Weekly News - 14.12.22

It’s been a difficult week for Chairman Jay Beaumont and Matlock Town with the departure of manager Craig Elliott to National League North neighbours Buxton coupled with midfield dynamo Alex Wiles moving to Scarborough Athletic.

The Bucks spoke to Elliott in the days after they had knocked Matlock out of the Derbyshire Senior Cup having been given consent to do so by the Gladiators Chairman.

Elliott contacted him on Sunday saying he would be accepting the vacant post at the Tarmac Silverlands Stadium after three months in charge at Matlock.

Then on Monday Wiles completed his move to the Yorkshire coast with Matlock having the consolation that financially they would be well compensated.

At the time Mr Beaumont could not hide his disappointment at losing Elliott and that sentiment may still probably be there, but now the Gladiators have to move on and find their third manager of the campaign.

“We only had Craig for a very short period of time but you could see that he’s a good manager and also a very good person. He was starting to mould the team to how he wanted it and I’m convinced he would have got us up there challenging near the top end of the table. But I’m a firm believer that you cannot stop people wanting to progress in life. I told him unequivocally that I wanted him to stay but felt I couldn’t stand in his way. He wants to manage at as high a level as he can and had done a great job at Boston United in National League North. The chance to manage in that league came up again at Buxton so I was happy for him to speak to them. The decision though had to be entirely his.”

Assistants John McDermott and Richard Boryszczuk have also gone to Buxton so this week saw goalkeeping coach Steve Shuttleworth and captain Ryan Qualter take charge of training ahead of Saturday’s trip to Stalybridge Celtic.

“I’d like to thank Craig, Macca and Richard for all of their hard work while they were here” Mr Beaumont continued.

“They were putting together a side that was entertaining and looking capable of making a serious challenge for honours. But at this point I’d also like to pay tribute to Shutts (Shuttleworth) and Ryan Qualter for looking after things while we bring in a new first team manager. It isn’t the first time Shutts has stepped up to the mark and he really is a tremendous person and a real asset to this football club. Qualts is also a true leader as we’ve seen on the field so they have mine and the club’s thanks for keeping things going at the present time.”

Matlock have wasted little time in preparing for who comes next.

“We’ve received many applications from a broad spectrum of prospective managers which myself and my colleagues have been working through. I’m hoping that we’ll be in a position to confirm our new team manager in the next few days.”

Whether that is in time for the Stalybridge game remains to be seen but Shuttleworth and Qualter will remain in charge of team affairs until the new man is announced.

“It’s been a busy few days and something I wasn’t really expecting a week ago” the Chairman admitted.

“But it’s all part and parcel of being Chairman of a non league club and it’s certainly been an eventful baptism for me this last few months ”

Wiles’ departure to the Seadogs was already in place prior to Elliott leaving the Proctor Cars Stadium.

Ideally Matlock would have preferred to keep Wiles but Scarborough’s offer was “very good” according to Mr Beaumont.

Neither club are disclosing the official transfer fee which is a common occurrence these days but he assured the Gladiators’ fans that while they would be disappointed to lose 26 years old Wiles, the club had received very suitable compensation from Scarborough.

“Obviously first and foremost Alex is a very good player who had been outstanding for us, particularly this season, so we really didn’t want him to leave. But by the same token when a club from a higher league comes in for him, and it’s deemed to be a very good offer as this one was, then you have to seriously consider it. I’ll make it clear that we have rebuffed earlier offers for Alex which didn’t meet our expectations. We told Alex of the offer and then it was up to him to make his own mind up. We wish him all the very best at Scarborough and for the rest of his career”

The winter snap saw last weekend’s visit to Whitby Town postponed as early as Friday afternoon and all eyes will be on the weather ahead of the Stalybridge trip which if played, will be the Gladiators final game before Christmas when they host Belper Town on Boxing Day.

The club are holding a Christmas Party in the Shorts Lounge this coming Friday for which there are an extremely limited number of tickets still available. Contact Vikki on 07875 297134 for further information.

Ian Richardson