For one of Bedford’s home grown coaches, the world of football knows no bounds and beginning in the often combative and brutal world of the non-league game, he has now gone on to bigger and better things to, of all places, the Danish Superliga.
Jack Cassidy, 34, began life at Histon FC in 2016 and he has worked his way up the ladder ever since, stopping at Bedford Town in 2018 to work as Jon Taylor’s assistant manager, in a journey that has seen him coach all over the world.
The Bedford Independent caught up with Jack upon his Christmas return from Denmark, where he is now assistant coach of Danish Superliga side, Aalborg BK.
“I’m absolutely loving it in Denmark”, says Jack.
“The exposure I’m receiving at this level is excellent and travelling to very good teams like Copenhagen and Brøndby is a real eye-opener and I’m learning every day.”
Aalborg BK have a rich history in the Danish top flight, even reaching the pinnacle of the Champions League in 2008-09, facing the likes of Manchester United and Celtic in the group stage.
Since those heady days, the club has suffered financial troubles, and were relegated to the Danish First Division in 2022-23, but they are now fighting their way back in the top tier under manager, Menno van Dam, of which Cassidy is his assistant.
“The club have really started to focus on promoting the academy and concentrating on sustainability under the new ownership, and that’s something that I can really get behind.”
Life at The Eyrie
After his opening job at Histon in 2016, Cassidy spent a few years as Assistant Manager at St Ives under Ricky Marheineke, who is still the manager at Westwood Road, and a man Jack is full of praise for.
“He really, really supported and encouraged me,” says Jack.
“I was only 24 or 25 at that point but Ricky really helped shape the early days of my career and set me up for what was to come.”
However, when Bedford Town came knocking in 2018, it was an opportunity that Cassidy could not turn down.
“I got a phone call from Jon [Taylor] about joining him at Bedford Town and despite dropping down a league, I was really interested in the project they were making there.
“There’s also an added interest in Bedford Town being my hometown club so I felt like I had to try and make a go of it!”
Still only 28, Cassidy was joining Bedford Town at step four, and while a lot of young coaches face the prospect of managing older, more seasoned players on their way down from higher levels, Cassidy’s approach was – and still is – far more pragmatic.
“Who am I to tell Paul Benson how to finish?!” jokes Cassidy.
“I don’t think you can blag it. The facts remain, I’ve not played at this standard before, (Cassidy played for Wootton Blue Cross at step six), and the players respect you far more if you’re just honest about it.
“In truth, players don’t really care what standard you played at as long as you can put on a good training session and help them improve as players.”
Cassidy’s career took a further step forward when he was offered the opportunity to help nurture the nation’s next professional footballers at Luton Town, working in the schoolboy programme.
“I looked after the 14 year olds and the 16 year olds and it was a different kind of challenge,” says Jack.
“You’re dealing with young, ambitious people, most of whom are maybe looking at ‘making it’ and helping them develop their game was a responsibility I thrived on.”
However, the job was still not full-time and alongside the Luton Town position, Jack was also working as a college tutor as well as coaching football as much as possible on the side.
“You’ve got to coach as much as possible if you want to progress”, says Jack. “Men’s, Women’s, youth, college and school football, all of it is valuable experience. You’ve got to put in the hard yards.”
Jack is now a UEFA ‘A’ licensed coach; one step away from the highest possible UEFA ‘Pro’ grade, a course that Jack has his eye on in the near future.
Many coaches in the UK have found it difficult to access the UEFA graded coaching courses, despite self-funding them, due to the lack of places and the stiff competition.
Some are forced to travel to Wales or Northern Ireland to gain a spot through the devolved nations, while the price for completion of the UEFA Pro Licence course alone is £13,700 according to the FA website.
However, as a dual British and Irish citizen, Jack was able to utilise the Football Association of Ireland to his advantage.
“I completed my ‘B’ course in England but the ‘A’ and the ‘A Youth’ badges were completed in Ireland and the FAI were absolutely fantastic with me.
“I don’t really want to put a time limit on gaining the Pro badge, but its certainly something on my radar.”
The globe awaits
Come 2021, the world was beginning to pick up after the Covid-19 pandemic but for Cassidy, the chance to spread his wings was afforded and again, he credits his Irish passport as playing a part in being offered the manager’s job at Swedish fourth tier side, Prespa Birlik.
“I got offered it on LinkedIn!”, exclaims Jack.
“I was contacted via an agent on there to come out to Sweden and take over a fourth tier Swedish side, owned by an interesting Turkish man, who was probably too emotional to be running a football club.
“They needed someone with an EU passport to take over, and thanks to my Dad’s Irish heritage, it was something I possessed so I thought it was too big an opportunity to pass up.
“It started to go wrong fairly quickly as players and staff were not getting paid and I only managed six league games in the end as there was a crazily long pre-season.
“But the experience was still extremely valuable.”
Prespa Birlik collapsed not long after, although there are plans to reintroduce the club to the bottom of the Swedish football pyramid for the 2025-26 season.
But this didn’t perturb Cassidy from continuing his world tour as he swapped the winter coats of Malmö for the heat of the United Arab Emirates after becoming the academy head coach at Al-Jazira FC.
He was appointed by James Gow, a man Cassidy is working with now as sporting director at Aalborg.
“It was an interesting place to work,” Jack tells us.
“They’re obsessed with their football out there, but it became a bit difficult when James moved on to a new role, and my contract was coming to an end.
“I can’t fault the lifestyle though, it’s essentially a western culture with sun!”
A spell at Cambridge United followed, in which Cassidy spent time jumping between the Under-21s and the first team as the U’s got through three first-team managers in a single season, which provided its own challenges.
Now of course, Cassidy is working for a European top-flight side for the first time at Aalborg in Denmark.
“I don’t have long in the UK, we’re heading back to Denmark for January where we essentially have a second pre-season alongside a training camp in Spain, so it’s all go.”
Aalborg BK are currently ninth in the Danish Superliga, and face an uphill task to avoid the ‘relegation round’ split, where two of the bottom six sides after 22 regular league games face a drop to the Danish second tier.
Having recovered from relegation in 2022-23, Aalborg will be keen not to yo-yo back down to the Danish First Division again.
Jack’s team are nine points behind the current sixth-placed side, Silkeborg with just five regular season games to go, beginning when the Danish League resumes on 16 February after their winter break against Nordsjælland.
Whatever happens this season however, Jack’s achievements in reaching this stage are testament to someone who has taken every challenge in his stride, and he remains fiercely ambitious.
“I want to be head coach one day”, he says.
“I’m very open to any challenge. I don’t want to pinpoint the Premier League as the end goal, although it would be great to end up there, but these experiences in Sweden, Denmark and the UAE have opened my eyes.
“As long as I can say I’m doing my best, I’m happy.”
Asked on what he’s done to make it this far, and the advice he would give young coaches wanting to make it in professional football, Jack gives a very simple response.
“Hard work. You’ve got to put the hours in, and every opportunity you get to coach, do it. Every piece of coaching is valuable and every coaching session you run is good experience.”
You can follow how Jack gets on as the season comes to an end with Aalborg in Denmark via the BBC Sport website.
