EV2 Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Premier Division
Title-winning manager Gabe Mozzini wants Wakefield AFC to push for glory in Toolstation NCEL Division One next season.
Wakefield clinched the EV2 Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Premier Division title yesterday and the club are NCEL-bound following the release of the FA’s proposed line-ups for National Leagues System.
Mozzini is eyeing more success for his ambitious club.
“Look, we’re going into Step 6 to fight for promotion, that is the goal,” Mozzini told Non League Yorkshire.
“We’re not going there to just be competitive or not be relegated.
“We’re going there with the aim of getting promoted and having a strong season.
“It is a tough league and all the clubs have talented players so it won’t be easy.
“Our goal though is put a side together strong enough to fight for promotion.”
Mozzini wants to keep his side together, but he says Wakefield need to strengthen.
“At Step 6 you don’t have wildcards, you have more games so it will be great,” he said.
“Pre-season will be short and we have a season with 42 games instead of 26 so that changes a lot.
“We don’t have enough players to do that.
“We have 17 or 18 so with 42 games we need to recruit.
“We have three-or-four players in mind who we will try and recruit.
“We hope the players who are with us currently will stay, but you never know.
“Some of them may leave so we may have to recruit more.”
The possibility of Wakefield winning the title only became a reality six weeks ago.
Wakefield were marooned in mid-table in January when Mozzini was appointed and a top five finish – a must for promotion – was in real doubt.
Fifteen wins and two draws have led them to glory and Mozzini reveals the moment he realised his troops could go all the way.
“When we beat Dodworth 3-2 (on the 26th March) when we scored in the 87th minute,” he said.
“That’s when we believed we could win the league.
“We always needed to be top five – that was very important.
“I was only thinking about top three, that was the big challenge.
“When we beat Dodworth, we looked at the games and realised we can win it.”
Wakey cliched the title by beating Dodworth 2-0 in front of a record crowd for County Senior League football and Mozzini was thrilled.
“It was an amazing day,” he said.
“We couldn’t have asked for better weather and I thought we played well.
“Dodworth were never going to give us an easy game and they didn’t.
“We controlled periods of the match and they were dangerous as well.
“But, it was the last match of the season and we wanted another clean sheet and another win.
“We know we’re getting promoted, we know we have won the league and it feels amazing.”