Carl Heggs has thrown his hat in the ring for the vacant King’s Lynn job – insisting he is ready to lead his old club into the National League.
Heggs is ready to step out of the football wilderness and says he has unfinished business at The Walks, having been in charge of the club when it went out of business back in 2009.
The 54-year-old has applied for the job and said: “King’s Lynn Football Club has always had great potential and should be playing in the National League.
“With the club and the size of the town, it should be operating underneath the Football League.”
Heggs’ connection with Lynn goes back to June 2009, when he was appointed manager following the resignation of Keith Webb.
At the time, the Linnets had been demoted to the Northern Premier League due to failing to meet the ground-grading criteria for Conference North, leaving Heggs with the daunting task of rebuilding a squad from scratch.
Working alongside assistant Andy Johnson, he brought in the likes of Gareth Sheldon, Callum Lloyd, Joe Magunda, and Andrew Boyce.
His side enjoyed some early highs, including an 11-0 victory over Durham City – a post-war record win – but financial problems behind the scenes proved insurmountable.
Despite Heggs deferring 30 per cent of his wages to try and help the club, Lynn was wound up in December 2009, bringing his short reign to a premature end.
Heggs added: “When I left King’s Lynn, it was under circumstances that I had no control over, but I really did enjoy my time there.
“I ended up being ahead of recruitment at Notts County for a year and then caretaker manager before Martin Allen came in and didn’t want me around the place, which happens in football.
“I went to Hinckley and was manager of them in the Conference but I got to a stage where my kids were really young and I went through a divorce, so I needed to spend more time with them. That’s why I didn’t get back into football.
“James Rodwell, the chairman of Charlton Athletic, is my best friend and I’ve done a lot of scouting for him.
“It’s a long shot, but I’d love the chance as I’ve got unfinished business there and I also think I could do a really good job. I’m not applying just because I’ve got nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon.
“I’m not familiar with the politics behind the scenes or the financial aspects of it all. I’m only interested in building a team that the fans can be proud of and that was the case last time I was here.”
The Leicester-based boss is ready for a fresh challenge, although he admits his time out of the game may go against him.
“It will probably go against me because I didn’t bother to get back in for 10 years, but it wasn’t because I fell out of love with the game; it was my choice to bring my kids up, as I am a family man,” he said.
“There’s been jobs coming up around the Leicestershire area and I’ve had opportunities to go back into football full-time with my friends Andy Woodman, at Bromley, Micky Mellon, at Oldham, and my best friend in football, James Rodwell, who is chairman at Charlton Athletic.
“Nothing has ever appealed to me, but I’ve looked at that situation at King’s Lynn and thought that’ll be a fantastic opportunity for me and you never lose the knowledge of football.
“Once you are part of the football community, you never lose it, whether it’s been thtee, four or ten years since you’ve picked up the phone and spoken to players.
“It’s not like you’ve worked for British Gas and then you just go into football and I’ve still got many friends and contacts who are willing to help me.
“I was only at the West Bromwich Albion game against Leicester City, doing a talk on stage on Friday night. It’s something I’m passionate about and something I would like an opportunity to do.
“I don’t care about the money, it’s not about the money and I don’t care about a contract. I’d do it weekly until the end of the season if that’s what the club want.”
The Leicester-born former striker enjoyed a long playing career before moving into management. Starting at Leicester United, he joined West Bromwich Albion in 1991 for £25,000, going on to make 40 appearances in four seasons.
He later turned out for Swansea City, Northampton Town, Chester City, Carlisle United, and Forest Green Rovers, before spells with Ilkeston, Tamworth, Hinckley, and Redditch, where he also served as player-coach.
Away from football, he has spent the past decade running the FSD Academy in Leicester, an alternative learning provision for excluded young people – work he says mirrors the motivational side of management.
“I ran an alternative learning provision for young learners who have been excluded from school and tried to get them back onto the right path,” he said.
“My skill set has always been getting players and the people around me to do the best they can. That’s what I’ve been doing for 15 years, changing young people’s lives.
“There’s no difference between convincing a young person not to be in gangs or not to be selling drugs, to telling a young footballer who hasn’t made it, who wants to make it, that the best thing for them is playing for King’s Lynn.”
