NPL Division One East
Ian Richards says a heart-to-heart summit with his Stocksbridge Park Steels players in mid- October has helped inspire their incredible rise to be third at Christmas.
A fight for league survival, never mind a play-offs push, seemed on the cards after defeats to Ossett United and Lincoln United two months ago, given the tough run of fixtures facing them.
Instead a fairytale story has unfolded
Sides such as Hebburn Town and Consett have been swept aside during a run of one defeat (to unstoppable leaders Worksop Town) in ten league matches.
The unforgettable FA Cup run provided some momentum and Richards says his pep talk was a big moment.
“There was never any panic or doubting the players,” Richards told Non League Yorkshire.
“We were low down in the league (in October) because we were falling behind with games because we were in the FA Cup and playing replays.
“We were behind in games and points.
“Everyone was saying ‘you’ve got games-in-hand’ but I’d rather have the points in the bag.
“An outsider looking in may have been thinking ‘oh they could be dragged into a relegation battle and it could be a long season’.
“It wasn’t really (the Ossett game which persuaded me to hold a team meeting) it was the Lincoln United game at home which we lost 3-2.
“At the next training session we had a good 20 minutes where I outlined where I want to be and that a relegation battle wasn’t where I wanted this football club to be.
“It isn’t where I want to be as a manager and it shouldn’t be where (the players) want to be.
“Since then they have responded brilliantly and that’s why we have gone onto win nine, draw two and only lose once, to runaway leaders Worksop (in all competitions).
“I’m not saying that team meeting spurred us on but I think it allowed us to look where we are and at what we want to achieve.
“It is testament to the players.
“The teams you just mention there (Cleethorpes Town, Hebburn Town, Consett), they are highly ambitious football clubs who have big fan-bases.
“I think the players just rose to the challenge.
“I think they liked the challenge of going into the games as underdogs and knowing there was no pressure.
“They deserved to win these games. These weren’t smash and grab wins, they were convincing wins.
“Against the top teams we have done extremely well.”
Back in the summer, Richards said it was hard to predict how his side would do as the majority of his squad had never played Step 4 football before.
The idea of being third at Christmas seemed unimaginable but they are there.
Coincidence is booming around Bracken Moor and Richards hopes his men can carry their form into 2023.
“I said ambitious (in the summer) and ambition is to be as high as you can,” he said.
“As we discussed (in the summer) they are some much bigger clubs in terms of resources and financial budgets so we’re enjoying what we’re doing at the moment.
“It has not been by chance or by fluke.
“It is because of a lot of hard work that started in pre-season in bringing a group together.
“We only had five players from last season and we had a young group which we had to drill and out-line how we wanted to play and the standards and expectations on-and-off-the-pitch.
“The lads have bought into it brilliantly.
“The FA Cup was a real catalyst and it gave us confidence and momentum.
“The league position at this moment in time is lovely for the club to talk about but it is irrelevant until we get to March-time.
“My mantra is let’s get as points as we can as quick as we can and keep progressing and getting better each game and see where it takes us.
“The players have bought into that.
“Yeah, we’re third and let’s enjoy that and if we can stay there, brilliant, but if not, let’s see how high we can finish.
“I said I wanted to achieve something in a National competition and we achieved that with the FA Cup run.
“I said I wanted to do well in the Sheffield Senior Cup because the club hasn’t won any silverware for a long time and we’re in the quarter-finals of that.
“I wanted us to be in that top ten and finish with more points than we did last season.
“We’re on track to do that.
“As a club there’s huge positivity around the place and more people are coming and volunteering and supporting to push the club.
“Hopefully it is a foundation that we can kick on with in the second half of the season.”
The Steels head to Pontefract Collieries on Boxing Day, 23 days since the 1-1 draw with North Shields.
Despite the lengthy break, Richards feels there has been advantages.
“We trained on the 9th December and we had the Lincoln game called off on the day of our Christmas party,” he said.
“The party was actually in Lincoln so they had the night out and stayed over so it was a good team bonding event.
“Last week we couldn’t train at all so I gave them the week off as it was too much hassle to get an indoor venue.
“Saturday’s game was called off and I thought it was better to give them a rest.
“We trained on Tuesday and we’re training on Thursday and we play Pontefract Collieries on Boxing Day.
“Because we have a younger squad and they keep themselves fit, the rest may do us good.
“We have three-or-four players coming back from injury so (the rest) will help them.
“I’m just hoping the training sessions will get us sharp and ready to go at Pontefract Collieries which will be a really competitive Yorkshire derby.”
Although Leigh Whelan’s time with Stocksbridge has ended as the Chesterfield youngster has joined Guiseley, Richards is content with the current strength of his crop.
“We have Jordan Lemon, Cody Prior, Luke Rawson back from injury and they’re all good quality players,” he said.
“As a squad we have good balance.
“We extended Johnny Oluleye’s loan from Sheffield United and Dylan Youmbi’s loan from Bradford City so we have them for another couple of months.
“We have a squad of 20 to pick from.
“We signed Ben Townsend recently so we have sorted out the goalkeeping position.
“Unless we get decimated by injuries or a player comes up who is too good not to sign, we’re quite happy with the squad we have got.”