Yorkshire Amateur have appointed joint-managers Ashton Campbell & Liam Willingham with Sean Burton joining as their assistant.
The trio are already demonstrating the club’s long-term strategy to tackle the club’s current short-term priorities.
The first-team will field four u19s for their midweek in-house friendly against the reserves, including both recent senior debutants Harry Abson & Eloi Nyom, in preperation for the trip to Athersley Recreation in the league. The Ammers currently sit bottom of the NCEL Division One after six games played.
Since the takeover of the club just weeks before the start of the 22/23 season, the Community Hub project has continued to rebuild The Ammers. In their sole full season, the project has already developed several players into transferring to higher levels.
Campbell, former Garforth Town, Thackley, and Frickley Athletic player, played for the Ammers’ feeder club Chapeltown Juniors during his junior football days. Campbell’s son, Zante has also recently signed for Bradford City from Chapeltown.
The joint-manager, who demands “passion and hard-work” from his players, confirms call-ups for four u19s invited to play within the first-team squad and three further to represent the reserves in the midweek friendly between the two sides.
“I went through there myself, I started at Chapeltown and went on to play for Garforth, Frickley, Thackley, I was at Leeds United academy,” reminisced Campbell.
“Players have somewhere to go, even if they don’t make it into Leeds United or Bradford City. You can go in there and hopefully play semi-professional football. When I was at Chapeltown, there was nowhere to go.
“I’ve just seen three of four u19s who were good enough to come over to the first-team. We’ll be having a looking at them on Thursday. There’s about six or seven, the other three will be in the reserves squad, to have a look at them all.
“I see it as a long-term project but I also understand things need to happen now. [The priority] is to make sure everyone around both the team and the club of Yorkshire Amateur wants to be there and is 100% committed”.
The development of the club off-the-field in the previous twelve months is encouraging for the next era of the on-field process, says Willingham.
“The off-field side of things has really transformed,” described Willingham.
“The project at Yorkshire Amateur was always going to take time, since the takeover where there was literally nothing. The latest ground grading indicating we only need a further sign, says everything.
“The focus is just the playing side now. With Athersley Recreation on Saturday, the immediate thing is to bring the lads together, explain to them the new structure and how it will benefit them.
“I’ve been watching the academy lately and I have to say the future looks bright”.
Burton, former Goole Town assistant-manager with a previous working relationship with Campbell at Whitkirk Wanderers, is looking to be clinical with his close connection to the area.
Burton works as a school teacher aside to his commitments to football.
“At this point in time, Ammers needs local people with local player connections,” stated Burton.
“We need to get the buzz back. I live and work in the community. How many schools are we attending to invite sports days at our stadium, just for example? It gets the word out and attracts people to the club.
“We need to sort the playing side out, then the project will follow. When you’re winning, people will come.
“I’m aware of what Lutel [James], Will [Bowler] and other people, the effort they’ve put in behind the scenes. We’ll follow on from what’s been built. We want to get more people through the gates.
“Before I spoke to the club, I researched the staff and their roles. For example Matt [Appleyard], what he does on matchday is so important. We all need to be behind the project. Time is precious and people will be spending a lot of time away from their families so they need to be valued.
“Accessing the squad, we’re looking to make signings. We need to establish a playing pattern early. We need some steel who have played at the level, level above. If we tell the current squad the style and they rip it up, then we don’t need to sign anyone”.
The trio visit Athersley Recreation in the NCEL Division One on Saturday 26th August for their debut fixture.