Sheridan leaves with happy Fleetwood Town memories

Barry Nicholson will sit alongside John Sheridan in the Fleetwood dugout for the final time on Saturday

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Before two World Cups with the Republic of Ireland and Wembley appearances at club level, Sheridan was a visitor to the area as a junior footballer.

It might have been long before the Andy Pilley era at Town but the area made an impression on Sheridan.

He joked: “I’d advise them to build another road coming in because you do get a bit of traffic!

“But it is a nice place; I’ve stayed over while I’ve been here three nights a week in a place called Poulton which was lovely.

“When you get the weather, there are not many places better.

“The only time I’d been to Fleetwood before was when I was manager of other teams or when I was playing for my local county, Stretford boys.

“We always played Fleetwood and then went out for a day in Blackpool when I was a young player. That is how I remember Fleetwood.”

Sheridan will leave the club after today’s game with Walsall and, as he prepares to hand over the mantle to Joey Barton next month, he says he leaves on good terms.

He did the job he was brought in to do – namely keep Town in League One – but will no doubt be a wanted man when the managerial merry-go-round starts up again this summer.

Sheridan had left Oldham Athletic in October after keeping them in League One last term.

After completing another successful survival mission, he will be spending the summer without a club.

That does not faze him as he once again thanked Pilley for the chance to manage his club.

“It is a good club; everyone has looked after me and been very friendly to me and I could not ask for any more,” Sheridan said.

“I appreciate the chairman – he is a top chairman – the staff, everything about the place.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here and it has not done me any harm.

“I feel like it has put me in the picture a bit more; that is the way I look at things.

“You just move on, who knows what will happen in the future.

“I’m leaving on good terms with fond memories.”