STANLEY HAS CASE FOR THE DEFENCE

CRAIG STANLEY says moving to centre-back has given him a new lease of life – and he’s ready to get stuck in to his new player-coach role at Lancaster City.

The 35-year-old won promotion from the Conference with both Hereford and Morecambe in a career that also took in spells in the midfields of Bristol Rovers, Aldershot Town, Eastleigh and Lincoln City.

Last season, Stanley was at Barwell where he ended up filling in at centre-back and he hasn’t looked back.

“I was playing midfield for Barwell but, I’ll be honest, I didn’t play as well as I know I can,” Stanley said. “I had a trial at Wrexham and when I came back to Barwell, because they thought I may be leaving, they’d brought in some other players.

“But we were short of a centre-half and the manager asked if I would play there. For me it was about playing so I was more than happy to. I think I did quite well. I’m not the quickest, but I can read the game quite well and I enjoyed it. Until last season I’d never played as a centre-back – I took to it better than I thought I would!

“If it helps me get another couple of years on my career, then great. The modern-day midfielder now has to be up and down the pitch. Not being disrespectful to myself, I was never that type of player. But as long as I keep playing and enjoying what I’m doing, does it matter if I play centre-half ? Not for me.”

Stanley has joined Phil Brown’s EVO-STIK Premier Dolly Blues this summer and will combine his playing duties with a coaching role. And he says it’s the first step on the road to eventually taking a No.1 job further down the line.

“The coaching is the main thing for me,” Stanley said. “I want to get my family settled because I’ve got a little girl.

“I still want to play but I want to learn the other side. I’ve only been used to coaching kids at the moment so it’s trying to learn from Phil Brown and the other coaches and taking their good points to eventually put into my own coaching.

“Players who have gone to Lancaster always speak highly of them and when I lived there I watched them a few times. They’ve done well over the last few years and hopefully with a few more signings we can be in the top half, pushing for the play-offs.”