‘It wasn’t to be with Portsmouth, my strengths are at academy level - now I’m enjoying new life away from pro game’: Hall of famer and former Blues boss Andy Awford

Next week will mark the ninth anniversary since a hero’s departure from the club he’ll always be most closely associated with.

A playing career spanning 371 appearances across three decades, after a debut at the age 16 years and 275 days for his one and only professional outfit.

The memories of Andy Awford’s poise as a footballer of elegant class live on, for those who witnessed the ease with which he mastered the art of defending.

He turned heads at the highest level, but a place in Pompey’s returning hall of fame is lasting testament to a loyalty which stretched into roles at academy and senior level, when an injury-ravaged 11-year senior career came to a close in 2000.

It was Awford’s work in the academy which helped lead to a new era of Fratton starlets emerging, as a reputation for nurturing talent was generated - before the call arrived to arrest an alarming Pompey fall towards non-league oblivion in 2014.

The Worcester-born man would prefer to remember the seven-game run to League Two survival over what then came next, in an ultimately ill-fated ensuing campaign which confirmed to the 51-year-old where his coaching talent lied.

‘If I’m honest my strengths are at academy level,’ said Awford, who was to make a return to the youth department with Luton Town, four months after his Fratton exit.

‘We all know the first-team stuff I did at Pompey. Yes, it went okay to start with - but it wasn’t to be, I quickly found out that the first team wasn’t for me.

‘So I ended up leaving Pompey as-first team manager. Okay I got the sack, mutual consent or whatever they call it!

‘I came out of Pompey in the April of 2015 and joined Luton in the July, back as academy manager.

‘At Pompey, the last few months was tough, so Luton was a fresh start and I loved it there.

‘Nathan (Jones) came in that January and asked me to work with him for a few months. We knew each other from a couple of courses we’d done together in the academy world.

‘I came in after doing a couple of games as caretaker, including coming back to Pompey. That was weird!

‘Nathan asked me to stay on and give him a hand with the first team for the remainder of the season. I did that, but seeing the level, the hours and the lifestyle he lived - I couldn’t do that. It wasn’t for me.

‘That’s not to say academy people don’t work hard, they do and it’s the unseen hours people don’t realise about. It was more the lifestyle.

‘I know Nathan’s had a few bumps in the road, but he’s very good and it showed me what it required. I don’t think I was prepared as a person to go back into that world - that’s why I decided to stick with the academy.’

Awford’s time at Luton was to span a seven-year stay which was to confirm his skill as a star finder, amid the challenge of London Premier League clubs swooping for his club’s talent and building a set-up which had a staff of four on arrival.

After the likes of Adam Webster, Jack Whatmough, Conor Chaplin, Dan Butler, Adam May, Ben Close and Alex Bass came through the Pompey age categories on his watch, another production line was set in motion in Bedfordshire.

Defender James Justin was to generate a club record £8m when he moved to Leicester in 2019, with Akin Famewo, Tyreeq Bakinson and Frankie Musonda also emerging.

Awford said: 'I left Luton in March 2022 and I think it was the right time, if I’m being brutally honest.

‘I was ready for a change - I was there for seven years.

‘I was ready for a change, but I think they were ready for a change as well. I think we’d both gone as far as we needed to or wanted to.

‘It was very amicable. Like my relationship with most people at Portsmouth, my relationships with people at Luton are still very good.

‘We brought through some very good players. We also sold a lot of schoolboys who I’m sure you will be hearing about in the next couple of years.

‘So I left Luton and had a break for five or six months.

‘I’d been in professional football since school when joining Pompey, beside from a period out teacher training. That apart, I’d always been involved.

‘I think being in the pro game all that time had caught up with me. So I took my time and reflected on what I wanted to do for me for once.

‘The kids had left home, there was just me and the missus and I didn’t have too many other worries. 

‘It was a bit of reset and I didn’t want to rush into things.

‘I played a lot of golf and my game improved marginally! I also spoke to people who I trusted in my close circles.

‘People were asking, do you want to go back in? I couldn’t answer yes, honestly. I didn’t want to go back in at first-team level or academy level.’

After stepping away from day-to-day involvement at professional clubs and joining his local bowls outfit, Awford has maintained his involvement with the game through roles with the Premier League as an academy auditor and matchday delegate.

But it was former Pompey physio and close confidante, Neil Sillett, who was to set his friend on his latest footballing journey which next month sees him return to the city - via Portugal and Italy.

It was Sillett who provided the link to former Premier League referee, Graham Barber, who was in the process of founding a new business, Mango Football, which offers experiences to young players like those in the pro ranks enjoy.

A consultancy role has transitioned to Awford becoming the start-up’s new director of football, tasked with using both his contacts and knowledge of the game to build a brand he believes has sizable potential.

They next month bring their Ultimate Player Experiences to the city for two one-day events, a homecoming which he hopes will be bathed in the afterglow of promotion glory.

Awford said: 'By the time we come down we’ll all hopefully have something to celebrate.

‘I cant wait to bring Mango to Portsmouth, though. It’s like coming home.

‘When we were targeting where to go in the country I pushed for here, because I know what football means to the city of Portsmouth.

‘I was introduced to the business at the end of 2022 - and have been director of football ever since.

‘It started on a consultancy basis, with them looking for some inside football knowledge.

‘I provided them with the insights, and from there one thing led to another and I became director of football.

‘I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s a start-up company that’s still in its infancy, but it’s ready to take off.

‘The concept is very difficult to explain because it’s so broad.

‘Mango Football is not talent ID platform, it’s not a talent ID company. It’s there to unlock the potential of young players, no matter what level they play at.

‘We went to Benfica recently and ran a camp for 22 kids from Nottingham - they were given a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Our next camps are in July amd August in Italy at Parma and Inter Milan.

‘The players get the whole treatment. They got the kit, the hotel, the training sessions and level of coaching, sports science, physiotherapy, the food - everything.

‘I work with fantastic people at Mango, a real close-knit group of people. I believe it will be an amazing platform for kids to join in the coming months and beyond.

‘I still have my stresses that I get in and out of work, but they are totally different stresses to what I got in the professional environment.

‘And for Pompey, well, no one is more pleased than me to see what’s happening.

‘I’m not going to jinx them, but fair play to everyone involved.

‘When I go back over the years, getting to the Championship was the aim.

‘A lot of different strategies were tried - ex-players, experienced managers and John (Mousinho) has done an outstanding job.

‘I don’t know John, but everyone I speak to on the football grapevine speaks very highly of him - he’s very highly regarded.

‘Fair play to Rich (Hughes), too, who has come in behind the scenes and done what he’s done. 

‘You won’t be seeing me there this year, though, I watched one game and we got stuffed 3-0 by Leyton Orient!

‘Fingers crossed they do it - and I think they will. For everything the club has been through, it’s great to see the success finally arriving.’

• Mango Football are hosting their Ultimate Player Experience events in Portsmouth on May 30 and May 31, at the new King George V football complex in Cosham. May 30 focusses on boys and girls aged 13-14. May 31 focusses on boys and girls aged 15-16. For full details visit Mango Football