Jamie Sharp: “You can hit some great highs as a chairman, but also some real lows”

Jamie Sharp has been chairman of Saffron Walden Town since 2022.

For an outsider looking in, the Essex settlement of Saffron Walden appears a typical town of average size. The town is home to around 16,000 people and is a far cry from the thriving 17^th-century industry of the growth of the multi-purpose saffron crocus spice, from which the town obtains its name.

Amid the mundanity lies Essex’s oldest professional football club, a real source of pride for a small but growing group of people within the town. If you venture into the town centre, the red-and-black stripes can be found worn by people of all ages and walks of life.

With twelve board members and several members of staff playing their part on a matchday, there is a growing feeling that the club is on the verge of something special, having narrowly missed out on promotion to Step 4 of non-league on several occasions in recent seasons.

Saffron Walden Town FC prides itself on being the ‘home of the community’ in the area with youth football on offer starting from the age of five all the way up to the men’s and women’s first teams, as well as the ability for the clubhouse to be hired for external events at a reasonable price. 

At the head of the club, responsible for the day-to-day activities on and off the pitch is chairman Jamie Sharp. During his tenure at Walden, he has developed a reputation for appearing relaxed at a home fixture, sometimes even with a beer in his hand as he stands on the terraces, but the work he puts in behind-the-scenes is greatly significant in keeping the Essex Senior League club ticking over.

His love for ‘The Bloods’ is clear to see, and his family has had ties with the club for decades.

“My grandfather was on the committee when floodlights were first installed at the ground,” Sharp explains, with a proud smile. “And to be the chairman when the new floodlights were installed recently was one of my proudest moments at the club so far.”

As he sits back in his chair in the clubhouse of Saffron Walden’s Catons Lane ground, Sharp explains how his role as chairman came to be, as he took over from previous chairman Stuart Vant in 2022.

“When I stopped playing football on a Saturday, I started coming down to watch Walden more regularly,” Sharp says, placing his hands on his knees. “I was asked by Stuart if I would like to join the board. I’m someone who likes to keep busy, so I said yes.

“And I guess I displayed too much potential, so when Stuart announced that he was stepping down, everybody pointed their finger at me,” he finishes with a chuckle.

The role of chairman, of any football club at any level, is difficult enough, but for those running a club in the depths of the football pyramid, balancing a full-time job with the unenviable task of running an ever-growing club, which strives for footballing success on the pitch and success as a business off it, is a monumental challenge.

Sharp, a family man with three young children and his own bricklaying business, believes that balancing his career, family and football is vital.

“It was a little bit overwhelming when I first took over,” he tells me, as the light in the clubhouse flickers on and off. “But then my sons started coming down, as well as my wife who’s a big fan of raising a family that spends time outdoors, and they love it down here, which boosts me massively.”

Despite his appearance of a character who is well-organised and proficient in the role he has taken up, Sharp admits that he often goes into a week with little plan.

“I never really plan for the week ahead,” he explains.

“I check the finances on Monday and catch up with emails from the weekend. If we have a home game on Tuesday, I ensure everyone is in position and everything is OK. Wednesday acts as my rest day, Thursday we may host an Under 18s game. Friday’s back to it again where we prepare for a Saturday game, be it home or away. It’s about making sure everyone knows what they’re doing”.

When Sharp took over, Walden had just missed out on promotion to Step 4 via the playoffs, and he was tasked with helping the club make that next step. Since then, despite being regular favourites for promotion, manager and player departures have ensured that taking the step up is never as easy as it seems on paper.

 “I’m proud to be chairman here,” Sharp says. “You can hit some great highs, but also some real lows, and the lows come when personnel leave, especially players who have come through the youth system, such as Stan Leech and Tom Head in recent seasons.”

Sharp is open to touch on the departure of exciting 20-year-old winger Head last month, who grew up in the town – a rarity for the club nowadays.

“Tom broke through a couple of years ago and you could see that he had the ability, but struggled with consistency as a youngster,” he explains.

“But we had to fight off approaches from other clubs to keep him. He was excellent in pre-season this year, but then took a mini break for a couple of weeks. By the time he had returned, we’d signed Correy Davidson, a high-profile Step 5 player who contributes a lot to the team.

“Tom then returns and he’s on the bench, and we had a discussion with Dan [Spinks, first-team manager] which led to the decision that he needed more minutes which Dan couldn’t provide. An opportunity for him elsewhere was presented, and he’s gone to earn his trade there, so good luck to him.”

Very few players at Step 5 of non-league have a contract, meaning that a player can move clubs more easily than at a professional level. I subsequently ask Sharp whether he would want to see a transfer window at non-league level, like the window used by professional clubs.

“I think we’d actually be in favour of it, because we tend to start seasons with a ‘dream team’ but lose players over time.

“You can start well, shoot up the league and build team chemistry. But if the transfer window closes and you’ve ended up with a team that’s a little rough around the edges, that can be difficult because you won’t be able to fix it immediately.”

Finally, what are Sharp’s hopes and expectations for the rest of the season?

“Obviously I would love us to have a proper title charge,” he replies, with real passion in his voice.

“We’ve lost a few players, but if we can’t have a title run then we need to be in the playoffs, 100%. Off the pitch, we’re in a good place as well. Let’s hope that we can keep pushing up the league, and we’ll see where we are come the end of the season, but it could be exciting times to be a Bloods fan.”