Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Premier Division
Wombwell Main manager Terry Simon is pushing ahead with his youth revolution masterplan this season.
The older battalions of Danny Frost, Kieran Hirst, Ash Emmett, Jake Simon and several others remain but Simon has promoted six players from the reserves.
The decision is part of the long-term plan to create an almost ‘cradle to grave’ conveyor belt for footballers at Wombwell.
“I have six lads from the reserves who are going to play with us this year and I would like to think they are good enough to step up,” Simon told Non League Yorkshire.
“(In pre-season against Dodworth) Sam Martin at centre-half played against Danny Barlow and Kai Hancock who (in the past) have picked up good money and I don’t think he looked out of place.
“I’ve got Harry Sagars who is quick and I’m hoping he is going to come and score a few goals.
“We’re going to be a younger squad.
“I’ve always said if you’re good enough it doesn’t matter how old you are.
“I think I would be sending out the wrong message if I was bringing in young lads to play for the reserves and then saying ‘you’ve done well last year but I’m going to bring four new players who are 25, 30’.
“It might be a year of transition.
“I’d like to think we have enough to avoid any sort of relegation battle.
“We might not compete in the top three or four but on our day with what we have got we’ll give people a game.
“Swinton will be there or there abouts, Dodworth will be there or there abouts.
“You look at Wakefield who have invested a lot of money (into their club) and you look at Sheffield Town who is our first game, they’ve had a good pre-season.
“There is going to be a lot of tough games.
“If we finish in the top three would I be surprised?
“No, I think we could but it depends on how the young lads adapt to senior football.”
Danny Frost
The dethroned Frost is facing the biggest fight of his life as he bids to win back his beloved ‘The Iceman’ nickname that now belongs to Barnsley star Dominik Frieser.
Wombwell cater for nearly everyone, from juniors, to seniors, to over 35s and walking footballers.
Frost oversees the very successful Mini Mainers for under sixes and the number of junior teams are continuing to grow – much to Simon’s delight.
“Everyone measures success on winning but if I can get five or six lads from the reserves to play for us in the first team and compete and do well, I think that’s a bit of success personally,” he said.
“In the last six years we have gone from having two junior sides to nine.
“Our eldest junior side is the under 16s this year so hopefully we are going to have the continuity of lads coming through like successful teams like Penistone and Handsworth do.
“That’s what we have been aiming for.”
Shaw Lane Aquaforce legend Frost struggled with injuries and bedroom issues last season but Simon hopes to have him involved more this year.
“They’re all signed and hopefully they’ll be competing for shirts,” he said.
“I think we got two games out of Frosty last year so if we get three this year that’s a bonus.”
Wombwell kick off the season with a trip to Sheffield Town FC.
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.
Our work is playing 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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