SADDLEWORTH is ready to take a step into the unknown as a football club enters the non-league pyramid.
But nerves are the last thing on Uppermill FC’s minds.
Saturday, August 1 is the big day as the club plays its inaugural match in the North West Counties League First Division North.
Every mile of the trip to Wallasey to take on Ashville FC, when they will wear their shirt sponsored by band China Crisis, will be momentous as development on and off the field bears fruit.
This is not the end of something, though. It is very much the start.
And manager Mark Howard, who has seen just about every step of their journey from the bottom of the Manchester League’s First Division, knows there is little to fear.
He said: “Obviously, it’s a step into the unknown for the club, but I’ve been in the North West Counties League myself prior to being with Uppermill.
“However, it’s new clubs, new officials, new players, new referees. We’ll just have to find our feet again.
“The Manchester League is a fantastic league of football. Ability-wise, I don’t think there’s a big gap., i any, from the top six or seven clubs.
“I think all of them could certainly come into the counties and compete.
“This is another step up. I think the concentration levels have got to be a lot better and we’ve got to be a little bit fitter. Other than that, I think we’ve set up pretty much the way we did last year.
“We’ve probably brought in maybe seven or eight players into the squad. It will be between 22 and 25, which is what we’re going to need. We’ll be playing more than 50 games of football this season.
“But we’ve kept the majority of last year’s squad. They’ve got us there. It’s their club as much as it’s mine or anybody else’s. They deserve this opportunity, probably more than anyone.”
Before the voyage into the non-league pyramid begins, two things are certain for Uppermill FC – they are not aiming to just survive and it will be a learning experience.
Mark added: “We want mid-table. We’re 100 per cent not in it just for survival. If we want to be competitive, we want to really push.
“It’s probably going to be a learning experience. We don’t know how these clubs are going to set up and what sort of shape they play. Whereas in the Manchester League, I know most of the clubs and I know most of the managers.
“I know how they’ll set up and what shape they’ll play, but the clubs in the North West Counties League don’t know a lot about us. We’ll have a little bit of an edge on them.”
A big part of Uppermill FC being accepted into the non-league pyramid is playing home matches at Mossley AFC’s Seel Park ground.
Saturday, August 8 against Daisy Hill is the date of their home bow and a reflection on the work that has got the club to that point.
Mark told Saddleworth Independent: “It shows the ambition that we had two years ago has come to fruition. We believed in what we were trying to do and we’ve worked hard.
“I’d say the players have done this more than anybody else. They’ve trusted us as a management team and believed in how we wanted to play and how we wanted to set up. They’ve gone out and executed the direction that we’ve given them.
“We’re so proud of the lads who’ve put the shirt on. Not just over these last two years, but over the past five or six. Everybody who’s helped us to get to this point. The lads who got us out of the First Division, they’ve got to take some credit for this.
“We’ve come leaps and bounds and it’s not just down to the management team and the players.
“It’s the likes of Steve Southern and the committee who’ve supported me and my coaching group and trusted us to look after their club. They’ve believed in what we’ve done and they’ve trusted us to take their club forward, which is a big thing to ask.
“It’s their club at the end of the day. They’ve always run this club. They’ve trusted us that we’re going to do the right thing by the club, which I hope we have.
“And Uppermill FC getting into the pyramid is massive for the community itself. I don’t think a lot of people in Saddleworth – in Uppermill, Delph, Diggle, Dobcross – realise what we have achieved.
“When I joined the club, we were bottom of the First Division of the Manchester League, just limping along.
“The club’s a big club. It’s always had the potential to grow and now it’s blossoming.”
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