Frickley Athletic manager Karl Rose is hoping Gavin Allott will stay at the club
Karl Rose is adamant that Frickley Athletic can still be competitive if key striker Gavin Allott leaves in the summer.
Allott is out of contract at Westfield Lane and is wanted by a number of clubs because of his record as a goal-scorer in the past two seasons in the Evo Stik Premier Division.
Rose is going to try and persuade him to stay at Frickley, but concedes that he faces big competition for his signature.
“We want to keep him because he is our talisman,” Rose told Non League Yorkshire.
“He really enjoys it here and loves the club, but I am not naive to think that the big sharks won’t come and offer him this, that and the other.
“Gavin Allott will make his decision. There was a Frickley before Gavin Allott and there will be a Frickley after Gavin Allott.
“Hopefully he’ll be here next season. I have been speaking to him about next season because he is a good friend of mine.
“The first thing we have to do is get him fit because he has been carrying a knock all season and needs an operation.
“We need to have the time and the care to make sure he is the player he has been.
“He has only played half of the games this season so he could be like a new signing if he does decide to stay.”
Frickley starved off relegation on the final day of the season with a draw with eventual play-offs winners Curzon Ashton.
They then followed that up by winning the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup.
It is a good season considering that Frickley were bottom of the league and out of the FA Cup after the opening nine games.
Looking back at the campaign and next season, Rose said: “I think if you had asked me in February when we were cruising then I would have said we were looking to finish in mid-table.
“When you look at the resources and squad size, it has been a good season. We are punching above our weight and have won silverware again.
“In every season I have been here we have had to start again because we have started with only three players. We have had to bring in another ten or 15 players and it is difficult to gel them all together.
“Because we are bringing players up two steps, some of them are not going to work out.
“For the past three seasons we have been bottom of the league after eight games so this summer we have to keep this bunch together and get off to a good start.
“Getting to 50 points has been a good achievement, but I’m not over the moon or delighted because we can always improve.
“Next season if we can keep these lads and get off to a good start then maybe we won’t be involved in the relegation scrap.”
The Frickley boss has started his plans to recruit new bodies to his side.
However, he does admit that it is a struggle and implies that he will be looking at the Northern Counties East League for players once again.
He added: “All we can do is put our hat in the ring because we know we haven’t got a lot of money.
“We have to convince players by other ways. Instead of looking up and encourage them to drop a level, we looking down and bringing them up.
“It is hard to recruit players when you have the likes of Aquaforce who are paying big money along with Worksop who are not far down the road.
“You also have Guiseley and North Ferriby in the same pot trying to recruit players.
“Sometimes people say they want to play at the highest level, but sometimes it is about how much money is on offer.”