The jobs Simon Grayson rejected as Leeds United boss, future and Marching On Together ringtone at rivals truth

In the latest of our big interview features, Lee Sobot catches up with former Leeds United boss Simon Grayson as he opens his new Simon Grayson Football Academy at the Woodhall Sports Hub in Calverley. It's something rather closer to home for Grayson following recent jobs in India, Nepal and most recently Indonesia as an assistant head coach.

Hi Simon, congratulations on opening the Academy. Are you back for good now then or what's the latest with the Indonesia job?

"It's hit a bit of a patch. I thought I was going back and the head coach wanted me to go back but as it stands at the moment, the federation wants more local coaches. But the Indonesian job was always going to involve being in and out of camps. Then it just got to a point where the federation thought they wanted to just maybe use the local coaches. But the head coach would like me to go back out there at some point and I'm open and relaxed about that. I've had offers at other levels back in India and things like that. But it's not where I want to go full-time at this moment in time. But the door with Indonesia is open for me to go back if it works for both parties and that's why I'm quite relaxed about it. They've got the Asian Cup in January which is the equivalent of the Euros so if I could be involved with something like that or the next winter we'll have to wait and see."

What was it like managing in India and then Nepal and how did those opportunities arise?

"I just got to a point in 2022 where I got offered this opportunity to go to India and I thought, 'Why not?'' I felt like I'd done what I'd wanted to do as a manager. I wanted to try and manage in the Premier League but that was never going to happen. I had opportunities in the Premier League in the past that I turned down when I was at Leeds. But it just got to a point where I thought I should do something different as a life experience and also as a coach to test myself even more than I was being tested. When I was in the UK I knew every player. I knew every manager and stuff like that. But then you get an opportunity to go to India and it's completely out of your comfort zone. The culture...you are just dealing with so many different things. From day one in India it was a test because while you know about the humidity, you don't know how much you have to adapt your sessions, the emotional side of it, the culture of the players, the religion and the language barriers - everything like that. It was a real test of stepping out of my comfort zone. And I loved every minute of it all. The connections and the friendships that I've made are there for the rest of my life now. And by doing what I did in India I received an approach to go to a team in Nepal. It was only for an eight-week franchise team but it was also stepping out of my comfort zone. When I went to India I had two or three staff that I took with me. But I went to Nepal on my own. I didn't have any English person with me. I didn't know any players and it was basically suck it and see and learn on the job. On day one I walked onto the training pitch and went, 'what have I done?' The pitch was horrendous, the facilities were shocking. But I thought I'm not going to change that, I've got to just adapt and do it. I remember going to do a crossing and finishing exercise. I saw the pitch and I said to the lads 'not even Trent Alexander-Arnold would be able to cross a ball here'. Or Jayden Bogle even! It was learning on the job again and understanding in a short period of time what makes your players tick to get the best out of them? There were some amazing moments and some real strange moments. In one match my goalkeeper made a save but there's no VAR obviously and nobody could tell if the ball had crossed the line. I look around and this bloke is arguing with the match commissioner about the decision not being given. I looked back to the pitch and looked back again and he's rolling around with the commissioner on the floor fighting. I basically found out he was a director of the opposition saying you should have given the goal and the next thing the police are there with their batons ready to separate them. I was like 'wow, I ain't seen this before' But that's just the different human side of it all that you see. In India you had the very rich and the poor and the people begging on the streets to then the relationships in Nepal were similar. But when there was the issue with the collapsed glacier in Nepal my first reaction was I'll message the WhatsApp group and hopefully none of you are involved in it because you've made these relationships with people as well. There was a human part of me that was going out there to build relationships and contacts - and friends ultimately as well."

So what's it like being back then Simon in an area that obviously means a lot to you given your Leeds United history as first a player and then manager?

"I think it was in 2021 when we moved back to Leeds from when I was over Preston way and it's just great. I just love being around the city. I just love the area. It's close to my wife's family, my mum and dad. My mum passed away in March but my dad's still only an hour away, all my mates are like 50 minutes away but also in the Leeds area as well. I just love the city and the connection to it and being so close now allows me to work closer with a club. Part of the work I am doing at the moment is with LUTV. But I'm also doing corporate work with partnership groups, looking after corporate hospitality and going to different events with them. It's just all about relationships and being in the city again. I went to the Rhinos the other night, there were people who I'd not seen for a long time there. The whole city just means a lot to me and there's so much going on. I felt if I wanted to open this Academy, I could have done it back home in Bedale where I was from but there is far much more going on and more people to benefit from this here rather than in a small market town."

You mentioned wanting to be a Premier League manager - you took Leeds up to the Championship from League One - how do you look back on your time in charge and do you think you would have taken the club to the Premier League if you had been left in charge as it took Leeds another eight years and the great Marcelo Bielsa to finally achieve that in 2020?

"I don't have any regrets because I gave everything that I could do to try and make that successful. Other things can not allow things to happen for you. But I was very privileged to manage the football club that I love and support and be a part of. I turned down two opportunities to go and manage teams in the Premier League when I was at Leeds because I felt that I could do it at Leeds and take the team up. They weren't massive teams, they were teams that probably went down that same season, but you never know how it could have panned out. But I just wanted to fulfil my dream of being a Premier League manager with the club that I loved and unfortunately I didn't do that. We got really close at times and then as things happen, things change and the squad got broken up really. You can't control that and you can't have any regrets about that. All I could do was go and work out on the pitch every day and on the training pitch and then try and get the results with the players. Unfortunately other people can sort of take that away from you unfortunately."

That said Simon, there's no doubt you are one of the most successful managers of the last two decades - probably only behind Marcelo and Daniel Farke - and that you are held in very high esteem by the club's supporters. What does that mean to you?

"I'm immensely proud of what I did at Leeds and the reputation I had. When you look at some of the stats of records that I have had in there and that were broken and one or two of my records have been broken, it makes you actually pinch yourself that you were at the club that had the likes of Howard Wilkinson, Don Revie and all these great managers. To be in and amongst them is something that I never ever thought when I signed as a 14-year-old that I would be held that in esteem. It was funny, because I watched The Damned United again the other night when my wife and I had nothing to do so we just put it on and even that made you think - Clough and Revie and the legacies that they had that you were part of this club with such history and tradition and world class people and managers. I'm immensely proud of what I have done and you have to pitch yourself all the time that it actually happened."

You obviously then went on to manage lots of other clubs including Huddersfield Town. There's a bit of a myth about a ringtone story there. The story goes that your phone went off with a Marching On Together ringtone?!

"No, it wasn't! It wasn't. It was Glynn Snodin's. That's whose it was! We were in the office afterwards and Snods' phone was on. His phone has got a Leeds badge cover on it. I was like 'Snods, we are working at other clubs now'...and he's like 'no, I'm keeping it on. It mustn't have been on silent and it went off. People then put two and two together but it wasn't mine! As much as I would have had that ringtone, I was clever enough to have it on silent when I was managing other clubs. Look, people know about my Leeds connection, but whenever I worked for any other club it was with my soul intent of making that club better. So even with the rivalry with Huddersfield and Bradford around here, I was always doing the best that I could for those clubs regardless of who I support and my connections, everybody knows that. So regards that story - no. But why let the truth get in the way of a good story!"

Absolutely! What about the future then Simon. You've already had two spells at Leeds as a player and then a manager. And you are still working with the club today?

"I'm working more with the media side and the commercial side now. I've had meetings with the club saying I will do whatever you'd like me to do if it works around my media stuff and my Cork City stuff and now this Academy stuff. I'll do whatever I can. I was doing this stuff for Boyle Sports in Leicester at the arena for the Boyle Sports World Grand Prix with 50 corporate people. Once I'd agreed to do it, Harry, the partnership manager said, "Just letting you know, the PDC have asked if you and Dom Matteo can have a nine-dart shoot out on stage."' I was like 'flipping hell, I didn't see this coming! What music do you want me to come out to?!' I'm like, 'this is out of my comfort zone! But I'm at a stage in my life where I'm thinking, 'Why not? It's going to be a great blast'.It's life experience. I'm going out to Iceland when Leeds play Arsenal. There's a sports branch in Reykjavik so I'm going out there for the weekend and doing a Q&A out there with them. It's just another life experience and I do quite a few Q and As now around the area as well so that's another part of keeping me busy as well. I'm probably working harder now than I have done any time before because I can't delegate as much as I used to with all the coaching and that. I'm happy to do whatever and it just keeps me busy whether it's with Leeds or not."

Could you see yourself managing again then?

"Yeah I've still got the passion and the desire to do it. As soon as you lose that there's no point doing it. But I've still got the enthusiasm. I'm a far better coach now than I was when I won my last promotions 11 years ago because of the experiences of good and high and bad times. But also being abroad and managing players in different cultures and areas of the world. If an international job comes up whether it's Indonesia or another club as a head coach or assistant coach I'll go and do that. I might end up going back to Nepal for another franchise thing. Hopefully the pitches have got a little bit better! I got offered jobs in India recently again which weren't what I was wanting to do. I'm open to do it, I'm quite flexible really and I'll see what comes up really. It's also about enjoying family time, I'm a granddad now so I want to be part of all that as well. I've been in football for 40 years so that's a long time. But you never say never..."