by Garry Clarke
THE 2022/23 season was challenging for Warrington Rylands as they adapted to playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the highest level the club has ever operated at.
It was a season of managerial change which led to a high turnover of players which in turn led to inconsistent performances with some outstanding displays, although not always delivering the results they deserved, and some disappointing days.
There was the return after 44 years of the ElWireCo derby with Warrington Town, two wonderful occasions of which the town could be proud played in front of two large crowds, including a record breaking 1,809 at Gorsey Lane.
At the start of the season, there was an expectation, mainly from outside the club that Warrington Rylands would continue their rise through the leagues; however, that was not the feeling from within.
Such had been the speed of Warrington Rylands meteoric rise from playing amateur football in the Cheshire League against teams on roped-off pitches in parks as recently as 2018 to the NPL Premier Division four years later it was recognised internally that a period of consolidation was required.
The club needed some breathing space to allow them to catch up off the field to the on-field progress made in recent years.
The past twelve months have seen volunteers working, almost non-stop, at Gorsey Lane which has seen numerous ground improvements being carried out to bring it up to the required ground grading standards, whilst a commitment to strengthening the club’s expanding junior section saw in the closing weeks members of the successful under 21 team in the first team squad.
At the start of the season, most people would have targeted an upper mid-table finish with no relegation worries in the second half of the season, with the hope for a good cup run as well.
Promoted as NPL West champions, 2022/23 started full of optimism boosted by the signing of a number of high-profile players, including several experienced players from leagues above.
Unfortunately, many of them proved not suitable for the division, and Warrington Rylands received an early wakeup call falling behind within 10 seconds of the start of the season despite kicking off the game.
After a slow start Warrington Rylands picked up their first win of the season four games into the campaign, but as they were starting to get a grip of life in the higher division they were rocked by the departure of manager Dave McNabb.
The long-serving McNabb, who had guided the club’s fortunes since they joined the semi-pro ranks in 2018, was replaced on a caretaker basis by Jody Banim, a temporary tenure which lasted 5 months.
Senior players Dean Furman and Sam Egerton took the reins for a fortnight before the arrival of Michael Clegg in February, who after a slow start ended the season with a run of five wins and a draw, topping the division’s form table.
Struggling throughout the season for consistency, apart from the final weeks, Warrington Rylands never dropped below 14th in the table after the opening weeks and for a time flirted with the promotion play-off places reaching the highest league positioning of 6th.
With only Marine of the five clubs promoted last summer finishing above them (9th 1 point more), a final finishing position of 10th in the club’s debut season in the NPL Premier Division is pretty much mission accomplished.
However, the less said about the cups the better.
Overall it has been a season of challenges, excitement, travelling to exotic new locations, playing new opponents and most importantly making new friends along the way.
Not bad for a pub team from Orford!
Finishing 2022/23 in a much stronger and healthier condition to which it started the campaign the only way for Warrington Rylands in 2023/24 is forward.
