Warrington Town with Gary Skentelbery

Please read below for my interview with Warrington Town chairman Gary Skentelbery. It was published in the latest Football Focus magazine which can be viewed here for absolutely free! Included in the current issue are Queens Park Rangers, Chester and many more football clubs.

Warrington Town

Last month, Football Focus caught up with Warrington Town Chairman Gary Skentelbery. Gary and his colleagues have admirably guided the Evo-Stik First Divison North side out of severe financial problems and now look set for a bright future. Gary was kind enough to explain how the situation has progressed. “The club was in a dire financial situation with dwindling crowds of less than 100. But, we’ve been able to organise some good sponsorship deals and get key partners in the community involved in the football team. We all believe that a town of our size should have a football team able to ply its trade at a higher level.”

Indeed, branching out into the community seems to have played a vital role in the resurgence of Warrington Town. Gary says the club “work hard to get their support. We’ve been able to secure a £50,000 grant from land recycling group, Wren, to create an all-weather pitch which will give us an all year round income and profile.”

With the newly installed pitch in place, Gary is hoping that it will attract more youngsters to come to Warrington, firstly enjoy themselves and then to become part of the club. “We’ve teamed up with Active Soccer, who will bring kids down to the club during the summer holidays and let them know what’s available for them in Warrington - it’s a vibrant place to be at the moment.”

The future of the club looks fantastic, but Gary believes the biggest challenge is the one facing them on the pitch right now. “We feel as though we have the infrastructure in place to compete at the next level up. We are on the fringe of the North Division playoffs but it is a very competitive league to get out of. I’d love to see us playing the Conference North and once the club is properly on the map at that higher division I believe anything is possible.”

Warrington have actually made a new signing recently; the much travelled Andy Heald. He joins from fellow Evo-Stik First Division North side, Leigh Genesis. The experienced midfielder has played at Conference North and Conference National level in the past and will no doubt be a vital addition to Warrington's playoff push.

Written by Will Lyon