GUISELEY’S Marcus Bignot is one of the few non-league bosses taking charge of games at the moment, as he enjoys his role as interim manager at Aston Villa Women.

The Women’s Super League side have had a tough season, but picked up a crucial 1-0 win over Tottenham earlier this month to edge clear of the relegation zone.

It is baby steps at this stage for the Villains though, and even if Bignot does stay on beyond this season, he will do well to come anywhere close to his incredible achievements a few miles away with Birmingham City Ladies.

He took over at the age of just 24 in 1998, juggling that with a playing career in the Football League.

He helped revamp the club’s entire youth system, oversaw the emergence of talented schoolgirls by the names of Karen Carney and Eni Aluko, who both ended up with 100 caps for England, and guided them into the top flight.

After leaving in 2005 due to financial difficulties at the club, Bignot returned to Birmingham in 2011 as a football consultant, helping them to an FA Cup final victory, two runner-up finishes in the Super League and a Champions League semi-final.

Villa are a long way off that just yet, but Bignot, who joined last month, said: “Having a manager come in, a new face and voice, you often hear about that honeymoon period and how all this gives players a lift.

“But the reality is, you can deliver the best coaching sessions in the world, and change the working environment, but it’s all about results at the elite end of football.

“That’s what breeds confidence and instils belief.

“Spurs was a massive win, and given the other results that weekend, it made it even more important, as it’s given us a bit of daylight and we’re looking up now, rather than behind us, going into the second half of the season.”

Birmingham are one of those teams Villa are looking to catch, though the Blues have slipped from their heyday around a decade ago.

But they would never have been in that position in the first place if it wasn’t for the work of a young Bignot, who hails from the Midlands.

He said: “We were just a grassroots side at the start. We’d lost our way, had no junior team to speak of, and were run by volunteers.

“I was keen on reinvesting in the juniors, and when I spoke to the volunteers, they said there was one player we had to keep with us.

“That was a 10 or 11-year-old Karen Carney. She was joined later by Eni Aluko and Laura Bassett and they were some of the best juniors I’ve ever worked with.

“Seeing those young players develop and play in the first team, then getting the results to gain the promotions we needed to be in the top-flight was fantastic.

“Eni and Karen ended up as centurions with the Lionesses and I’ve enjoyed seeing their development as people too, with Eni now the sporting director alongside me at Villa and Karen on TV as a pundit.”

He added: “When I came back in 2011, we ended up being just 20 minutes away from a Champions League final against the best player in the world in Marta, we nearly won the league three times and we were FA Cup winners.

“When you consider we’d come from grassroots to get there, we couldn’t have done much more.

“I didn’t think I’d return to the women’s game (after leaving the Blues for a second time in 2016), just because I felt I couldn’t go through a better fairytale than we had at Birmingham.

“But I lost any action at my academy due to the pandemic and I want to work. Villa has given me that buzz, and there was never that infrastructure when I joined Birmingham like there is here now.

“It’s not just the players, I can affect things off the pitch. I’m working alongside a huge talent in (head coach) Gemma Davies and Eni’s the sporting director.”

Bignot is a proud Midlander, and he said: “I think there’s always been a void in this part of the country, and you tend to think of the North West and London when you think of teams having success, whether that be in men’s or women’s football.

“There’s a depth of talent here, and it’s about time the Midlands put their stamp on things.

“I’ve spoken to Christian Purslow (Villa’s CEO) about how we can make a huge impression. The men are getting back up there now, and when I joined Birmingham back in the late nineties, Villa were one of the best women’s teams in the country, before we overtook them.

“It’s a crying shame that the pair of us haven’t been in the women’s top-flight together until now, but Villa are back there, and it’s an opportunity for the club that’s really exciting.

“If they can have success, hopefully in a shorter amount of time than was the case at Birmingham, then even better.”

But is it 'we' or 'they' for Bignot? He is still Guiseley’s joint-manager, is a coach for the England U19s (though the Euros this summer have just been cancelled for them), and of course runs his own academy.

So would he really want to take on the Villa role full-time as well after this season?

He said: “I’m desperate to get my academy back up and running and find ourselves a new education provider, after we lost the last one due to the pandemic.

“Having the boys back full-time is a big thing for me.

“So yes, I’m still only interim boss at Villa at the moment and the most important thing for us is to retain our WSL status this season. If we can do that, then I know I’ll have helped in some way.

“If we achieve that, that gives us the opportunity, not necessarily under me, to go further.

“Listen, I didn’t hesitate when I was offered this interim role, as I want to keep really busy and my most successful time was when I was at Birmingham Ladies and Solihull Moors between 2011 and 2016.

“There was a lot of work to put in, but I was able to be at my best and become a better version of myself.

“All the experiences I’ve had in management over the years have been invaluable, and I think I’ve become a better person and a better manager from the time I’ve spent in women’s football.

“It means I’m better equipped going into Aston Villa and have still got that appetite to be successful, just like we were at Birmingham.”

Finally, he added: “For me, it’s all about people. I see it at Guiseley, I experienced it with Solihull and (fellow Guiseley joint-manager) Russ O’Neill had it when he was in charge of Alfreton.

“It’s massive when people, fans, staff and volunteers get behind you and see what you’re trying to achieve as viable.

“I want it to continue going well, as a project, with both Guiseley and my academy.”

As for Villa, they are back in action this Sunday when they host Arsenal, the first game back after the international break.