Evo Stik Division One North
Brighouse Town manager Paul Quinn
Leaders Brighouse Town are happy to be the “little boy of the league” after their surprise start to the season.
That’s the message from Paul Quinn, who admits his team have upset the applecart and predictions for the league.
Brighouse Town have won seven, drawn one and lost one of their opening nine games and they are three points clear of second-placed Farsley Celtic.
“It has been an excellent start,” Quinn told Non League Yorkshire.
“We were disappointed to drop points on Saturday (against Mossley), but we weren’t quite at the races.
“You always say that you look at the table after ten games and we’re closing in that. We’re up there on merit, but we know that there’s a long way to go.
“It bodes well and we have brought some decent characters in. We have assembled a decent squad, I’m not saying it is the finished article. There’s still a couple of areas where we may look to improve, but we’re happy with where we are at.
“I think we can be as competitive as we have been in recent years. We have had a couple of years of stabilisation at this level and we now have the strongest squad we have had since I’ve been at Brighouse.
“It is early days. We have to try and keep everyone injury-free to keep this run going.
“I read and listen to stuff and Brighouse Town aren’t expected to be up there. We know what we want to achieve this season and we’ll keep plugging away and being the ‘little boy of the league’.
“That’s what I think people think we are. We’ll see where we are at the end of the season, I’m not interested where we are in September and October.”
Shaw Lane AFC defender Dan Wilkinson tragically passed away in mid-September
Quinn was speaking for the first time since the funeral of Shaw Lane AFC defender Dan Wilkinson, who passed away in mid-September after collapsing on the pitch at Brighouse in an Integro League Cup tie.
Quinn attended the ceremony in East Yorkshire along with a few of his colleagues and he says his team are playing for Dan.
“I think it has really brought us together, what happened to Dan,” Quinn said.
“We had never been through that as a club and myself as an individual, I’ve never been through something like that.
“Every-time we’re going out to play, we’re playing for Dan and his memory. We want to use him as our inspiration.
“The funeral was a very difficult day. It was well-attended by the club and it was a fitting tribute. It was a great send-off with the amount of people there.”
Brighouse are away at Witton Albion in the FA Trophy tomorrow.