give us a brief history of your business.
I started the business after years in the industry working for many other companies in the area. I had roles ranging from driver through to operations and finally on to sales manager. I then realised there was a gap in the market to provide first class transport for football teams, and VIP travel for everyone.
What's your favourite radio station when you're on the road?
To be honest, I much prefer a good playlist on the bluetooth speakers.
What's your favourite service station?
It’s got to be Norton Canes on the M6 Toll, but to be honest we don’t really use them when the players are on as they just want to get home.
What's your favourite motorway?
M60, as it’s near the base! The best part of a long journey is when you know you’re nearly home.
Take the kids to yoga
Now, you might not have thought of doing this before. But Claire Ash from Greenshoots Yoga runs fantastic yoga and mindfulness sessions for children, young adults and families. During term time, yoga and mindfulness classes for children take place every Friday at St Paul’s Church Hall in Heaton Moor. It’s £8.50 for children aged 8-12 (4.30pm - 5.25pm) and £7 for those aged 5-7 (5.30pm - 6.15pm). Claire also runs parent and child sessions a couple of times each term.
In addition to the above, Claire has also started to teach yoga to academy football players, which helps prevent injury, as well as helping balance, flexibility, and faster recovery time. She also talks to the footballers about keeping calm and bringing a joy and control to the game.
Visit greenshootsyoga.co.uk for further details.
Today in SK
🍺 Fancy a few midweek drinks tonight? The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £4.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £2, and 3 for £6 on Jägerbombs.
Photo of the day
Wrexham city centre
Whatever you think of them, you’ve got to take your hat off to Wrexham after 30 million of them turned up to their parade last night. That’s 10 times the population of Wales itself. Phenomenal effort!
Just kidding. Although they did have a decent turnout to be fair, and I don’t think many County fans would begrudge Wrexham’s proper old school supporters their day in the sun after being out of the Football League for 15 years. I’d actually quite like to play Wrexham again next season, if only for shits and giggles; I just hope it’s in the Papa John’s Trophy and not League Two.
Never mind Google or Yell.com, we’ve got you covered
STOP! That got your attention, didn’t it? Just a quick one… I’d hazard a guess that at some point in May, all of our readers will use Google or Yell.com at some point looking for a particular product or service. But before you do, please have a quick look at our own directory to see if we have what you’re looking for. A number of great businesses support The Scarf My Father Wore, allowing us to publish fresh content every day, so let’s send a few enquiries their way in return.
Click here to have a look at all the businesses in our directory.
Bonus photo of the day
The BBC Sport website
I’ve made no secret of being quite chuffed to see Wrexham back in the Football League (would you really rather be going to Bromley or Boreham Wood?). But after seeing this as the TOP story on the BBC Sport website last night, for a bloody open top bus, even I will admit that the media coverage is getting a little bit silly now. Christ, the way we’re going, Paul Mullin will be addressing the nation at 3pm on Christmas Day rather than Charlie.