Gary Allanson (second left) following Bridlington’s East Riding Senior Cup final. Picture: Dom Taylor
Bridlington Town manager Gary Allanson his side need to “keep moving and not sit back” for their preparations for next season.
The Seasiders capped their season by winning the East Riding Senior Cup at KC Stadium, with a Craig Hogg hat-trick seeing off Hull United.
Allanson told the club’s official website: “Obviously the season is over and we had a fantastic finale on Monday night with us winning the ER Cup with a great performance, but we have to keep moving and not sit back and our hardest work starts now by putting things into place and laying the foundations ready for next season.”
But despite winning the East Riding Senior Cup, the club are already setting their sights on further success and will be hoping to better their 8th place finish in the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division last term.
Bridlington’s hopes for next season have already been aided by a number of first-team players and backroom staff, including former Brid player Wayne Lewis who joins as assistant manager after Andy Foster’s departure to Brigg Town.
Allanson added: “I would like to announce that Wayne Lewis has accepted the assistant manager’s role, in the few weeks that he has been involved he has brought stability to the team, he has earned the respect of the players and the whole atmosphere within the dressing room and on the training ground has become more relaxed.
“Personally I have known Wayne for a lot of years and he was a good player in his own right playing at a high level and has a great understanding of the game, he also loves Bridlington Town after playing for them in a very successful era.”
First-team coach Steve Mulligan, goalkeeping coach Nick Baxter and player-physio Danny Brunton have all pledged their loyalty to Bridlington, and Allanson believes a strong backroom set-up and his experienced players can push his young side to further success.
He added: “I will be working very closely with these guys so we can continue to build on our success of this season along with Ash Allanson, Tom Fleming, Chris Jenkinson and Craig Hogg who have already committed to next season and will play a big part in bringing the younger players on with their fantastic experience at this level.
“The majority of this season’s squad have said they are staying but until the ink is dry on the forms we cannot take anything for granted.
“We are speaking to a number of players but the competition is severe this season and players are holding out until they have spoken to all other clubs, but on the back of that players are also getting into contact to come down after seeing our performance in the cup final and seeing the type of football we play.”
“There seems to be a real feel-good factor around the club at the moment and we need to keep this momentum going.”
Bridlington have already announced a tough pre-season fixture list, including Hartlepool United XI, York City XI, Doncaster Rovers XI, Hull City U21 and also a replay of the East Riding Senior Cup against Hull United.