Neil Sibson insists that Yorkshire Amateur’s budget is no different to their Toolstation NCEL Premier Division rivals.
Joint manager Sibson believes other clubs think the East Leeds-based club have a “bottomless pit” of money, something he denies.
The Ammers are widely seen as title favourites, but what people forget is that their squad is largely made up of players who won promotion out of Division One with them in 2018.
Even this summer saw only a few players added, with Aiden Savory, Ross Daly, Matthew Sykes, Steve Smith, Adam Field and Niall Heaton the new faces to the tight group of 17 lads.
“We don’t have a bottomless pit of money which other teams may suggest,” Sibson told Non League Yorkshire.
“We have a budget which will be very similar to other teams in this Division. We have recognised that there is three or four promotion places this year and we’re just like everyone else, we’re trying to grab one of them.
“We’re relying on hard work and talent to combine. Myself, Phil (Harding) and Craig Ogilvie work hard on the training ground to make the team a success. You have to work with players in training to be successful.
“If we had a bottomless pit of money, we’d be going and getting marquee players from every Non League Football club. All 16 players would be marquee signings.
“We have got players from when we were in Division One. They are not getting paid anymore than what they were getting at the start. They’re on the same deals.
“A big core of the team who will take to the field on Saturday are from the first game I managed with Phil (in 2016).
“Even though we finished on a whimper last season, we invited the full squad back. Some chose not to so that’s when we went out and strengthened.”
Sibson also says that he is very picky with who he signs.
He said: “The first question I will ask a player who contacts us is ‘why do you want to join’?
“There’s lots of reasons why? They can see that we’re trying to achieve things and we’re ambitious. I get that side of it.
“If somebody comes and says ‘can you pay me this kind of money’, that’s the last thing that you want and it won’t wash with us. But this kind of thing happens at all clubs, not just with us.
“There’s a core of players who do that (ring clubs and demand x amount of money) and have that mentality.
“It doesn’t work with us. We pay someone what we think they are worth.
“We want to have players who want to be part of the club for the right reasons.”
The Ammers have started the new season in a positive way. Although the East Leeds El-Clasico was lost to Garforth, the Ammers have six points having beaten Barton Town and Maltby Main.
A short trip to Paul Stansfield’s Knaresborough Town awaits on Saturday and Sibson says that he fully prepared for battle.
“We’re looking forward to Knaresborough, it is always tough there,” he said.
“We have a good record there and one of the reasons we have a good record is because we know what to expect when we get there.
“The lads will be tuned in tomorrow. If we are not on the mettle we have seen what can happen, with Garforth beating us last week.
“Knaresborough are strong in every area. I went to watch them against Garforth on Tuesday night and I thought their energy in the second half was really good.
“I think a bit of that was because Garforth tired after playing three tough games in a week – two FA Cup games and then against us.”
The Ammers responded well to the Garforth defeat by beating Maltby 3-0 on Wednesday night. But Sibson has warned his players that Wednesday is gone.
“The Garforth defeat was definitely a wake-up call and as I said to the lads, if you are not tuned in and ready, you can get turned over,” he said.
“It may be a blessing in disguise as the lads now know every game is tough and you have to prepare. We can prepare them as much as we can in training and in the dressing room, but it is down to their attitude once they cross the white line.
“I thought Wednesday was a great response. It was a great team performance from one to 16.
“We were very good, but it counts for nothing if you don’t get it right for the next game which is Knaresborough. We’ll focus on the things we did right, how we did them right and how we’re going to do them again.”