Luke Forgione hopes the seeds sowed this summer will blossom into a bright future for Worsbrough Bridge.
Forgione, a former Bridge midfielder from the Chris Hilton era, is preparing for his first pre-season a Park Road as he bids to a deliver an upturn in the club’s fortunes.
The Worsbrough chief replaced Lee Morris last October and he took charge of nine games before the Toolstation NCEL Division One campaign was chucked into a dustbin.
The first pre-season session is next week and Forgione expects to begin moulding a squad mixed with experience and some of the best young Non League talent in Barnsley.
“It will be an eight-week pre-season,” Forgione told Non League Yorkshire.
“We usually do six weeks, but the extra two weeks gives us extra time to build fitness and more time to get across our playing style.
“We’re going to be focussing a lot on our playing style whilst building fitness at the same time.
“I think the eight weeks will go well as we’ll have four weeks of double sessions a week in June and then we’ll have pre-season fixtures in July where we’ll be looking to apply our learning.
“It is a total rebuild in some respect. However, it (this summer) gives us an opportunity to get across our methods and build something for the future.
“Results haven’t been great for a couple of years.
“If you’re looking at the (combined 2019/20 and 2020/21 tables for) points-per-game we have just managed to be outside the top two (in third bottom).
“I’m quite optimistic, I think we can have a decent season if we get our pre-season right.
“I think we are going to have a lot of lads with fire in their bellies.
“We’re working on a few additions and hopefully we can get them over-the-line as they’ll bring more experience to help guide some of the young talent we have got.
“We need to start looking upwards rather than looking behind us and I’m not got a mindset that we’ll be down the bottom end.
“I’m looking to try and get as high as possible.
“I think it is an exciting time because if we can have a good year then there’s an opportunity to build something in the next couple of years where we could be really competitive.
“I’m under no illusions because I know how it works. Other clubs will looking and saying ‘they have some promising young talents, we need to keep an eye on them’.”
As Barnsley College’s football head honcho, Forgione is one of the most knowledgeable people in Barnsley for up-and-coming talent and he remains fully committed to providing the chances to youngsters.
“I think we have some really promising and talented young lads,” he said.
“I know they are more than capable at playing at NCEL level and they have bright futures.
“I think they will go higher.
“However, we all know it is a results and performances game so the boys have to perform as we are dictated by results.
“We do need to get the results on a Saturday, but they also know I will give them an opportunity. It is up to them to take the opportunities.”
But competition for places will hopefully be fierce as he will leave no stone unturned in building the strongest squad possible.
“We have invited quite a few people to come to training,” he said.
“You know how it works in the NCEL you can’t sign players until 1st July.
“My outlook on it is the more personnel we can look at the better because unfortunately we haven’t got a massive budget.
“Yes we have got a budget and Worsbrough has had a budget for the last few years, but in comparison to the rest of the league it is one of the lowest if not the lowest.
“That makes it difficult because there are some clubs in our league who can double or treble what we can offer.
“We’re looking to try and do things behind the scenes to attract players such as the training facilities, minibus for travel and a close knit changing room environment.
“We have irons in the fire and we’ll see what comes from it.”
Casting an eye over a large number of players certainly has merits considering the events of August 2020 when the Bridge side was decapitated as six crucial players dropped down to Step 7 because of well-founded concerns over travelling and midweek matches in the NCEL.
The departures left Morris scrambling to rebuild his squad in a short period of time and the problems contributed to the poor start to the season.
Forgione is confident lightening won’t strike twice on Worsbrough, even though Division One clubs face more travelling and more games due to the number of teams being increased to 21.
“Moz was unfortunate last year as he had his team and then some of them left to play lower (a month before the season started) which put him in a situation where he was short on bodies at the beginning of the season,” he said.
“We’re hoping we’re not going to be in that situation.
“I’m wouldn’t say it definitely isn’t going to happen (again) because I’d look a fool if it did happen.
“You can never say never, but I’d like to say that we’re in a different position to what Moz was in, in the respect of the personnel he had as they were a little older.
“A lot of his lads had other commitments like family and work.
“The majority of our squad are between 20 to 24, sprinkled with some lads who are 26 or 28.
“One of the benefits with younger lads is they don’t have other commitments in their personal life as much as someone who is 28 or 29 who may have a child.
“Some may say it could be a weakness having younger lads, but it could also be a strength.
“We have outlined it from day one that we want people who are committed.
“If they don’t think it is right to train in midweek and have a game on the Saturday then it is not right for them.
“The requirements to play for us are clear and for us it is a case of you’re in or you’re not.”
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams. When we properly return to ‘action’, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
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