When Simon took charge of Harrogate on 21 May 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo had just helped Manchester United win another Premier League title, Pep Guardiola had just completed his first season in charge of Barcelona, while Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Portsmouth were all Premier League clubs.
“We lost 3-0 away to Corby Town,” he recalls of his opening league game in charge. “I had a playing budget of £1,600. I had to count on a few friends and some played for free as a favour.”
Watford have made more than 20 managerial changes since Simon was recruited by Harrogate after answering an advert placed in the Non-League Paper.
Friday’s cup tie will be his 766th game in charge of the club.
“I got a cake for my 700th game,” he says. “I left it at the ground and we didn’t have another home game for a fortnight. It had gone off by the time I got back.”
Guardiola, who took over Manchester City in 2016, is the longest-serving current manager in the Premier League but trails Harrogate’s boss by some distance in the top four divisions.
What does it mean to be the current longest-serving manager in English football ahead of the likes of Guardiola (eight years and five months), Brentford’s Thomas Frank (six years and one month) and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, who is approaching his fifth year anniversary in charge of Arsenal?
“I’m proud of it,” says former Lincoln City defender Simon. “Sometimes I think ‘gosh, how has he been in and out in such a short space of time’ when I hear about a manger losing their job.”
He is aware of insults from opposition fans – and a few home supporters when form has dipped – about his longevity being down to his dad being the owner.
“It’s an easy jibe, isn’t it?” Irving tells BBC Sport.
“It’s unfortunate but it doesn’t impact Simon. Look what’s happened [two promotions in 2017-18 and 2019-20 and the FA Trophy success in 2019-20].
Multi-millionaire Irving made his money as a property magnate and is not afraid to make tough business decisions when needed.
So, has he ever come close to sacking his son?
“We’ve never had to go that far,” he says. “We were both shocked that night [the 9-2 defeat at Mansfield] but it was out of context because we had won seven of our previous 10 league games.
“We were quiet for a couple of days afterwards. Simon then named the same XI four days later at Crewe and got a 0-0 draw.
“He has always managed to find a way to turn it around.”
