DEVA DELIGHT!
Howson feels he owes Johnson and
Chester-bound Steve Howson tells The NLP why it was a ‘no-brainer’ to join his old Salford bosses again
CHESTER new boy Steve Howson says proving the doubters wrong was the big driving force behind his return to form after being released by Salford.
The towering defender’s struggles with a knee injury were well documented during the recent TV series Class of
92 – with the Ammies stalwart not offered a contract by close friends and joint managers Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley as the club made the decision to go fulltime towards the end of the 2016-17 season.
Instead, Howson was forced to rebuild his career, first at Curzon Ashton and then at Southport, as Salford marched on to win the National North title last term.
But following the shock departures of Johnson and Morley at Moor Lane, the 32-year-old will now join forces again with his old gaffers at Chester after penning a deal last week.
“I never thought it would happen again,” Howson told
The NLP. “It was obviously well documented what happened and the injury killed me, and I just felt they [Johnson and Morley] would keep on progressing with Salford. Not many people envisaged their tenure
coming to such an abrupt end there.
“But I am so chuffed to be heading to Chester and really chuffed to be playing for Bernard and Jonno again.
No-brainer
“I won’t lie, I was desperate to prove people wrong after the injury, and I was desperate to prove Bernard and Jonno wrong too. They want hungry lads at Chester and it was a no-brainer when I got the call.”
Howson, who has not been short of offers from other clubs in the off-season with both Curzon and FC United expressing a strong interest, claimed there has never been any hard feelings between himself and his new bosses at the Deva despite the heartbreak of being cut loose, as shown on the Sky documentary. “I know it was tough for
them,” he added. “And I have spoken to them about it. It’s their job, it’s their livelihoods, and they have kids to feed and mortgages to pay.
“They have to live and die by their decisions. You have to take the friendship away from it both on the management and the playing side. “I was gutted because I had not missed a training session at Salford, even when I was injured, and I had attended every game. “I felt I had done everything right and what with me being there for a long period of time I thought maybe I would get a deal. But it was gutting, it really was. It was so hard to leave the club and the lads, but all good things come to an end.” The defender was also eyeing a potential move into coaching and admitted former club Radcliffe Borough had