Season Preview
Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Emley AFC
The quest for the holy grail is over. Emley are an NCEL Premier Division side. But for Richard Tracey the mission is far from over.
Manager
Richard Tracey
Tracey, who played for Carlisle United when Jimmy Glass scored one of the greatest goals in English Football history, has made further history by being the man to finally land the holy grail for Emley. He is assisted by Steve Nicholson, Richard Batley and Tom Claisse.
Opening Five Fixtures
Winterton Rangers (a), Congleton Town – FA Cup (h), Garforth Town (h), Staveley Miners Welfare (a), Eccleshill United (h).
Notable Movement
In: Matthew Sykes, Seb Carole, Antony Leech (Eccleshill United), Sam Kelly.
Out: Aiden Savory (retirement), Gary Stevens (retirement).
One to Watch
Jimmy Eyles
Eyles has consistently been a top striker at Step 5 and 6 for the past ten years and his goals were a big reason for Emley’s ascent to the Premier Division.
Interview
Richard Tracey wants Emley AFC to establish themselves in their new surroundings and learn about the league this season.
Emley have finally reached their holy grail of the Premier Division after 15 years of trying and Tracey says the new campaign is a journey of discovery for them.
“100% we’re not there to make the numbers up,” Tracey told Non League Yorkshire.
“We’re not going to sit here and say we’ll be challenging because it is a new level.
“We were comfortable at the previous level, even against good sides like Ferriby and Hallam.
“We have an experienced side and that counts for a lot.
“You look around and you say ‘ooh Silsden are making a lot of good signings and who are this Sherwood coming up’?
“You know Garforth have definitely improved in the last couple of years and then you see Knaresborough beating North Ferriby in a friendly.
“All of a sudden you start thinking this is going to be a really test for us, but also for us as a management team an opportunity to see what is required to get out of the league because the long-term goal is to get us up into the Northern Premier League.”
The quest for Premier Division football lasted 15 years, six managers and hundreds of players.
They had come close so many times and even when promotion was inevitable in 2020, the pandemic took it away from them.
A strong start to the aborted 2020/21 season followed and when the two curtailed campaigns were merged together Emley were up.
Tracey admits it was more than deserved.
“It is huge for the club and the buzz around the committee and everyone when the news came through was brilliant,” he said.
“They were rightly so delighted.
“When you look at the two seasons I think we were 2.24 per game so we did deserve to go up.
“It is not like in the ten games we played in the NCEL that we played the weaker sides, we beat Ferriby, Selby and Hallam.
“We earned that right to get that promotion.”
Prediction
Top Half