It's Only Kids Football4 Aug 2025

Old-school grassroots gaffer reveals the secret to man management

This week, Ben and Mike, chat with Ben's old football manager Martin Skinner—a legendary (and unfiltered) former coach of the Brentwood Boys. In this episode, Martin unloads a treasure trove of memories: crazy van rides, dodgy leg rubs, makeshift training camps and a philosophy that mixed old-school discipline with raw devotion.

With his trademark wit and razor-sharp memory, Martin reflects on how he stumbled into coaching, what it was like managing Ben and the challenge of running a youth team while holding down a 3am fish market shift.

From fake poo pranks to coaching his own son, Martin explains that you don’t need to be a master tactician to get a group of boys to play for you — you just need to understand them, make them laugh and they’ll run through walls for you.

He also shares why coaching the kids’ football team was one of the greatest experiences of his life.

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