Confidence and camaraderie: How Carl Davies turned Bracknell Town’s fortunes around

Carl Davies is back in the Bracknell Town dugout having previously led the side to to promotion from the Hellenic League as well as lifting the League Cup between February 2018 and November 2018.

He took over in October 2025 from Matt Saunders with the Robins bottom of the Southern League Premier Division South for five weeks and has led the recovery to 13th in the table with a memorable late win over Sholing – coming from 2-0 down with five minutes of normal time remaining to win 4-2 – among his triumphs.

Here, the former Robins and Binfield striker discusses with William Kruczek the season so far, picking the players up and what’s to come.

How has it been since you’ve been back at Bracknell?

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, I won’t lie. Kayne [Steinborn-Busse] initially gave me the call, not in a management role at all. I suppose the role would be described as sort of a go-between between manager and player. Basically, to bring my personality into the dressing room was, I think, the words that were used from Kayne. Everyone was a bit serious or a bit low, a bit down. And he just felt that it needed a bit of personality added into the environment, I think. So that’s initially why I went in. And yeah, it escalated from there, as probably everyone’s aware.

I think it was a Friday before the Banbury United game where I got told that Matt Saunders and Bracknell were parting company. And Kayne initially, well, straight away, just sort of said, look, I want you to do it for tomorrow’s game. Luckily, I’d met Sean the week before because he was brought in initially to head up our strength and conditioning team at the club. And I rang Sean on the Friday and said, look, can you give me a hand tomorrow for the warm-up and then go from there basically. Sean said yes, thankfully, and came in. We happened to win the game 1-0. It’s just grown legs from there really.

When you took over as manager, Bracknell were in the relegation zone. How have you masterminded the turnaround and what’s been key for the success recently?

I think masterminded is a strong word. I mean, the talent’s always been there, right? You can see it in the performances currently that they’re a very talented bunch. I think what was lacking was the confidence. They had a fear almost of losing because they’d gotten quite used to it. And a bit of camaraderie and togetherness in the dressing room was lacking, so my initial focus was purely that.

My first team talk to them was: “Look, the result will be the result. Let’s enjoy playing football. Take yourself back to when you’re seven years old and your mate knocks on your door and he’s asking for you to come out and play football. You just go out and play football, enjoy yourself because you want to, because you enjoy playing football. You don’t ask, oh, who’s the manager? What style of football are you playing? You just go out and you play.”

That’s essentially, on game one, what we said to them. Go and enjoy yourself, express yourself. The result will be the result. It’s not going to, you know, nothing bad is going to happen at the end of it. It’s just a game of football, simple as that. Stop building it up so much, basically.

But I think, going back to your question, I think Sean and myself, we’ve both played our part. Sean’s been a fantastic addition. Like I said, he was brought in just to help me out initially and the lads really took to him as a coach. Everyone really respects his opinions, and we have created an identity which the lads enjoy being part of.

They enjoy the way we play and they enjoy training. It’s not been a mastermind by me completely. It’s a collective, right? So even Kayne getting the likes of Ethan to come back and George Knight [the midfielder has since moved up the pyramid with Dorking Wanderers], it’s been a collective effort, but I think the fundamentals were togetherness on and off the pitch and enjoyment, trying to bring the enjoyment back. And then the results just seem to follow, to be honest.

Obviously, this is your second time managing at Bracknell. What’s changed since the last time?

Quite a lot. These lads are well looked after. They don’t take their boots home ever. They get cleaned for them and put out for them every training session, every game. They have all their towels and all their kit laid out. They have food after training. There’s lots that have changed. But something that never changes is the need to work hard. In any match, at any level, you only earn the right to play your football by working hard and outworking your opposition. So yeah, lots has changed. The club’s obviously at a different ground now from when I was there. But very similar in terms of it’s a 3G. The crowd numbers have risen since I was there. There’s a great atmosphere at the ground. And it’s just a really nice facility for, especially for Step 3, for us and the lads to enjoy being around.

You mentioned the fans and the crowd numbers rising. How have the fans been since you’ve been back and how much of a role do they play at the club?

Oh, they’re massive. They’re massive to all clubs. They’ve been great. They’ve been very receptive of me, always trying to buy me a beer after games. I’ve done a couple of Q&As with them and a WhatsApp and they’re all really complimentary of me and Sean, so they’ve been fantastic.

They’re the 12th man essentially. So when you’re 2-0 down in the 85th minute, you need the crowd and they’re always there. They deserve a lot of praise for sticking with us when the times weren’t so good. Hopefully now they’re getting to enjoy a bit of football that they like to watch and get some success at the end of it all with a bit of luck.

What did you get up to in the time since leaving Bracknell in 2018 to now?

I was at Binfield and then COVID struck and there was a break in the season, and I just didn’t go back. I had my son George, at the time he was one year old I think. I’d started a new business. So life was a bit frantic outside of football anyway. I decided after the COVID break not to bother going back.

It’s actually something I regret because Binfield went on to reach the Vase final that season, which I ended up going to watch at Wembley. But that was when I left. Since then, I started a business. I’ve now got three children. They’ve been keeping me busy for the last however long, six years, I believe it is.

I’ve not really been involved in football. I’ve been playing for Windsor Vets and Bracknell Vets on and off, but I’ve not really been involved in football other than in the vets side of things ever since. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d missed it until I got invited back. And then, yeah, when you’re back amongst it and around the lads, you remember why you loved it so much. It was a bit of a bolt out of the blue when Kayne called me, but I’m really thankful he did.

For the end of the season, what is the ultimate goal? Is a play-off spot in your sights?

I think success would mean stability this season. So staying up would be a success from where we were when we took over. I think play-offs is a stretch, if I’m honest. It’d be fantastic, obviously, but I think our focus needs to be on getting as many points as we can to get to safety first and foremost.

Whatever comes from there is just a bonus on top of that. I think if we get top half, that would be a fantastic achievement, which is probably my immediate target that I’ve set myself, if you like, or internally with Sean. People are very quick to forget where we were. I think if anyone had been offered the point tally we’re on now, when we first took the job, they’d have bitten their hand off.

This interview was conducted and written by William Kruczek and is his first for Football in Berkshire. If you’d like write regularly, or contribute to the website, please click here to find out more.