Toolstation NCEL Division One
Westella & Willerby
With a rebranded name, Westella are starting their second year in the NCEL. Although a few notable names have left, Leon Sewell has kept most of his squad and believes his side can have another stable campaign in Division One.
Manager
Leon Sewell
Westella manager Leon Sewell
The former Selby Town manager has been at the helm of Westella for a few years and he led them out of the Central Midlands League and into the NCEL.
Opening Five Fixtures
Campion (H), Eccleshill United (A) – LC, Brigg Town (H), Dronfield Town (A), Pontefract Collieries (A).
Player Movement
In: Regan Horn (Hull United), Tom Giblin (Hull United), Louis Excell, Harry Earle (Winterton Rangers), Ben Killingsworth (Winterton Rangers), Dan Moore (Winterton Rangers), Trevor Hindson, Charlie Hewson, Dave Gordan.
Out: Chris Spinks (Hall Road Rangers), Rob Petch (Barton Town Old Boys), Neil Shepherd (Armthorpe Welfare).
Prediction
Mid-table
Interview
Leon Sewell
Chris Spinks has joined Hall Road Rangers
Leon Sewell insists that there is life after joint top-goalscorer Chris Spinks at Westella & Willerby.
Striker Spinks has gone to Hall Road Rangers, but Sewell believes he has kept hold of the players that will replace his goals.
“Chris is a quality player and we have looked at a number of players in that area of the pitch,” Sewell told Non League Yorkshire.
“They are big boots to fill, but we have players who can come in. Remember he left us for two months at Christmas to go to Hull United and I don’t think we lost a game.
“Chris has done the right thing (this summer) by ringing me and telling me the reasons why he’s left.
“The good thing is that we have retained Joe McFadyen, Alex Wood and Andy Coverdale. They scored just as many goals between them as Chris did.”
In their first campaign in the NCEL, Westella finished just outside the top ten after a late rally.
Considering their resources, it was an excellent achievement and Sewell is setting no major goals for the new campaign.
“We have to be realistic because we are one of a small number of teams that has no playing budget,” he said.
“As a manager, you would like to push for a top ten finish. We came close last year. We finished the season very strongly and it would be nice to build on that.
“Apart from Bottesford, we finished the highest out of the teams in our region and there were only four teams that took six points from us.
“We always give a good account of ourselves. Because we have no budget, we have to get enjoyment out of it. There would be no point turning otherwise.”