Kevin Nancekivell

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup win against Brentford was special for a lot of people, but it probably meant more for one person in particular. Rob McNichol waxes lyrical about Kevin Nancekivell…

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I cannot remember the last time I was this happy to see someone else so happy. 

Don’t get me wrong, when Morgan Whittaker scored Argyle’s goal, away at Brentford, to put the Pilgrims 1-0 up in the Emirates FA Cup third round, I was very pleased. When the final whistle went, I was absolutely delighted.  

But when Kevin Nancekivell, a most reluctant of heroes, was pushed to the front of a huddle of celebrating Argyle players and staff, towards 2,500 of the Green Army, it was a wonderful, wonderful moment.  

I suspect, in that tongue-in-cheek way that blokes around football tend to have, I will mention to him for years that, when he ran towards the fans to drive a celebratory fist into the air, he nearly fell flat on his backside. But I am so pleased he did not. He slipped, no doubt, but he kept his footing. This absolute legend’s moment would not have deserved to become online GIF fodder.  

Darko Gyabi is not yet 21. He was barely born when Nance’s coaching journey began, he was nary a twinkle in the eye when Nance was a player, and his own association with Argyle is almost exactly a year old. We would not expect Darko to know the ins and outs of Argyle history, or even Nance’s, but when you watch Matchday Moments, watch how Darko ensures Nance is the first one to take the fans’ plaudits, and not any of the players. A class act by a talented, humble young player.  

Our players adore Kevin Nancekivell. Morgan Whittaker was interviewed by many journalists after the game and said, more than once: “I’m so happy for Nance.” Any one of the players would have said it if in the position to.  

By the way, it is easy to fall into the ‘what a nice fella’ rhetoric when it comes to Nance – he definitely is, and more on that later – but he is not employed because he is a good guy. He is employed because he is an exceptional coach, a highly qualified individual, a motivator, a master of empathy, and extremely knowledgeable about football and Plymouth Argyle. He just happens be a bloody nice fella, too.  

Back to that moment in front of the fans, then. Watching it back – which I am definitely into double figures of doing, and I am writing this early Sunday morning – I get a little bit emotional watching Nance getting emotional. He waves an arm, clenches two fists and elicits a primal scream, with Gyabi and Michael Baidoo in tow.  

It is when he swings another arm and yells “come on” that I can see his bottom lip, albeit briefly, quiver a little. Later, being interviewed by John Acres for Match of the Day (and by the way, John was having to reign in his own delight a little), Nance actually, half-jokingly, told John not to make him cry.  

I mean, so what if he had done? Nothing wrong with that. But Nance obviously wanted to keep his composure - to a degree.  

Next on this little snippet of celebration, you get Kevin Nancekivell personified. He sees Joe Edwards, a man who had stood beside Nance through this latest caretaker spell in charge, and not only embraces him, but pulls him to the fore alongside him, and points at Joe, in the universal gesture which means: ‘cheer this man’.  

I have written plenty of these types of missives about Joe Edwards – well, if he will insist on scoring goals in games like Hull City and Sunderland, what do you expect? – but a brief word here, too. Not many people can be a player in the dressing room and, so quickly – and, knowingly, temporarily – don a tracksuit and be a coach, especially knowing that you have to go back to your original position very soon.  

Joe has done it supremely, and I never doubted he would, because there is one key word that applies to both Joe and Nance, as much as anyone in football I have ever known: Respect.  

Joe commands respect, without demanding it. I suspect he found it harder to act the coach and give instructions to players than they did to acknowledge and obey their skipper. When the New Year chimes rang in, and we had no Head Coach affiliated to the club, there was literally no possible better combo than Nancekivell and Edwards to steer the ship.  

‘So give the job to Nance, then’ some will say. After all, this is the fifth time he, often with someone else taking rightful co-billing, has had to step in. That quintet of stintettes has yielded a great many stories, but this might be the best one. The best moment, anyway.  

The key really is that Nance does not want the job. When having to stand in, he fulfils all the little additional duties that come with it, such as an appearance on BBC Radio 5 Live on the morning before heading to Brentford’s ground, but he is happy to go about his business a little more unsung.  

Sometimes, though, songs need to be sung, and it was so nice for a chorus or ten to be about Nance. Treat this as the encore, and then he can go back to the choir rather than being the conductor.  

In essence, more than anyone I have ever known, everything Nance does is for the betterment of the football club. You only have to listen to an episode of the Argyle Fives show that Charlie Price and I do with Nance, for Argyle TV and the Argyle Podcast, to hear his passion for the club he began to support in the 1970s, and cares for now as much, if not more than, ever.  

His enthusiasm and desire is infectious, and I have no doubt that this has helped inspire the previous three results, especially the last one. It will have meant the world to Kev that the midfield engine room at Brentford comprised Adam Randell and Caleb Roberts, two Academy products whose careers Nance has followed, and helped shape.  

It is also quite fitting that a game that could end up being synonymous with Kevin was an FA Cup tie. Nance adores the FA Cup. On more than one occasion one of us has suddenly sprung a year on him, knowing he will respond.  

“1982 final, Nance?” 
 
“Tottenham won 1-0. Glenn Hoddle penalty. Second year in a row Spurs won it after a replay.” He’s rarely wrong.  

I am going to close with a little personal story that I hope Nance will not mind me telling. On Christmas Eve, 2023, I was in the pub, it was about 8.30pm. Nance, as you will recall, was in co-charge at the time, preparing for a game against Cardiff City on Boxing Day.  
 
I got a text from Nance, asking for the phone number of another member of the media team. After checking with them it was ok, I passed it on, somewhat intrigued. About two minutes later, a group message had been sent, by Nance to the entire media department, wishing us a merry Christmas, saying he hoped we had a good day the following day, and that he appreciated what we do.  
 
I thought it was doubly classy that he not only took time to say that, but that he wanted to ensure the whole team was included. He could have said ‘pass that on to X or Y’, but he didn’t.  

When people do things like that, they garner your respect. They certainly get mine, not that Nance needed to earn it any further. It is has become a little ritual now that I tell him, when he dons the caretaker hat, that whatever he needs, I’m there for him. I mean it, and he knows that. And I’m nowhere near the only one, either. I hope it is ages until I have to have that conversation again with him, mind.  

The time is now right for a new Head Coach to take us forward, and I know that when Miron Muslic addresses the players on Monday, and begins his era, Nance will be by his side, doing whatever is required of him.  

Perhaps those moments in the aftermath at Brentford could end up being the perfect metaphor for our season. Slipped, but kept footing, and ultimately stayed up.  

If that is the case – or even if it is not, frankly – no-one will have done more than Kevin Nancekivell.