VIEW FROM THE PRESS BOX

Craig Biddlestone

FROM AFAR, I HAVE NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER THAT BLACKIE AND HIS BOYS ALREADY HAVE A NUMBER OF PLAYERS LINED UP FOR NEXT SEASON, GRANT AND HIS TEAM HAVE A TRACK RECORD AT THIS LEVEL, AND BECAUSE OF THAT I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT ONCE WE GET THIS SEASON OUT OF THE WAY, REGROUP, AND HET THE RIGHT PLAYERS IN OSSETT UNITED WILL BE THE FORCE WE WERE DESIGNED TO BE.

OFF THE PITCH IT HAS BEEN AN EQUALLY FRUSTRATING SEASON FOR ME, I TOUCHED ON THE VOLUNTEER THING IN MY LAST PROGRAMME NOTES, AND THE MEDIA TEAM IS MADE UP OF JUST THAT, VOLUNTEERS. THIS SEASON THOUGH WE HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO BRING IN THE PEOPLE TO THE TEAM THAT I HAVE WANTED TO, WE’VE TRIED, WE’VE EXPERIMENTED, BUT HAVE JUST NOT BEEN ABLE TO REPLACE CHRIS BOYD FROM LAST SEASON (CAMERA/VIDEO/GRAPHICS), AND A LOT OF THE ONUS HAS BEEN LEFT ON ME AND THE TEAM TO TRY AND PRODUCE SOMETHING, ANYTHING, HEY, I ONLY LEARNT HOW TO CREATE GRAPHICS 10 MONTHS, AND I’M STILL TRYING/LEARNING NOW.

IN THE PAST WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY UTILISED HUDDERSFIELD UNIVERSITY, AND HOPEFULLY BUILT A PARTNERSHIP WITH THEM, BUT BY THEIR ADMITTANCE THEY JUST SIMPLY HAVE NOT HAD THE NUMBERS THIS SEASON STUDYING MEDIA, THIS IS BECAUSE OF COVID AND LOW INTAKES DURING THAT PERIOD, WE HAVE SPOKEN WITH OTHER COLLEGES AND UNI’S THAT DO MEDIA COURSES BUT THEY ALSO HAVE THE SAME ISSUES AS HUDDERSFIELD, WE’VE ADVERTISED ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND ON THE VERY SUCCESSFUL PITCHING-IN VOLUNTEER HUB, BUT AGAIN JUST HAVEN’T FOUND THE RIGHT

PERSON/PEOPLE, BUT THERE AGAIN VOLUNTEERS THAT WORK TO THE STANDARD WE WANT DON’T GROW ON TREES.

I WILL KEEP PUSHING OF COURSE, AND WHILST I SIMPLY DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME AT PRESENT TO BE ABLE TO DO VIDEOS AFTER EVERY GAME I KNOW HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO YOU THE SUPPORTERS TO HAVE THE HIGHLIGHTS. FROM A RADIO PERSPECTIVE I’M ALSO AS FRUSTRATED THAT WE HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO OFFER COMMENTARY ON AS MANY AWAY GAMES AS WE HAVE, CHRIS CASSIDY IS IN THE FINAL YEAR OF HIS UNI COURSE AND ALTHOUGH HE HAS SAID HE WANTS TO STAY ON HE WILL OF COURSE NEED A FULL-TIME, PROPER JOB, SO WON’T BE AROUND AS MUCH.

JUST ONE LAST THING, THERE ARE SO MANY INDIVIDUALS IN THE MEDIA TEAM TO THANK FOR THEIR TIME AND EFFORT THIS SEASON TO NAME THEM INDIVIDUALLY, SOME CAME AND WENT, SOME STAYED AND ARE STILL HERE, AND SOME HAVE BEEN MORE ‘BEHIND THE SCENES’, BUT TO EVERY ONE OF YOU, THANK-YOU, WE REALLY DO APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU DO FOR OUR FOOTBALL CLUB.

FINALLY, TODAY’S FINAL HALF-TIME PLAYLIST HAS BEEN CHOSEN BY LONG SUFFERING SUPPORTER MARTY OLDROYD, SO EXPECT SOME “BACK SEAT VICARS” - OR WHATEVER THEY’RE CALLED, LET’S REALLY GET BEHIND BLACKIE AND THE TEAM TODAY, GET THE RESULT WE NEED, AND HOPEFULLY YOU ENJOY MARTY’S CHOICE OF MUSIC AND THE GAME, AND SEE YOU ALL NEXT SEASON.

The Formation

OSSETT UNITED WAS CREATED ON THE 1ST JUNE 2018 FOLLOWING THE MERGER OF OSSETT TOWN AFC (EST. 1936) AND OSSETT ALBION AFC (EST. 1944). BOTH OSSETT TOWN AND OSSETT ALBION HAD MANAGED TO GAIN NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE STATUS AND MAINTAIN THAT LEVEL OF FOOTBALL FOR A REMARKABLE PERIOD OF TIME.

Early History

THE TWO CLUBS MERGED UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF A NEW BOARD BROUGHT TOGETHER FROM THE TWO PREVIOUS CLUBS. THE FOUNDING DIRECTORS WERE JOHN CHIDLAW (OA), JAMES ROGERS (OT), EMMA CHIDLAW (OA), DAWN ROGERS (OT), LEE SUMMERSCALES (OA) AND LEE BROADBENT (OT) FORMING THE NEW BOARD WITH SUPPORT FROM PHIL SMITH AS CEO. JOHN CHIDLAW TOOK ON THE ROLE OF CHAIRMAN FOR THE FIRST SEASON. THE CLUB MADE ITS NEW HOME INGFIELD, THE PREVIOUS HOME OF OSSETT TOWN, AND USED DIMPLE WELLS, THE PREVIOUS HOME OF OSSETT ALBION, AS ITS LADIES AND ACADEMY TEAM BASE.

ON THE PITCH, THE FIRST YEAR (2018/19) WAS A REMARKABLE SUCCESS WITH ATTENDANCES SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED FROM WHAT EITHER CLUB HAD EXPERIENCED PREVIOUSLY, COUPLED WITH SUCCESS ON THE PITCH REACHING THE PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL AND WINNING THE COUNTY CUP, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF MANAGER ANDY WELSH. OFF THE PITCH THINGS WERE NOT AS SUCCESSFUL WITH A NUMBER OF RESIGNATIONS AND BOARD CHANGES AND SOME CHALLENGING FINANCIAL ISSUES TO DEAL WITH FOLLOWING THE MERGER. BY THE END OF THE 2018/19 SEASON, PHIL SMITH HAD TAKEN ON THE MANTLE OF CLUB CHAIRMAN FOLLOWING A NUMBER OF BOARD CHANGES.

WAYNE BENN TOOK UP THE MANAGERIAL REIGNS IN LATE 2019 FOLLOWING A POOR START TO THE 2019/20 SEASON, HOWEVER, THAT SEASON WAS ENDED ABRUPTLY IN MARCH 2020 WITH THE ONSET OF A GLOBAL PANDEMIC KNOWN AS COVID 19. THE SEASON WAS NULL AND VOIDED. OFF THE PITCH THERE WERE MORE TROUBLES FOR OSSETT UNITED IN NOVEMBER 2019 AS

A SIGNIFICANT AND UNPRECEDENTED COURT CASE, DATING BACK TO A TACKLE IN 2015 WHEN OSSETT TOWN WERE PLAYING RADCLIFFE BOROUGH, WAS LOST WITH UNITED FACING LEGAL AND DAMAGES COSTS AMOUNTING TO £135,000. FORTUNATELY, THE CLUB RECEIVED A GENEROUS LOAN FROM TWO OF ITS CLOSEST SUPPORTERS TO AVOID THE CLUB GOING INTO LIQUIDATION (AT WORST) OR SELLING THE INGFIELD GROUND (AT BEST).

THE START OF THE 2020/21 SEASON STARTED LATE DUE TO THE ONGOING PANDEMIC AND VIRTUALLY FINISHED AS SOON AS IT HAD STARTED WITH ONLY EIGHT LEAGUE GAMES HAVING BEEN PLAYED BY UNITED. THIS TIME THE SEASON WAS CURTAILED RATHER THAN NULL AND VOIDED AND MEANT A SECOND SEASON HAD GONE UNFINISHED. OFF THE PITCH ROGERS AND SMITH SWAPPED ROLES DUE TO SMITH'S WORK COMMITMENTS AND ROGERS TOOK ON THE ROLE AS CHAIRMAN, A ROLE HE HAD PREVIOUSLY HELD AT OSSETT TOWN. 2020 ALSO SAW THE CLUB DECLARE DIMPLE WELLS AS SURPLUS TO REQUIREMENTS AND MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO SURRENDER THE LEASE MAKING INGFIELD THE SINGLE HOME OF THE UNITED CLUB.

2021/22

LAST SEASON SAW MANY CHANGES AT OSSETT UNITED BOTH ON AND OFF THE FIELD. AFTER A STRONG START TO THE PITCHING IN NPL EAST SEASON A RUN OF ONLY ONE WIN IN THREE MONTHS SAW WAYNE BENN AND ANDY HAYWARD LEAVE THE CLUB IN DECEMBER. JAS COLLIVER AND MARK WARD WERE APPOINTED TO RE-IGNITE THE SEASON AND STRENGTHEN THE SQUAD WHICH THEY DID FROM DAY ONE. THE DUO SAW THE CLUB GO UNBEATEN AT HOME WITH 7 WINS AND DRAWS HOWEVER THE AWAY FORM CONTINUED TO BE IN CONSISTENT. OFF THE FIELD NEW DUGOUTS WERE INSTALLED, BEFORE THE ERECTION OF A NEW PITCH SIDE BARRIER FOLLOWED BY THE UPGRADING OF THE FLOODLIGHTS TO LED TO BRING THE FACILITIES TO A HIGH STANDARD.

COLLIVER AND WARD HAVE SPENT THE CLOSE SEASON WORKING HARD TO RETAIN PLAYERS FROM THE SQUAD AS WELL AS BRINGING IN REINFORCEMENTS TO STRENGTHEN THE SQUAD FURTHER AS THE CLUB LOOKS TO IMPROVE UPON THE NINTH PLACED FINISHED IN 21/22.

AT THE END OF AUGUST MARK WARD LEFT THE CLUB, CITING ONE VOICE WOULD BE BETTER THAN TWO IN THE MANAGERIAL POSITION. JAS COLLIVER LEFT THE CLUB IN OCTOBER AND WAS REPLACED BY GRANT BLACK ON AN 18 MONTH CONTRACT.