Yorkshire Amateur, who have appointed Lincoln Richards as their new chairman, are heading in the right direction – according to joint manager Phil Harding
Yorkshire Amateur joint manager Phil Harding is confident that his club are “moving in the right direction”.
The East Leeds-based outfit voted Lincoln Richards in as their new chairman this week as the Bracken Edge club aim to continue lifting themselves out of the doldrums.
Since Harding and Richards walked into the Ammers 18 months ago, the pair have been spearheading a plan to rejuvenate the then-ailing club.
Harding also paid tribute to previous chair Jenni French, who now only holds the secretary’s mantle and he said: “It’s been a positive week.
“We’ve been working really hard to get things right and to take it forward we had to make Lincoln chairman.
“He’s very hands-on and he’ll muck in and do any job that needs doing from painting to anything.
“We must thank Jenni who has a massive role to play at the club.
“She has kept the club afloat over the last few years and if it hadn’t been for her it would have gone under.
“It’s a new era for the club. We’re in the process of making the ground look nice.
“The inside of the clubhouse is being worked on and the pitch is looking a lot better compared with last season.
“We’re moving in the right direction on and off-the-field.
“We have a new sponsors in CDC Drainage Care and Inspire Property Services who have our utmost thanks.
“There’s also Southerns Furniture who been fantastic to us because they have supplied us with the furniture for the clubhouse.
“The club has come on leaps and bounds off-the-field recently and I’m hopeful of a brighter future on and off-the-pitch.”
Injuries and departures, most notably Dempsey Smith and Curtis Bernard, have affected Ammers recently, but Harding and new coach Rick Addy have got the good start they wanted.
The Ammers host Pontefract Collieries tomorrow with ten points on the board on the Toolstation NCEL Division One table and Harding added: “We’ve had some good results such as the win over Mansfield and Lincoln, who were unbeaten until we played them.
“We have been unlucky in the last two games because of things like injuries and suspensions.
“I had five strikers at the start of the season. Now I only have one.
“It’s quite obvious what the problem has been in the last two games, we have simply been unable to score.
“Before the Penistone game we had scored eight goals in two games.
“We have missed Craig Heard (because of a calf injury) in the last two games and that’s been the difference.
“Like I have said before, we’ve had a good start and top ten is still the aim.
“I honestly believe we have the squad to do it this year.”