Saturday, September 24, 2022, marks a very special day in the history of Wycombe Wanderers.
The date not only marks the 135th anniversary of the club’s existence but it also celebrates the 10th year of Gareth Ainsworth’s time in charge of the Chairboys.
In doing so, he becomes the first manager since the end of the Second World War to be at the helm for a decade, and despite Wycombe’s somewhat stuttering start to the current campaign, he revealed that his ‘proud’ of his current tenure and hopes more positives memories will follow.
This morning I’ve come to interview an EFL manager, who drives to work in this amazing car, any idea who it might be pic.twitter.com/WLvTS0Samw
— Ian Abrahams (Moose) (@BroadcastMoose) September 22, 2022
However, despite his achievements which includes two promotions and reaching three play-off finals, he admitted that he didn’t think he would be in the job for as long as he has.
Ainsworth said: “You don’t think like that as a football manager.
“It’s very consuming without a doubt and you don’t plan to be in a job for 10 years.
“Any manager who does that is very naïve.
The current longest-serving managers in the English football league:
— Squawka (@Squawka) April 15, 2022
◉ Simon Weaver
◎ Harrogate Town (12Y 329D)
◉ Gareth Ainsworth
◎ Wycombe Wanderers (9Y 203D)
◉ John Coleman
◎ Accrington Stanley (7Y 209D)
◉ Jürgen Klopp
◎ Liverpool
◉ Pep Guardiola
◎ Man City pic.twitter.com/nFp209xz00
“It’s something that just happens and it’s going to happen on Saturday which is brilliant.
“The luck I have had over the years and the people I’ve had with their relationships has been fantastic and I have really proud of the achievements which have come up with over the last 10 years.”
From losing his first match in charge away at Dagenham & Redbridge on September 29, 2012, to giving the club its best home run in 2021, the 49-year-old has given Wycombe some of its best moments in Wanderers’ history.
Promotion into League One after a six-year absence in 2018 to signing Adebayo Akinfenwa, one of the most popular footballers in the history of the EFL, are all on Ainsworth’s CV.
#OTD 1️⃣0️⃣ years ago
— Chairboys on the Net - Paul Lewis (@GasmanCOTN) September 21, 2022
The eve of the end and the start#wycombe pic.twitter.com/hhg3tBEi4Y
But, there is one moment that will stand out in the manager’s list of achievements.
Ainsworth explained: “The best moment would have to be getting Wycombe into the Championship.
“That was an incredible feeling knowing that in 133 years of existence, this club was just one of the few that would be playing in the second tier of English football.
“What a night that was and I’m not a social media person, but even I saw a video that really gets me choked up.
“It was seeing all the houses with Wycombe fans and shirts out, and people celebrating at the final whistles in their homes.
“This was during Covid so nobody was at the ground and you couldn’t be in the pub watching it with your mates.
READ MORE: Gareth Ainsworth is 'disappointed' as his Wycombe side lose 3-0 away at Stevenage
“People in the video were screaming ‘blow the final whistle, blow the final whistle!’ and I get a bit choked up seeing that as that’s how we all felt at Wembley that day.
“That moment is my finest hour at Wycombe Wanderers.
“Survival at Torquay is up there because the relief was incredible and the learning I got off that was so important.
“But to take this club to the Championship was special and hopefully it won’t be the last time.”
So far, Ainsworth has won 206 games from his 526 matches in charge, and here’s hoping he can record the club’s first-ever victory away at Sheffield Wednesday this Saturday.
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