From the Sideline: Ben Whitley and the Garrison Journey

Over the last two seasons, I’ve followed Garrison with interest.

I’ve got to know Ben through conversations at games, including on Sundays when his own team weren’t playing. We normally end up talking football, and I’ve always found Garrison to be a welcoming club with good people involved.

So it was pleasing to see Ben receive the October award. As I might have expected, his first thought was for the group.

“For me it’s a collective award,” he told Footy Focus. “The boys have been really great, the whole squad’s shown it for a while now, so it’s nice for the boys to get recognition and the management team seeing the ideas and hard work come to life.”

An idea beginning to take shape

I went back to a conversation we had with Ben and Craig after Garrison’s win over Cambusnethan in September last year.

At that point, after a difficult start to the campaign, Ben spoke about the challenge of getting their philosophy and ethos across to the squad. The Cambusnethan result, he felt, had helped show the players they could challenge good teams playing their own way.

Fast forward to August and another conversation, this time after I watched Garrison against Bardykes.

Ben spoke about the team he wanted people to recognise: intense, organised and willing to work for each other, but also brave enough to play football when they had the ball.

What interested me was that I could already see signs of it from the sideline.

Looking at Garrison now, Ben sees their development as a continuing process.

“I think more for us was consistently improving and the hunger to get better and become a team that can ultimately find a way to win,” he said.

With every opponent presenting a challenge, he believes the task has been finding the extra level needed to get across the finishing line in games.

Character away to Scaur

Asked for a performance that showed what Garrison were about, Ben looked beyond a victory.

He chose their Scottish Cup away day against Scaur, a game in which the result didn’t go Garrison’s way.

Ben described Scaur as a well-organised club and recalled the difficult pitch and the challenge his side faced on the day. What stayed with him was how his players responded.

“It showed me the real character and desire I’d want from any boy to play for our club,” he said.

“The result didn’t go our way but we never shied away from battling and competing.”

For a manager who has spoken consistently about togetherness and competing for every ball, that says a lot about the standards he wants from his side.

Confidence, enjoyment and ambition

Garrison sit fourth in the Division Two table, with five wins and a draw from seven league games. They are two points behind leaders Bardykes, with a game in hand, although the sides around them have played different numbers of fixtures.

When we spoke in August, Ben was clear that the goal was always silverware. Now he wants his players to have the confidence and freedom to enjoy their football as they continue to learn.

For all the ambition, he also recognises that there is more work ahead.

“We’re nowhere near the top to where we think we can be,” he said, praising the small steps taken by players and staff to improve the club.

He wanted to recognise everyone involved in Garrison, past and present, before looking ahead.

“Football’s a funny game though, so sometimes it might not be your time. However, I’ve full faith in what we’re building that we will be a team up there in the amateur scene.”

I’ve enjoyed getting to know Ben and following Garrison over the last couple of seasons. From that conversation after Cambusnethan to the team I watched against Bardykes, there’s a sense of a club working towards something.

The Manager of the Month award is a welcome recognition along the way — and, as Ben would be the first to say, one for everyone involved.

Frank Sideline | Footy Focus