Goole AFC are in safe hands and have a positive future ahead of them according to Les Nelson who has left his joint manager role to take up a position at a National League club.
Lutel James will now carry Goole forward in sole charge with assistants Simon Portrey and Mark Pitts at this side.
James and Nelson took the reins of Goole in February and have stabilised the club. Nelson, who cannot reveal yet which club he is joining, expects Goole to continue to thrive under former Bury striker James.
“I leave with the club in a better position than it was (when we took over) on and off-the-field,” Nelson told Non League Yorkshire.
“We’ve brought some real quality in to the team in all positions and have now built some great links with clubs higher up the pyramid to ensure real quality players will always be available to access if needed.
“The full management team are still there and because the players have built good relationships with the rest of the management team, it is a smooth transition. The applecart won’t be upset.
“Other than the Garforth game which I couldn’t believe the result of, we’ve done pretty well.
“When we took over they had 24 points out of 25 games and they’ve already got six points out of three games. It bodes well and I personally can’t see them struggling at the bottom of the league unless something drastic happens.
“The squad is really strong, it really is. Last night (the win at Albion Sports) was an example. Mat (Zaniewski) came back in (goal) after three weeks out and he made a big difference.
“We were carrying injuries with Nathan Keightley and Joe Tasker, but there’s strength in depth so we could make changes and we looked like we could have scored three or four goals.”
Nelson’s departure ends his long and successful ‘marriage’ with James which goes back to their Whitkirk Wanderers days. The pair led them to promotion out of Division One of the West Yorkshire League and established them in the Premier.
“We have worked together for quite a number of years, but at some point we’ll be back together doing something together in football,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say Lutel was shocked about it because we speak all the time, every day pretty much.
“He is happy to continue with Goole following the plan we originally put in place which is building the foundations this year so the club can move forward year-on-year.”
Nelson believes his new role may be announced in the next ten days, but he admits it was a chance of lifetime.
“It is an opportunity I couldn’t turn down and it links in with my football development,” he said.
“It is an opportunity for me to move up the pyramid quicker than I imagined and I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into it.
“I will certainly be checking in on Goole’s results and I wish all associated with the club the very best of luck.”
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. As we slowly return to ‘action’, our work will play 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.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and because of the cancelled Lucille Rollinson Memorial Tournament, we are down on projected income for the year and we have incurred losses in the last few months.
We have not been hit as badly as other organisations, but we do need raise £2000 to put us back at the level we were at in mid-March and enable us to make a difference once again to our players’ lives in the future, without having financial worries. Several of our players are suffering from effects of the lockdown and we are determined to be in the strongest position possible to provide services for them.
Any amount raised above £2000 will be put towards new projects (when the world returns to normal) designed to further benefit people with disabilities and learning difficulties. You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.