WONDERS OF THE PYRAMID: Can Harry Redknapp save Britain’s worst team? Welsh minnows Cwm Albion have lost every match this season… their goal difference is – 191 and their star player is 73

• Harry Redknapp has dusted off his tactics board as part of grassroots campaign
• Tony Mowbray knew his time was running out at Sunderland after play-off defeat
• Why Steve Cooper’s sacking at Forest could have a domino effect in the Premier League – It’s All Kicking Off 

This column promises to highlight stories, whether heartwarming or scandalous, at all levels of our sacred football pyramid. But this week takes us to Wales and the lowest reaches of the game, to an amateur club in Swansea called Cwm Albion.

Cwm are, quite literally, the worst team in Britain. They lost every game last season, with a goal difference of -191. Their star player is 73-year-old John Rees, while goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald hasn’t kept a clean sheet in more than a decade playing for the club.

But a dismal record like that has also left them dubbed the best team in Britain, as part of a grassroots campaign led by Specsavers, which crowned Cwm the ‘best worst team’. It’s true, they might be terrible on the pitch – but clubs like this are the lifeblood of sport.

And now, the 100-year-old club has a new manager, none other than Harry Redknapp, who has dusted off his tactics board to take over the struggling side. On the surface, this is a PR stunt, but beyond that it highlights the lifelong service Redknapp has given to the beautiful game.

So Mail Sport gave Redknapp a bell to find out why he has switched having his feet up in retirement for plodding around park pitches in freezing temperatures. ‘I’m lucky to have been in football all my life,’ he says. ‘I’m a football nut, and this is why we all got into the game as a kid.

Former Tottenham, Portsmouth and West Ham boss Harry Redknapp is helping out Cym Albion

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‘Cwm are a lovely club, all different ages… different shapes and sizes to be honest! The actual manager, Dan… his dad plays for the team, which is strange. His dad would be in his late 50s. And the manager’s mum washes the shirts and makes the cuppas and the sandwiches.

‘They all turn up every week. They’ve always got a full team out. They play and get beat 20-0 or whatever but they come back the next week. It’s great, it highlights the community spirit of football. It’s not all about the glitz and glamour in the Premier League.

‘I go and watch kids’ games if I’m out for a walk on a Sunday morning and you see parents shouting and screaming. We all want to win but we can’t all do that. These lot are here to enjoy it, have a bit of fun, then they all go for a pint after… that’s what football should be about.

‘Clubs like Cwm are so important to the game. When I was a kid growing up in east London, we lived on a massive council estate and we’d get kicked off every day by the porters for playing football. We used to run off before he confiscated our ball!

‘One day, the porter was giving us grief and a big fella, Albert Chamberlain, leant over his balcony and shouted down, “Leave it out, what harm are they doing?” And Mr Chamberlain started a team for us. Out of our team, all 11 kids got an apprenticeship playing!

‘People like him, the Albert Chamberlains of this world, the people of Cwm, are the lifeblood of our game. Albert would come to watch us at West Ham when he retired, I’d let him into the training ground to watch every day, have a cup of tea with him.

‘Anyone who gives up their time for football free of charge is far more important to the game than anybody. They’re the lifeblood of the game. Unfortunately they don’t get nowhere near enough support. There’s nothing coming down.

‘All the money is at the top and it stays at the top. If each top club could help or donate, let’s say £1million a year, to build better facilities, it would help no end… the facilities at youth level are disgraceful.’

Redknapp has dusted off his tactics board as part of a grassroots campaign led by Specsavers

Cwm’s players were told they would have a former Premier League manager take charge for a few matches — but coach Dan was disappointed to see Redknapp turn up. ‘He told me he was hoping for Brendan Rodgers! I said, “Well thank you very much, Dan”.

‘I’ve had some great times — and bad, it can be very lonely as a manager when you lose — from the highlight of taking Bournemouth from the old Third Division to winning the FA Cup at Portsmouth.

‘But I tell you what, if I can get a win with Cwm Albion, just three points on the board, it could top the lot. You know, if I can get a win, I reckon I’ll have a Premier League team ringing me up. Pep Guardiola, be careful!’

Motors Trophy running out of gas

I took a trip to Valley Parade on Tuesday night and was one of just 1,907 watching Bradford City versus Liverpool Under 21s in the, checks notes, Bristol Street Motors Trophy. It was a good scouting mission and a ground tick – but what is the point of this competition?

Other attendances included 323 at Wycombe against Fulham Under 21s and most stadiums around the country only opening one side of the ground. Clearly, fans simply do not care about this competition, at least until the latter stages.

Arsenal’s Under 21s were beaten by League One Peterborough on Tuesday night

At Valley Parade, Bradford thrashed Liverpool’s kids 4-0 – admittedly helped by the Reds going down to 10 men in the first half. Arsenal’s Under 21s lost 3-0 at League One Peterborough and Nottingham Forest’s youth team were well beaten at Doncaster.

Yes, a trip to Wembley and the chance to lift a trophy is on offer – Bolton’s win over Plymouth in last year’s final had 79,389 there – but involving Under 21 teams doesn’t seem to be helping anyone. It must be time for a rethink.

Mowbray knew his time was up

Tony Mowbray knew his time was running out at Sunderland after play-off defeat 

Amid the dancing and celebratory music boomed around the players’ area in the bowels of Kenilworth Road last May sat a dejected Tony Mowbray, after Luton thoroughly defeated his Sunderland side to book a play-off final at Wembley.

Mowbray cut a gloomy figure in his post-match media briefing and said: ‘I’ve enjoyed it but who knows what my future holds.’ It seems that the 60-year-old knew his time was running out at the Black Cats, despite doing a stellar job in restoring pride at Sunderland.

I thought back to that night at The Kenny when Mowbray was sacked this week. There might be a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’ in getting rid of him, but it shows the forward-thinking, proactive mindset of Sunderland’s young directors.

This is a squad full of promising talent that could easily challenge for a return to the Premier League in the next 18 months, and you can’t fault the board’s ambition to seek such a thing. Saying that, Mowbray’s stock has certainly not taken a hit with this sacking.

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

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