Green Shoots Visible From O'Hara's "Whirlwind" Start to Management

The former Premier League midfielder turned Billericay Town manager turned national media pundit has found new ways of keeping busy amid the suspension of National League football.

“There’s now a GoFundMe page and food bank we’ve created, helping elderly people and those most vulnerable within our community,” O’Hara, 33, passionately explained.

“I’ve been working with Nick Hutt (joint-Billericay Town owner) to get food parcels out to these people who are not in a position to go out and do their shopping.

“In a time of need for a lot of people, we’re showing what a football club can do to support the town it is in.

“I’ve also created a mental health series as a way of showing techniques for how to keep your mind positive in this situation.

“As a club, it is important for us all, the coaching staff, the players, the people behind the scenes, to stay positive and be ready for when football returns.

“Everyone is talking about the virus and not the impact it is having on mental health for a lot of people.

“The only way to deal with mental health is to talk, but we’re in a situation now where some people feel isolated from the outside world”.

By O’Hara’s own admission, inclusivity is something the club had struggled to provide previously.

While success came on the pitch- a treble-winning season in 2017/18 and a top ten finish the following campaign- the approach evidently had long-term flaws.

“We’re trying to make Billericay Town a community club, which I don’t feel it has been in the past,” O’Hara admits.

“Glenn (Tamplin- the previous owner) did great things at Billericay. You only need to look at the stadium and the clubhouse to know that.

“We achieved great things on the pitch, but everything was done at 100mph. To build in football, you have to do it gradually.

“Our first aim with the new owners was sustainability because that ultimately brings consistency.

“Everything we are doing now is to build a team for next season within our means to fight for promotion. A whirlwind season like this one doesn’t build success- consistency builds success”.

And what a whirlwind it has been for one of the youngest managers in the National League.

Tamplin departed Billericay just days after appointing O’Hara into his first managerial role.

A high number of key players closely followed the former owner out of New Lodge as part of the new target for sustainability.

Although this may not have been the circumstance he had imagined during the peak of his playing career, coaching was always a part of the plan.

O’Hara explains: “I have a huge love for football, and with that comes a desire to test and challenge myself within the game.

“Management was something I always had a passion for, but I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly!

“When the chance came here with Billericay, I had to take it. At 33, you don’t get opportunities to manage a great club like this very often”.

Ricay’s 18th position in the current Vanarama National League South standings doesn’t tell the half the story.

“There are managers who have worked in football for a lifetime who haven’t had to deal with the problems I have had to,” the Billericay boss joked.

“Very soon after I took the job, ten of our best players had to leave and then our pitch was vandalised.

“Trying to imprint a philosophy has been difficult, but we feel we are close to getting it right.

“We may have lost our way in the league, but I’m proud that we’ve reached the Essex Senior Cup final”.

In a season of plenty of highs and lows, O’Hara reflects on the period as a positive one.

He said: “I love Billericay as a town and I’ve noticed there are more people in the local area now who feel part of what we’re doing.

“Billericay gave me the opportunity to get back into football and I’ll always be very grateful for that.

“The club has given me a great platform to prove wrong the perception people have of me.

“Through hard work and dedication, doing my coaching badges, working in media and staying away from the limelight with all the other nonsense I was doing, I am now in a place that I have always wanted to be.

“I love being around football and talking about it. Being on the radio or television is a great release for me, and being involved with lots of great people in the industry”.

Not one to reminisce in an idle manner, O’Hara’s ambitions for Billericay Town are clear.

“We have some fantastic plans for how to take the club to the next level,” he adds.

“The aim of this season was just to get through it, allowing the new owners a chance to bed in and plan the bigger picture.

“From next season, we’re building to become one of the biggest Non-League clubs in the country.

“This is a project I’m very excited to be a part of, and I’m hoping to be involved for a long time”.