Worsbrough manager Dave Mace believes his club are heading for a brighter future
Every possible obstacle has been thrown at Worsbrough Bridge this season, but Dave Mace believes they have got through them all.
Mace hopes that spurred on by the arrival of new chairman Jonathan Cotterill-Bolsover, Worsbrough can look forward to a brighter future.
From a player exodus last summer to a string of postponements to their former chairman John Cooper’s resignation for health reasons and even the hospitalisation of secretary Charlie Wyatt, Worsbrough have been put to the test.
Mace has also had to cope with pitch and floodlight problems, star striker Brad Kerr’s disciplinary issues and also his assistant Wayne Thompson’s recent departure to Retford United.
It has taken some effort to make it to the other side, but Mace believes his club are now heading in the right direction.
“This season hasn’t gone very well because we have under-achieved with the players we have got,” said Mace, who replaced Chris Hilton last summer.
“We did win at Emley and Pontefract so there are positives, but we never got any momentum.
“Unfortunately the pitch has cost us this season. We now have games Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday until the end of the season and they’re almost all home games because during the winter we didn’t play.
“It has affected results as well because during the winter we were going three weeks without a game. It is easy to say start training, but it is not like a match.
“Also because of the bad weather you couldn’t use the facilities at Schools and trying to get booked is a nightmare.
“You can get 5pm on a Wednesday night, but because everyone is working that’s no good.
“In the middle of all that, Charlie had his heart operation and John Cooper resigned through ill heath so it has been a nightmare.
“At the same time, the club spent £500 on sand to get the pitch playable and then the following week the floodlights went out and we lost another game. They then had to spend more money to renew the lights.
“We have all had to get more involved and we have all spent as many hours here as we do at work.
“We have all pulled together and we have got through it.
“The new chairman Jonathan is a businessman and if he follows through with the ideas he has got, it will be great for the club.
“I would say the future is looking rosy for Worsbrough.”
The current challenge for Worsbrough is finishing the season.
Bridge still have eight games of the Division One season to play after last night’s 5-2 defeat at Grimsby Borough.
Mace plans to utilise the club’s under 19s players over the next few weeks and that’s his current focus.
Asked whether he plans to continue as Worsbrough manager in the summer, he added: “I’ve no idea because we still have almost a quarter of the season to go and I’m concentrating on that.
“If the new chairman does what he says he’ll do then the future is bright, but whether we’ll (Mace and assistants Rob Poulter and Nev Hunt) be here, I don’t know.
“The chairman did ask me last week what I was doing next season. I just said ‘to be honest, I haven’t even thought about it’.
“We have so many games to fulfil it hasn’t even crossed my mind.”