Why Colchester United coaches Danny and Nicky Cowley are back living with their parents

• Danny Cowley and Nicky Cowley have been enjoying home comforts since taking over at Colchester United, as ITV News Anglia's Aaron Mayhew reports.

When you think of the lifestyle of a professional football manager, nice cars, champagne and an expensive house probably come to mind.

What perhaps doesn't is a manager living back home with his parents - but that's been life for brothers Danny Cowley and Nicky Cowley since they joined Colchester United in January.

While they wait for their families to relocate in the summer, the Cowleys are staying in their old family home near Chelmsford in Essex.

They don't mind, though - in fact it's seen the brothers getting served "three course meals" when they get home.

Danny Cowley, the club's head coach, said: “We’ve always been Essex boys and we kind of grew up in this county.

"I left my family home as a 19-year-old to go to university, and I've come back as a 45-year-old now.

"Me and Nicky are living at Mum and Dad’s. We joked on the radio a couple of weeks ago that we were in bunk beds - I think they took us seriously.

"It’s not quite like that but we are back in the bedrooms that we had as young children.

"We work quite late at the club so then we phone home at maybe half eight at night and by the time we get home dinner is ready.

"Literally three courses, it’s incredible. We went home the other night and we had prawn cocktail to start, shepherd’s pie and bread pudding to finish.”

Danny Cowley says Colchester United fans have already made an impression on him, two months since joining the club.

Improvements

The appointment of the Cowleys caused a lot of excitement for U's fans, after a plethora of interim and short-lived management tenures in recent years.

Their arrival was seen as a long-term plan by the club to transform its fortunes, as its League Two positions have declined since being relegated from League One in 2016.

Since the brothers joined the U's, results have shown signs of progress, and the pair suffered just their second loss in nine games on Saturday.

With Colchester now inside the relegation zone, the League Two table still doesn't make for pretty viewing, but Nicky Cowley believes underlying statistics are a cause for optimism.

The assistant head coach said: "We’ve become much more difficult to beat and that’s something we wanted to change from the beginning.

"We’re more competitive. The challenge moving forward is to turn some of those draws into wins."

Club has "great potential"

Should the club retain its status in the football league, Danny and Nicky have big ambitions about where it could go beyond this season.

The brothers, who were PE teachers before their professional managerial careers began, are remembered for taking non-league Lincoln City to the FA Cup quarter-finals in 2017.

They also won National League and League Two titles, getting the fanbase and city behind a club which was underperforming in comparison to its past successes.

Their careers since have seen them take on roles higher up the football league with Huddersfield Town and Portsmouth, but neither move ended with the same success as with the Imps.

Joining Colchester and returning to League Two draws easy comparisons with their challenge at Lincoln.

United - who have spent seasons in the Championship - are seen by the brothers as a club which has "great potential" to play higher up the EFL. Danny Cowley wants to make positivity around the club "infectious".

“We have to earn the right to live the dream, so we have to do all we can to find a consistent level of performance, so we can retain our status in the division," he said.

"I only see great things for this football club. I see a club that has a brilliant infrastructure, has a really solid platform for us to be able to build on.

"We need to turn that platform into a springboard. In recent years the first team hasn’t had the success that anyone associated with it would want, but there’s so many good things happening at the club.

"If we can keep building, then my vision for this club is to have a lot more brighter days.”

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