Local lad Dan Watson is chasing Walsall success on his doorstep
Dan Watson has his promotion medal with Northampton Town hanging proudly on his wall.
His next quest is to add another to his collection with his hometown club – an achievement which he believes would taste just that little bit sweeter.
“To get promotion at any football club is an unbelievable feeling,” the Walsall goalkeeper coach says. “I’ve got my promotion medal on the wall and I look at it regularly.
“You take yourself back to the work you put in, the feeling on the night. We did it at Wembley – it may have been during Covid so there were no fans there but it was still very special.
“They say when you go back to your hometown club it’s a little bit different and I understand that now because it is. That’s where I live. I see lads at the gates of my son’s school wearing Walsall shirts.
“It would be unbelievable to gain promotion with Walsall. I’d like to think I’d never have to buy a coffee again in Walsall if we did!”
The former goalkeeper has played for Derby County, Wolves, and then Luton Town, where he suffered a serious knee injury.
Watson rounded off his playing career at Kidderminster Harriers before launching his coaching career at non-league level. He has since gone on to coach at Port Vale, Carlisle United, Northampton, and Cheltenham Town.
The 45-year-old is now back on familiar terrain and is relishing the chance to work for his boyhood club.
“I’d like to think my career has been successful,” he reveals. “I’ve got five or six lads that I’ve been working with that are now playing and are part of Championship clubs.
“But it’s great to be back home. I love the club. I’ve always been an outside fan for many years watching games as a spectator. I live in Walsall, my kids all go to nursery and school in Walsall.
“It’s great to see people walking around with a Walsall shirt on, and it fills me with great pride to contribute to my home town.”
Watson coached Owen Evans during his solitary season at Cheltenham and was reunited with the 26-year-old within weeks of arriving at Bescot.
Evans had a successful loan spell at Whaddon Road during the second half of the 2019-20 season, and the club purchased him on a permanent basis in the summer of 2022.
The Welsh shot-stopper had a difficult time in his second spell and lost his place to veteran Scott Flinders for almost three months. But Watson has been impressed by Evans’ tenacious attitude towards self-improvement and thinks he thoroughly deserves his number one berth at Walsall.
Watson said: “I was really pleased for Owen last season because he’d never been an actual number one. I know he came into Cheltenham as a number one, but with Scott Flinders as competition there.
“It was tough for Owen at Cheltenham last year. But when he had the option to go to Walsall he did phone me and that’s the relationship that we’ve got. As everybody saw this year with his performances, he’s now established himself as number one.
“He’s a great lad. He’s first in, last out, and gets his work done. He works extremely hard through the week. I can’t praise Owen enough for how he presents himself every day of the week.”
Watson has worked with a host of experienced managers, including Michael Duff at Cheltenham and Keith Curle at Carlisle and Northampton.
He has maintained strong relationships with most managers he’s worked with in the past, and still keeps in contact with them to soak up their advice and continue to learn.
“I really enjoyed working with Michael. He’s really good to brainstorm with because he’s just a really knowledgeable guy,” Watson adds.
“And a real gentleman. A real good relationship maintained which I’ve done with most managers. Keith Curle and other people I’ve worked with before are always there should I need a conversation or a helping hand.
“Keith was great. Sometimes you look back at their careers and you talk to them, and just use their knowledge because there’s probably not a lot they’ve not seen in the game.
“Even now at 45, you think you’ve seen a lot of stuff but there’s always something in football that catches you out. It’s just great to have these people with their knowledge and their experience to just fall back on, and ask, what would they do?
“I spoke to Paddy Kenny this morning. An absolute legend. You run things by them and they give you their opinion. It’s just to get a different approach which is fantastic for me.”
