To call Gareth Ainsworth a local legend would be an understatement, to say the least. The 49-year-old played professional football for 26 years, his best form coming for the team he now manages, Queens Park Rangers.
When I was younger, Gareth helped with football at my primary school. Now, we’re sat at the Bosco Lounge in Woodley and I’m about to quiz him about his career so far over a drink.
As Ainsworth tells me his story, it’s clear to me that the ex-pro turned manager has found a perfect balance in life.
He manages to be confident in himself and his achievements while still coming across as a humble man, happy to be a contributing part of our town’s community.
Ainsworth moved to Finchampstead while still playing for QPR. He and his partner had just had a child and were looking to move out of London to purchase a home where they could have more room. Finchampstead was suggested on an internet search and 16 years later Ainsworth and his family have never looked back.
As a result of Ainsworth being able to commute to and from Wycombe, his children have grown up in Wokingham.
Ainsworth said: “I couldn’t rate it highly enough; with the schools and people they mix with. I’m really proud of where we live.”
Gareth’s footballing days didn’t end once he retired from the professional game. He’s played games for his local team, Finchampstead FC’s Sunday team as recently as this season.
Ainsworth said he chose to play for Finchampstead due to the excellent facilities that they have at their ground at Memorial Park.
He continued: “The pitches are brilliant, Finchampstead is a great place to play.”
Ainsworth also played Semi-Professional football for Woodley United until his late 40’s, but found himself back playing for Finchampstead once he couldn’t continue at semi-professional level.
In the Bracknell Sunday League Cup final in 2019, Ainsworth proved he still had it with a freekick goal to secure the victory for Finchampstead. He didn’t boast about it, however when I asked, he simply replied, grinning: “the wall disintegrated, so it wasn’t a fantastic one.” They all count the same though, and Finchampstead lifted the cup.
Outside of football, Ainsworth’s hobby is singing. He is part of a band called ‘The Cold Blooded Hearts’, who have a new album on the horizon. He also sings with his friend, Pauly Zarb, who Wokingham residents will know well due to the numerous gigs he’s done in pubs and for events around town.
He and Gareth did the living Advent Calendar in Wokingham. The two of them have also performed at the Redan, in support of the Ollie Young foundation.
In his first managerial role, Gareth spent ten and-a-half years in charge of Wycombe Wanderers. He led them to automatic promotion into League One in 2018. Two years later his team beat Oxford United in the play-off final, finding themselves promoted to the second tier of English football.
When I spoke to Gareth about this achievement, rightly, he was still proud of his team in the 2019/20 season. Despite this, he still felt for fans that were forced to miss out on such an achievement.
He said: “The only black mark against the achievement was that it was during the covid season.”
Ainsworth was on a great run of form at Wycombe Wanderers again this season, with six wins in his previous seven, and the team looked destined for the play-off places. However, when the QPR contacted him, he couldn’t say no to the challenge of a relegation battle at the club he formerly captained.
“Wycombe was obviously a challenge, but the challenge at QPR is bigger,” said Ainsworth
“There are different styles in management as well as different styles in football. The third manager of the season is always going to cause problems.”
“There is a really big job to do, and the immediate challenge is keeping Queens Park Rangers in the Championship.”
It’s safe to say problems are occurring as predicted for the team, they have only won one match since Ainsworth was appointed.
There were areas that Gareth highlighted to me that needed to be improved if QPR were going to remain in the Championship this season.
One of which being the squad’s morale. The team have been on bad form for a long while now and this is clear in the players demeanour. Ainsworth is confident he can turn this around.
Reading FC, the professional team closest to Gareth’s home in Finchampstead, have just been hit by a six-point deduction for breaching budget restrictions agreed with the EFL.
This means the Royals have been dragged into the relegation battle with QPR. As a football fan, Gareth doesn’t like to see points deducted from clubs, he doesn’t like to see clubs in the English pyramid struggling financially when the Premier League is thriving. However, he admits, “it does give us an advantage over them.”
He had been at training earlier, and speaking to his squad about the deduction he told them: “In life, you’ve got to know when opportunities come and take this is an opportunity.”
It would be a shame to see Wokingham’s closest team, Reading FC, confined to football in the third tier next season. So, let’s hope another opportunity arises that allows both them and local legend Gareth Ainsworth’s QPR side to escape relegation.
By Joe Southan
