The Cowley Brothers sounds like a glamorous Hollywood production company, not a sibling duo who’ve taken English football by storm in recent years.
Danny and Nicky, most recently found in the dugout at Championship side Huddersfield Town, come as a pair. And although it’s Danny who has grabbed the headlines following their successes together, he says none of it would have happened without Nicky.
Explaining their relationship in an exclusive interview with UCFB, Danny said: “It’s a special relationship, a unique one and one that works for us. We’re used to living in each other’s pockets, we’ve always been close and had similar interests all of our lives.”
The pair worked together for 15 years at an Essex school, alongside Danny’s wife, in the PE department. It was there when they took over at Concord Rangers, leading the team from the Essex Senior League to National League South, all the while maintaining their important school work.
After the Cowley’s narrowly missed out on promotion to League Two with Braintree, they were snapped up by Lincoln City which is where they then came to national prominence, taking the side from the National League to League One and becoming the first non-league side to reach the quarter finals of the FA Cup in over 100 years.
All of their success is achieved together according to Danny. He said: “Our relationship is really one where we have a telepathic understanding of each other; we know how each other works. People think that we’re similar but we naturally have different traits and certainly bounce off each other.
“Obviously we have that commodity of trust which is something that is difficult to find, particularly in football. All of that allows us to just deal in the truth and normally that allows us to get to the solution of the problem.”
The pair are now waiting patiently for their next role after leaving Huddersfield before the 2020/21 season began, and Danny has been helping to coach his daughter’s side while his family remain in Lincoln.
Emphasising the importance of family, Danny said: “I would never have achieved what I have done without his contribution. It’s a relationship that works for us and it keeps our mum and dad happy!”
