The Cheshire Football League last night voted to accept the application of Stretford Paddock FC to join their ranks. After a lengthy and thorough application process, the vote was cast by existing clubs to admit;
Atherton LR
Bollington Town
AFC Haydock
Lymm Rovers
Mersey Valley
St Michaels DHFC
Stretford Paddock FC
Into the league for the commencement of the 2022/23 season.
The players were informed of the decision together, at the Player of the Year awards, Nosa Iyamu managed to give us his thoughts on the news, “The new league obviously brings new challenges and a lot of changes for us, I think for me and every other player it’s a welcomed challenge because we thrive under this type of pressure, every team wants to play their best against us, every team will want to come and put a performance on against us, in the stadium, too but like I said, we want the challenge. The new league also means we have to recruit more players to add to what we already have, being able to bring in experienced quality players will help us a lot through the course of the season not just on the pitch but off the pitch too.
I think for any team looking at us now it’ll be hard for them to see us as just a team from YouTube anymore, I think we’ve made it clear that we have goals and we want to fulfil our potential, I think we’ve also proved that I can feel the buzz around everyone for pre season with the games we have coming up and for the season to start already. Our plan is to simply keep reaching new heights and finish at the top.”
Manager Stephen Howson had the following to add, “I was very stressed waiting for the decision, it’s brilliant for the club to be where it is, after just two seasons. There’s real momentum on and off the pitch, and I think it’s infectious. There’s a real vibe about the place at the moment, everyone is excited about what this means, and the challenge it presents. The next few weeks are going to be hectic, we’re launching fan ownership on 1st June – I’ve had so many enquiries about it I can’t keep up – so can I just say, June 1st all information will be available, we’re announcing a new sponsor. Very soon. We have a new director of football who used to be head of academy at a professional club, which is enormous for bringing in some experience.
The club is moving fast. Our job right now is to keep the recruitment drive going, and prepare the teams for that start date. The league have told us to be ready to play come 30th of July, and we will be ready.”
Club Secretary David Pritt also added, “This is brilliant news for the club and is all down to Ste’s hard work getting the application and inspections ready. The club will go a slight reconfiguration now, the club will have teams staying in the L&C which will be renamed to Stretford Paddock Amateurs. The U21s and Development teams will retain their titles.”
Stay tuned for an exciting month of announcements from the Paddock as it’s set to be the biggest season yet.
