Wem Town are looking forward to life in the West Midland League for the first time in 14 years – with much of the praise reserved for rookie manager Dave Richards after steering the club to the Sportsjamkits.com County League title.
Richards only took over at the start of the season in difficult circumstances and has led the club to instant success.
“We parted company with our management duo of Alan Smith and Mark Jones last September,” said chairman Shaun Astley. “There was a real possibility we would not be able to fulfil our fixtures. The County League granted us two weeks without a game to allow us to resolve our issues and rumours of us folding began to circulate the local football scene.
“Then step forward Dave Richards. He attended the meeting and said, despite very limited experience, he was prepared to take on the role as manager. As they say, the rest is history. He persuaded virtually all the players to stay at Wem, and over time has added some high quality players to our squad.
“He has created a superb atmosphere among the squad and hasn’t been scared to give youth a chance with three of Saturday’s team being under 18. We have only lost one league game since he took over.”
Wem secretary Cyril Pritchard added: “ He gets on well with all the lads and they want to play for him.”
