A junior football team has hired a mini-Special One to help bring success next season.

Tyler House has taken the reins at Sittingbourne Athletic Under-14s and is thought to be the youngest manager in Kent.

The 15-year-old was offered the job after the more experienced, and much older “gaffer” retired last month.

The Borden Grammar School student has already coached his school side and helped run Athletic – who play in Maidstone Boys’ Primary League - for most of last season.

Tyler, of Monarch Drive, Kemsley, said although he is almost the same youthful age as his squad, he’ll be no pushover.

He said: “If the players or their parents’ attitudes aren’t right, I’ll tell them straight.

“In the long run it’s better for them to hear the truth because it’ll help them become better at their game.”

Tyler took up a touchline role after a serious knee injury sidelined his immediate playing career.

He’s already counting down the days until his first league game in sole charge of Athletic.

It takes place in September, by which time he will have turned 16, the minimum age for a Kent league manager.

Tyler said he will evoke the strategies and spirit of arguably British football’s most celebrated coach as he attempts to lift his players following their relegation to division 3 last season.

“I’m probably quite eccentric, and different like Brian Clough,” he said. “I treat the players as family, rather than a team.

“The first thing I did was get them to write down where they wanted to play and how they thought they could improve.

“The relegation makes things a bit easier for me because I haven’t got a lot to live up to. I’m pretty confident we will be back up next season.”

Tyler’s an old-school head on young shoulders and believes hard work will be the key to a quick return to division 2.

He vowed his team will be the fittest in the league thanks to a traditional pre-season fitness diet of long, punishing cross-country runs.

As well as enjoying the full backing of his players, who apparently cheered when they found out Tyler was to become their boss, the teenager’s tactical ambition has the full support of his parents Tom and Zoe .

It’s a case of today, Sittingbourne Athletic, tomorrow the world, as Tyler explained. “I’m going to take my coaching badges as soon as I can and I’d love to manage a professional league club eventually.

“If the players' or their parents’ attitudes aren’t right, I’ll tell them straight" - Tyler House

“Anywhere will do, I’d just be grateful to be given the chance because it’s a really hard game to get into.

“But at the moment, I’m just happy passing on the knowledge I’ve learned to others.

“I’m working with a nice of bunch of people who I find it really easy to relate to because there’s not much of an age difference.

“They really respect me and I haven’t had to give them the hair dryer treatment...yet.”

Maidstone Boys’ Primary League contains about 120 teams in total.

It’s retiring secretary, Bill Taylor, said he had never known of a manager as young as Tyler and offered his own word of advice.

“It might be a good idea to have someone more experienced to work alongside him.

“But it’s a great opportunity and I wish him well.”