Ainsworth is also passionate about modern football honouring the sacrifice of former players. “I went to the Somme in 2010 to the (unveiling) of the Footballers’ Battalion Memorial. I will never, ever let those guys get forgotten. In October, I said to the players: ‘Have you all got your passports?’ The boys were getting all excited, there were rumours flying around of where we were going, and then I said: ‘It’s the Somme.’ The reaction was a bit flat. Some of them didn’t know what the Somme was. ‘Is that a beach somewhere?’ We explained it, got in Phil Stant (ex-pro, ex-SAS) and gave them tasks to find if they had any relatives there and a couple of the players did.”