KING WILL GIVE IT A WHELLIE

STEVIE KING insists he’s enthused by the challenge which lies ahead after accepting the unenviable task of reviving beleaguered Wellington Rec. The harbour outfit have been in freefall over recent seasons after reaching the Premier Division a few years ago, suffering three relegations in as many seasons to wind up in the Amateur League’s bottom Intermediate tier. Reversing the Brookvale Park outfit’s alarming slide is not a job for the fainthearted, but after taking on a not too dissimilar challenge at their Larne neighbours Islandmagee – King took the reins at Wilbourne when they were the Premier Division’s whipping boys and rock bottom of the table – he goes in with his eyes wide open. This season Wellington have endured another torrid campaign, winning just one of their 24 league outings to date, and King acknowledges that the squad he inherits will need rebuilt from the bottom up. But that’s why he feels the timing is right now, allowing himself plenty of time to exploit his contacts in the area, with experienced duo Gareth Bond and Ricky Higgins already agreeing to join him as player-coaches. “I’m back a bit quicker than expected,” said King who, only stepped down as Islandmagee boss last month after guiding them into the top half of 1A. “I got the phone call asking if I’d be interested and in the back of my mind, I was thinking I will go and speak to them but I had no real intentions of going for it but I went down to the ground and they showed me around and they really sold it to me, they have their own 4G training pitch and their own pitch is fantastic and the clubhouse, so they are a sleeping giant really in the Amateur League, they just lost their way. “They have had no luck with managers so hopefully, I can come in there and bring a bit of stability but I need a whole new team basically. “But that’s why I’ve taken the job now as well because it’s going to give me plenty of time to get players in and get down to business.” King reckons his CV is suited to the demands which will be placed on him at Brookvale, namely resuscitating a team in the throes of a downward spiral. He performed a similar job at Grange Rangers where he cut his teeth as a young manager, taking them up into second place in 2C before he was lured to Islandmagee where he stabilised the club in 1A following their relegation from the top flight. “In my first job at Grange, they were really struggling and when I left there, they were second in the league,” explained King. “It’s a big job at Wellington, a rebuilding job but that’s what I like about it. “It excites me to think you can turn a club around, and if I can do that, it would give me a lot of satisfaction. “I had three or four offers there to go higher, and I talked to all the clubs, but it was the Wellington one which really excited me.”