Published: 17:00, 3 April 2026 | Updated: 17:00, 3 April 2026

Jon Brady grimaces at the mention of the tattoo on his shoulder hidden beneath a training top. ‘It’s a rubbish tattoo and I should have never got it,’ says the Port Vale manager.

‘I did it here when I was 23 with one of my best mates who was a Manchester United supporter. He got a red devil on his shoulder at the time. We both look at it 30-odd years later and go, “why did we do that?”’

Still, a boxing kangaroo isn’t the worst symbol for the 51-year-old Australian who had to fight for a career in the lower divisions of English football as a player, and is now doing the same as a coach.

Brady remembers being punched by his manager at half-time of a reserves game at Swansea – ‘it happened and I move on, it probably motivated me to never have players feel that way again’ – and having a second job for 18 years which meant he was coaching youngsters the night before clinching promotion from League...