Former Sheffield Wednesday boss Paul Sturrock to take on new ‘DIY’ managerial role

And the former Sheffield Wednesday boss, who once famously took to the dugout in a kilt to settle a bet with a friend over the Owls’ survival chances, was a colourful figure throughout his two-year reign with the club.

The highlight of his time at S6 was of course promotion to the Championship through the playoffs in 2005 and though he was sacked in controversial circumstances just 18 months or so later he remains a popular figure for Wednesdayites.

He went on to manage at Swindon before making an exciting return to his old stomping ground Plymouth Argyle and then finishing his career with spells at Southend and Yeovil.

Or so we thought.

At the age of 64 six years on from his last posting, Sturrock is about to embark on a new managerial adventure; as boss of a brand new, completely amateur youth team based in Cornwall, where he has lived since retirement.

The team will be called Menheniot Pilgrims and will be for players between the ages of 16 and 21.

They’ll play in tangerine and green, which happen to be the colours of two of his great footballing loves; Dundee United and Plymouth Argyle.

“I like taking training and coaching,” he told Plymouth Live I miss it, so I have decided to start this amateur team of under-21s.

“I can work with people individually and the aim is to get them to play at a higher standard.

“I’m not averse to having a couple of boys over 21. I might need one or two stalwarts to help us through and get us on our feet, but it really is for 16 to 21s.

“We will start at the bottom and hopefully over the next two or three years we will get better and better.

“There is a pitch in place, there are goals in place. It’s a wee bit slopey but, again, it’s amateur football.”

The former Scotland international, who with 104 league matches is the 15th longest-serving Wednesday boss of all-time, revealed in 2008 that he is battling a mild form of Parkinson’s Disease.

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