Steve gives in

Wacko Jacko had refused me an interview for years, perhaps put off by a list of leading questions that included, "It must be difficult when you pick your nose, Michael, knowing that it's someone else's".

Parry was fast giving the impression that he was signed up to the same agent.

Not that he was ever anything but courteous when taking calls from this reporter about the latest happenings at Haslingden FC.

But whenever the immortal words were uttered: "Now, Steve, about this feature piece," the line would suddenly go dead and Steve Parry would go AWOL for a week.

Shyness, I knew, was not the reason for a man who jointly runs a successful business that employs around 40 people.

And it was not that he had nothing interesting to say for he once played under Ian McGarry and could recount tales about this experience alone for an entire evening.

Persistence finally paid off and Parry's reluctance to come to the interview table suddenly became clear.

It stemmed from a prank played by his fellow players during a spell at Rossendale United.

"It was a regular thing that they would try to get someone to speak on Radio Lancashire that day about the game," said Parry.

"And because I was one of the older players they said I should say a few words after the game.

"So the phone rang after the match and I went out to the foyer to do the interview.

"Unbeknownst to me, however, I wasn't talking to a radio reporter I was talking to one of our players sat at the bar.

"And the clubhouse was packed listening to me giving my views - I was being serious and they were splitting their sides laughing.

"When I walked back into the bar and saw the scene I knew I'd been done - I thought Jeremy Beadle would walk in any minute or some American to say, 'Smile, you're on Candid Camera'."

Once bitten, twice shy is probably the moral of the tale but Parry was quite forthcoming after his initial reservations.

Respect for one's elders might best explain how he ended up player-manager of Haslingden.

Plunged into turmoil by the resignation of Ian Rishton and financial insecurity near the end of last season, the club found 35-year-old Parry a rock that could be relied on.

"The club was in a fairly unstable position at the time," recalled Parry who scored twice in his first match as a centre forward - after starting as a centre half - and stayed there.

"I think because I was probably, I don't know whether I should say the most experienced or the oldest, possibly the oldest, I was asked to look after things until the end of the season.

"It was Ged Connelly who, I wouldn't say cajoled me, rather, dropped it on me to put it bluntly.

"I knew there were quite a few players at the club who would stay with us and see us through to the end of the season."

Even so, the transition from being one of the lads to the new gaffer, assisted by Paul Round and Gerry Luchka, was difficult.

It was eased by the experience gained from playing under people like McGarry and Eric Whalley at Accrington Stanley.

But Parry is not a person who can easily tell a player that his services today will just not be required.

"You've got to be frank with people and honest with them from the start," he said.

"This was difficult and took time but, by and large, I have tried to be honest to all of the lads and I think that formula works."

It has worked successfully for most of the season as Haslingden have maintained a high position in the North West Counties' League Second Division. And financial worries have been alleviated by the takeover by Ewood Leisure.

The company now offers the people of Haslingden facilities for numerous activities.

Parry's immediate priority for the team is to consolidate and he feels, like most managers, that the missing ingredient is a proven goalscorer.

"That's what I feel we really need here," he said. "But as long as I'm fit I'm still available for selection."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.