Wrexham goalkeeper coach Aidan Davison on that penalty, Fosters retirement and turbulent ye

Aidan Davison, Wrexham’s goalkeeping coach, was not expecting 2023 to be quite this busy.

From serious injury to the unexpected retirement of a former England international and a frantic dash to bring in a replacement before the deadline, things have been far from straightforward on the goalkeeping front. And this is without even mentioning the penalty save that has already taken on iconic status in the club’s history.

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Keeping a calm head amid all the trials and tribulations that have befallen Wrexham’s goalkeeper department is 55-year-old Davison, a former Northern Ireland international who, until getting a call from the Welsh side’s manager Phil Parkinson last year, was happily residing in the U.S. holiday state of Florida.

“It has been turbulent because of certain scenarios,” Davison says. “These include Rob (Lainton) getting injured and Fozzy (Ben Foster) retiring again. We respect that. He had every right to do just that and we wish him well.

“There’s never a good time for these things to happen, particularly injuries. But you just have to move on quickly while attempting to fix the problem. You need to sort that alternative and fast. In the case of the goalkeepers, it helps we are a tight group. Probably because we know how lonely the position can be. The ultimate highs and lows position, with not a lot in between.

“You do tend to pull together and help each other through due to those shared emotions.”

Davison is sitting down with The Athletic after a busy Thursday morning on the training pitch for the League Two club. It’s his favourite day — preparations for the weekend’s game step up a notch, including work on the various traits of the opposition strikers.

It has been a good session, that much is clear. Just as it has been a good 18 or so months for Davison since being reunited with Parkinson. The pair were initially team-mates at Bury in the late 1980s and worked together again at Colchester United.

“Lee Butler had decided to retire,” says Davison about his Wrexham predecessor. “I’d been in the U.S. since leaving Colchester (in 2008) and did a variety of jobs — goalkeeper coaching, managing a few teams and helping build three new franchises, two of which were in Arizona.

“I’d also had a couple of years coaching in India, which was brilliant. But I was thinking about coming back (to the UK) when the gaffer got in touch to say Butts was retiring, would I be interested?

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“He sold me this job the same way he sold the Colchester job all those years ago. The thing with the gaffer is he loves a project. I was 36 and had probably had enough of playing when Phil got in touch to see if I’d join him at Colchester. I’m telling him I was thinking of packing it all in but he says, ‘Don’t do that just yet, I’ve got a project you’ll love at Colchester’. He sold the entire place to me, telling me how beautiful the area was and what signings he had in mind.

“I went for a year and ended up staying for four, living just over the border in (neighbouring county) Suffolk. We loved it and the kids still talk about it to this day. I had that in mind when Phil started talking about the project here.

“To be honest, being in America and India, I hadn’t followed the Wrexham story closely. But I knew the gaffer and how he worked. I also knew (assistant manager) Steve Parkin, who I’d been with at Hull City. That was the icing on the cake.”

“It’s Cedwyn Scott. A real pressure penalty. Can he beat Foster? Into a seventh minute of added time. So much tension. A massive moment in the title race. This to make it 3-3. Only adding to the tension by respotting the ball. Scott for Notts County… SAVED!”

No one inside the Racecourse on Easter Monday this year will forget ‘that’ penalty save, as described above on the live UK TV broadcast by BT Sport commentator Adam Summerton. Least of all Davison, watching from the home technical area as the defining moment in the 2022-23 National League title race played out.

“The analysis department does a brilliant job here,” says the former Bradford and Grimsby man. “They are relentless in looking into every detail, including penalties.

“Fozzy is a top ’keeper and has been around a long time, meaning he has an excellent gut instinct. Appreciating every ’keeper is different, I asked Fozzy when he signed how he liked to operate (at penalties): did he want to follow the little system we already had, where I could use the data to give him an idea (of where the penalty might go) or do his own thing?

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“He was happy to follow our way, meaning he had the information, but he also said he’d ultimately go with his gut. And that’s what he did against Notts County. The save was fantastic. That’s what top ’keepers do — make the saves at vital moments.”

Foster diving to his right to beat Scott’s penalty away begs the question as to which way the data indicated the midfielder would shoot.

“To the ’keeper’s right,” comes the reply. “The data was spot on. Nothing to do with me, mind. I was useless at saving penalties and would probably have gone the other way. I only saved one in my career. Even then, Dean Saunders hit me in the face with his shot when playing for Sheffield United because I didn’t move!

“So, this save — which will rightly go down in history — was all down to Fozzy and the analysis department. The credit is all theirs.”

Davison may play down his role in a save that deserves to join Mickey Thomas’ free kick against reigning league champions Arsenal in the 1991-92 FA Cup third round as one of the defining moments in Wrexham’s history. But there’s no doubt about the value he brings to the coaching team. As with predecessor Butler, he enjoys a special bond with the club’s keepers.

It means he’s been a big support for Lainton during the lay-off that has followed his horror injury at Bromley in March. Likewise, Mark Howard after the veteran came in for criticism from the terraces last season and then Foster when deciding to retire just four games into this season.

He’s also now building a good rapport with the club’s current first choice, Arsenal loanee Arthur Okonkwo. “He’s a good character,” he says of the 22-year-old, who is out of action after a minor jaw fracture and has returned to his Premier League club for treatment. “A very humble young man and a pleasure to work with.”

The goalkeepers under Davison’s charge are benefiting from his 22-year career and the days when he was coached by some of the game’s very best.

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“I was really fortunate to work with Neville Southall, Peter Shilton and Pat Jennings,” he says. “(That happened) Mainly towards the end of my career, which often left me thinking, ‘I wish I’d met you guys at 20, instead of 35’.

“It’s great for my coaching career now. I picked up so much from them all, particularly Big Nev (at Bradford). He was a totally different animal to the others. Brilliant mentally, teaching me about preparation prior to going out on the pitch.

“He’d ask, ‘Why do you go out on the pitch to warm up?’. I’d reply how I needed to get the feel of the ball. Nev got that. But he then added, ‘You can be better prepared mentally’. So, I started to do less in my warm-up, taking 20 minutes rather than 45. I’d then use that extra time to get myself right mentally.

“Shilts was another who helped me a lot. He was still playing when I was at Bolton but came in to help us out after we’d won promotion. He was still a quality trainer, working so hard on all aspects of his game. Pat Jennings was laid back. But a wonderful fella who had this amazing presence. Pat spoke to you on a human level and really helped my game.”

Those lessons have been put to good use since arriving at Wrexham.

Ditto the experience of steering Arizona amateur side Sporting AZ to the third round of the 2018 US Open Cup (their FA Cup equivalent) as head coach — beating neighbours Phoenix Rising, of the second-tier USL Championship, along the way.

He may not have known too much about Wrexham’s transformation under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney until Parkinson called. But he certainly does now, with even family and friends not being immune to Hollywood’s pull.

“The support the club has in the USA has to be seen to be believed,” adds Davison. “Wrexham’s name is everywhere. My daughter lives in New York and she says, ‘Dad, the billboards are all up advertising the show (documentary series Welcome To Wrexham)’. I have cousins in LA and they say the same.

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“The family can’t get enough of Wrexham. Funnily enough, none of them showed much interest when I was playing. I’d say to them, ‘Do you fancy coming to watch me at Colchester on Tuesday night?’. The response would always be the same. ‘No thanks, Dad. I’m busy’.

“Now, though, they all want tickets.”

(Top photo: Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)

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