‘A pleasure to be back involved’ – Lee Fearn on joining the Reds’ backroom staff
New Reds fitness coach Lee Fearn has expressed his delight at being back in football ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Fearn, who was Strength & Conditioning coach at Carlisle United for four years until 2018, described it as a ‘pleasure to be back involved’ in the game after a ‘welcome call’ from new Borough Park boss Danny Grainger, and the new backroom staff addition recently spoke to us.
I finished at Carlisle over a year ago now, and you miss it when you’re not involved.
said the Nottingham native.
It’s a certain type of environment that you get kind of get addicted to, and it’s a just a pleasure to be back involved. Hopefully, I’ll be helping out Danny and I’m trying to do what I can to help the boys and make the season successful.
The former Cumbrians coach described leaving Brunton Park as the ‘hardest’ decision of his career, and in the same interview with the News & Star, cited Grainger as a model of consistency in his time there.
Despite that welcome call coming ‘out of the blue,’ Fearn knew Grainger’s philosophy at Reds was a match for his own.
He knows my ethos and my values, and that’s never changed. It’s the person I am, I take pride in my work. I said it when I left Carlisle, Danny was a fantastic captain to work with and we tried to work together in what we were building in the dressing room.
He’s made that transition [to manager] and been fantastic at Workington, so I’m excited to be involved and excited to see how he develops. I’m sure he’ll do fantastic here and for the rest of his career.
Fearn’s background ranges from Premier League West Bromwich Albion to Team GB but says he has always kept the same set of principles throughout his career, and is now aiming to translate them to the Northern Premier League way of life.
I’ve worked at every level in football and one thing that I’ve always maintained is that your principles should stay the same. What makes the top teams successful – the principles behind them – should remain consistent, whatever level you’re at.
I’ve tried to keep the same philosophy around work rate and preparation, and that’s now no different. The only difference is that we’re trying to get the most out of maybe two days of training compared to five/six-days-a-week contact,” he explained.
The content and what we try to deliver to them doesn’t change. We have to take in mind that players here have other jobs and livelihoods to maintain but how we try to care for them is no different to any level of football.
I think in a nutshell, what I’m trying to do is bring my experience from different levels of various sports, and bring that knowledge to this level to support them like I would at any other.”
