Combating the vandals

Sitting in his large office, he betrays the image of a man who amassed a mammoth 18 red cards in his playing days and it's still not unknown for him to blow his top. Today, he's cheery, in a positive mood, and, despite a busy morning of meetings, is keen to talk football.

He's manager of Thornaby, leaders of the Albany Northern League Division Two, and despite Saturday's shock home defeat to Easington they're marching towards promotion with a one-point lead and a healthy seven games in hand on second-placed Washington Nissan.

Assuming they make it to Division One it will be their latest promotion in recent years having also been relegated on numerous in that since the mid-1990s, becoming something of a yo-yo outfit.

But it's Thornaby's off-the-field problems which have caused them their greatest concerns in recent years with vandals making lives a misery at Teesdale Park. Countless amounts has been spent on rebuilding and refurbishing the hooligan-hit ground which has been a huge drain on finances, not to mention people's patience.

Matters have now reached a head and the club are determined to bring an end to the headache.

"Vandalism is a big problem for us," admits Trevor ,who is left astounded by the idiotic behaviour of a group of people with clearly too much time on their hands as well as too much space between the ears.

"It's never-ending, it's like the Fourth Road Bridge, it happens on a weekly basis.

"We keep everything spick-and-span, and in the morning you go down there and the first thing you've got to do is sort out what's been vandalised; whether it is by the top of the stand, the bowling green, the seats. They even lit a fire in there one day to try and burn the steel door . . . absolutely amazing."

A smashed squash racket in his office suggests Trevor's temper, renowned, he reckons, is still employed today and, managing to keep that aggression under control, he requires little prompting to reel off the Thornaby's problems.

"We had old seats from Newcastle, but they've all been burnt.

"We put in a beautiful executive portakabin - it lasted three hours until it was completely destroyed by vandals. And I mean absolutely, totally destroyed, couldn't use it for anything else."

The solution, fingers crossed, lies in the erection of an 8ft high fence, just like those around adjoining cricket and golf clubs.

But this also presents its own problems.

As keen as Thornaby are to keep out the troublemakers, they're also hesitant to make major improvements to a ground which they don't own.

Negotiations to buy the ground from the current lease holder are ongoing, although a stumbling block was reached when the asking price almost doubled once Trevor arrived at Teesdale Park.

"We could build a fence now without any problems, but as we don't own the ground, why should we spend £40,000 on a fence for somebody else?" poses Trevor, quite reasonably.

"We're trying at the moment to purchase the ground from the current owner. We have a 30-year lease with about ten years to go on that lease so, at the moment, we can't do anything major with the ground because we don't own it.

"We could fence in the ground with a secure fence and once we get that we'll be in the position to develop it further, but until we've got that it would be absolutely crackers developing things at this present time because it wouldn't be worth it."

A South Bank right winger in the 1970s and a former manager of Northallerton Town, Billingham Town and Norton, on the issue of those 18 red cards amassed in 16 years as player, the 52-year-old admits: "I can get very annoyed, I'm known for it."

No doubt the unnamed referee who received a particularly voracious Arnold ear-bashing last season, would verify that.

He admitted: "I've been trying to calm down over the past couple of years. As a player I was a bit volatile to say the least. Then again, I very rarely got sent-off for kicking people, I got sent off a lot for too much lip. I used to be nicknamed The Budgie because I never stopped talking!"

But when not ear-bashing referees, linesmen and opposing managers - "The dug-outs are too close to each other," - Trevor has a ferocious will to win and is driven to succeed in everything he does. As managing director of Thornaby-based K Home Engineering, he's a successful figure away from football, and now wants transfer his business skills to Thornaby FC where he's been manager since the summer of 2001.

Assuming the fence is finally in place and the club's ownership changes hands, plans are afoot to resurrect the on-site bowls club, while tennis courts behind one of the goals have been earmarked for an all-weather football pitch which would give the club another revenue avenue.

The old clubhouse is around 200 yards from the ground and he would like to demolish it and build a new one, gymnasium included, closer to home. "We can see the new clubhouse being used all year-round," says Trevor.

"We want to give the football club to the community so that it will be there for a very long time."

Thornaby are not the only non-league club with grand off-the-pitch plans so, driven by his passion for the game and unrelenting thirst for success, Trevor is determined to ensure his club become Teesside's first success story since Billingham Synthonia a decade ago.

"How are we different? We'll do our best to get the best players, I can tell you that," he said.

"You can have the best facilities in the world, but if you haven't got the best players you won't win anything. Just look at Bedlington, they haven't got great facilities but they've got the best players and players who are used to winning, that's why they've been successful.

"You've got to get good players and players who want success.

"But you don't get anywhere without hard work. I tell the players, God gives you talent, but hard work turns that into genius.

"If you're going to do something you've got to strive to be the best at that thing.

"If you're sweeping the roads you've got to be the best road sweeper."

It's that attitude which will eventually be successful in stopping the vandals off the pitch, and could bring about glory on it.

With so many dismissals to his name - Vinnie Jones is a comparative wimp with 13 - and at least one smashed squash racquet, who knows what would happen should Trevor Arnold ever come across a Teesdale Park vandal . . .

Published: 28/03/2003