Fasten seatbelts and assume the position - qualified pilot Des Buckingham will reach for the sky with Oxford United at Wembley on Saturday
Not many managers get to lead out their home-town club in a major final at the temple of English football. Even fewer enjoy the privilege after winning titles on two continents and taking to the cockpit in 16-seater single-engine planes, as Buckingham did after friends clubbed together to buy him flying lessons for his 30th birthday.
“It’s been a good few years,” said the Oxford head coach ahead of the League One play-off final against Bolton Wanderers, where the expected 65,000 attendance will be the largest in Britain this weekend.
“I coached the New Zealand Under-23s and we qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, but then Covid came calling and everything was put on hold.
“I jumped across to Australia and won the Double with Melbourne City, then with Mumbai City I won the Indian Super League Winners Shield before answering the call to come home. In New Zealand, rugby is the No.1 sport but I enjoyed some success there, and in India cricket is king - but the passion for football is huge, and it’s growing.
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“I found myself coaching against sides managed by Simon Grayson and Aidy Boothroyd, so I was constantly being challenged and I tried to learn as much as I could along the way.”
Former Watford manager Boothroyd was in charge at Jamshedpur, an industrial sprawl where England’s cricketers played a one-day international in 2006 and temperatures hit 47 degrees Centigrade.
Andrew Strauss ended the match on a saline drip and fast bowler Jimmy Anderson said the dressing room “looked like a scene from M*A*S*H.”
Oxford saw off Peterborough to make the play-offsBuckingham said: “It’s not just the heat - the humidity is colossal. We had to wait for the sun to go down before we could train at 6pm and we had water breaks in every game. I had a nice brown face when I stepped off the plane on my first day here after coming back to Oxford, and now I’ve got a pasty white face after five months of rain and I’m looking forward to a holiday.”
It was during his stay in New Zealand, where he initially started as a goalkeeping coach at Wellington Phoenix, that Buckingham found his wings and was awarded his pilot’s licence after more than 100 hours’ flying time and exams.
It was good preparation for the initial turbulence when he was headhunted by Oxford after Liam Manning’s sudden defection to Bristol City. He said: “It’s not like taking your driving test. When you’re up in the sky, you can’t just pull over on the hard shoulder and park up. You have to stay calm, and I try to be the same on the touchline. It’s a useful skill to acquire.”
Wembley will be the scene of their clash against Bolton (Getty Images)Buckingham, 39, was only an infant when Oxford lifted the only trophy in their history 38 years ago, beating QPR 3-0 in the League Cup final.
They dipped out of the Football League in 2006, but he was among the fans who saw them climb back through the loft hatch four years later through the play-offs before joining then-manager Chris Wilder’s coaching staff.
“I didn’t go to Wembley in 1986 because I was too young,” said Buckingham. “But there is a picture of me as a one-year-old boy in a big yellow sombrero with a flag and scarf which my dad took and sent me when I got the job here. If we win on Saturday, I might share it - but I did go in 2010 as a fan, when Chris took the club back into the League in the Conference play-off final, which was an enjoyable day out.
“To lead the side out at Wembley is going to be very special. I was born here, grew up round here and I know what this club means to the people. This time last week, I was walking through town to have breakfast with my sister and a guy literally ran across the road to say he was very pleased with our result at Peterborough in the semi-final, although I can’t repeat the language he used.”
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