Real Bedford: Forest Green promotion winner Rob Sinclair leading bitcoin-backed side
Last updated on .From the section Football
Just five years ago, Rob Sinclair was a member of the Forest Green Rovers squad that won promotion to the English Football League for the first time.
Now, aged only 32, he finds himself in a very different scenario, but one he hopes will result in a similar - if less elevated - outcome.
It was at the back end of last year that bitcoin podcaster Peter McCormack bought Bedford FC, raising eyebrows around the football world with talk of their reaching the EFL and, eventually, the Premier League.
Big dreams indeed for a club in the sixth tier of the English non-league game, and 10th tier overall.
In May, McCormack decided Sinclair was the man to guide the team on the first stage of that journey.
Now renamed Real Bedford - the 'Real' pronounced as in Real Madrid - and with a new-look squad, they have made a racing start to the new South Midlands Football League Division One campaign, winning their first four games and scoring 15 goals in the process, all streamed live on their YouTube channel.
Sinclair took his first job in management at Eynesbury Rovers, who finished ninth in the United Counties League Premier Division South last term, but enthused by McCormack's vision, he opted to drop down a step to replace Jason Goldman as Real Bedford manager.
'Ambition is great but you have to be realistic'
When the approach was made, although attracted to the challenge of managing in his home town, Sinclair did have some apprehension, in part due to the reception McCormack - another Bedford boy - received when first outlining his plans.
"I saw the way Pete came out and talked about taking Real Bedford to the Premier League and, looking back, I think he realises he made a mistake and shouldn't have been so forthright," Sinclair told the BBC's Non-League Show.
"He didn't realise how ruthless the football industry was. Me, having been in the professional game, looking at it, it's great having ambition, but sometimes you have to be realistic. It is a building process.
"My main thing is winning football matches and hopefully taking us up into step five. Social media and attracting sponsorships, that's down to him and I know from seeing him work that he's very good at it."
The Real Bedford story is not all about a successful first team and attracting further backing from the bitcoin world though.
McCormack, alongside chief operating officer Emma Firman and CEO Tom Pattinson, has formed a partnership with Bedford Ladies and Girls FC in order to "fast track" their goals and "provide them with the facilities and support they need to be able to get there".
It is, says Sinclair, about bringing together a "whole community".
'Bad publicity comes from jealousy'
So why was there such a negative reaction in some quarters to McCormack's ambitious plans?
"I think, from personal experience through my journey in football, that bad publicity - sometimes we had it at Forest Green when I was there - is a massive jealousy thing," said Sinclair
"In this day and age, people don't like football teams being successful for some reason, whereas I think what he, Tom and Emma are doing in the community, I've never seen anything like it."
The EFL remains a long way off but for now Sinclair's task is simple: to get the club on the bottom rung of the ladder so the climb can begin.
And having to deal with that expectation suits him just fine.
"Any footballer, any athlete wants to win. That's why I dropped down to Real Bedford. I saw the exciting project and I want to win football matches," he said.
"I was fortunate enough to be in promotion-winning sides, I always wanted to be in teams that were challenging and I'm exactly the same now as a manager."
Despite their strong start this term, he does not expect a straightforward journey.
"Northampton Chenecks have signed Dan Holman, who was playing National League for Torquay last year. This is not going to be an easy season like some people perceive because there's other sides at this level who are signing very, very good players so I'm under no illusion that it's going to be tough," said Sinclair.
'I like players to take initiative'
Graham Westley, Dean Holdsworth and Mark Cooper are among Sinclair's former bosses and all of them have influenced his approach.
"I've always asked questions of managers in the past and you have a part of their personality in you because you've spent so much time with them," he added.
"But then you have your own style and your own way of working, your own beliefs in terms of how you want football to be played and how you want people to conduct themselves.
"I'm a very calm character, I was as a player and I've sort of continued that into management. I like lads to go on the pitch and have freedom.
"In my past experience, football was very much the manager on the sideline telling you when to pass, shoot, do this, do that - and I'm the complete opposite of that.
"I didn't like it as a player. I'll give information in detail but I also like lads to solve problems and take initiative and some responsibility on the pitch."
That approach has certainly paid off so far - underlined by Tuesday's 3-0 home win over Letchworth Garden City Eagles, which kept them on top of the table on goal difference.
For Real Bedford, the only way is indeed up.
Rob Sinclair was speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio's Ollie Bayliss
