“The Personal Story.“
It was 13 years ago when I was searching for a local club for my son to play at. Sean Blake was running a team and we went down to see what it was all about. My intention was to just stay on the other side of the ropes but after a couple of weeks of watching Sean on his own with nearly 30 7yr old kids giving him the run around I asked if he needed any help. From that day I’ve been with Staveley through all the junior ranks and ended up as Junior Vice Chairman during my last few years with them.
In that 10 years with the juniors I saw it go from, cutting the grass ourselves with old mowers (sometimes our own from home) and putting the white lines on to now (through grants and hard work of all the volunteers) having drainage to all the pitches, irrigation tank and watering hoses, car parking and with the 3g an opportunity for the older end of the junior section to play on the 1st team pitch.
3 years ago, as my journey with the juniors came to an end I was asked to help with the Reserves as the newly appointed Manager was going to be a player manager and needed some help and also to try and help bridge the gap between juniors and senior football.
1 year ago the Manager decided to move on and Terry and Pat asked if id like to take on the Manager role. Leigh Hyman and Shaun Lowe have joined me. Our first season was a steep learning curve and we definitely made some mistakes but we got to a cup final and have had some great results in the league. With our club emphasis on bringing lads up through the pathway, we’ve got a very young side in comparison to most of our competitors but I believe getting this experience of mens football stands the lads in good stead for their onwards development (hopefully to Staveley’s first team). Last season we had at least 7 players who started with the Reserves and went on to represent the first team and a couple who stayed there for most of the season.
For most of last season we also stood in for the U21’s management team. We took that time to get more lads from our U18’s set up involved and some of them have flourished and will be given opportunities with the reserves this coming season. I’m delighted that Gavin Mansell has agreed to take the U21’s forward this season and I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more from Gav on these channels.
We’ve retained the majority of our players for the new season, despite offers from both higher up the football tree and also from competition in our own league with teams offering considerable money to players.
Leigh, Shaun and I are excited to be taking the reserves into a 2nd season and again working with Pat and the 1st team and Gav with the 21’s to ensure we keep the pathways open.
We’re always on the lookout for new players and if you’re interested then please get in touch through our socials and we’ll let you know what’s going on.
