GOWENS AIMS TO GET BAY ROLLING
Whitley can look up again
ANDY GOWENS knows what it feels like when the good times roll at Whitley Bay. He led the Ebac Northern League club to their first of four FA Vase Final wins in 2002 as Ian Chandler’s late goal saw off Tiptree United at Villa Park.
Chandler went on to manage Whitley to three furof ther Vase Final triumphs between 2009 and 2011. These days they are a very different club to the one that made history with that trio of Wembley wins. The Seahorses are still a staple of the Northern League’s top tier and are arguably still one of the biggest clubs at Step 5, but last season’s 16thplace finish shows how the team have fallen behind in recent years. Gowens is now back at the helm after replacing former manager Marc Nash midway through last season and he believes that there is work to be done if they club is to recapture the magic of its recent past.
“We have brought some quality players in and there is still work to be done,” Gowens said.
“It’s about getting the right balance and, as the chairman will tell you, it has to be done within the budget. We could get back to where we were but it will be difficult because there is a lot of money in the league.
“It will be difficult for most teams, not just ourselves, to compete with the top six. It isn’t just last year or this year, it has happened over a number of years. It’s not just in the professional game; it’s the same in Non-League, where the teams at the top have the biggest budgets.
“That makes it hard to attract players so it’s down to Mick (Mulhern, assistant manager) and myself to sift through the players that just want money and bring in the players that want to play for this club”
It has been a hectic summer for Gowens.
Several key players have departed and this week he was met by the news that three more have asked to leave the club as goalkeeper Tom Flynn, defender Josh Nearney and midfielder Tom Potter all submitted transfer requests.
New additions have been made but Gowens believes more are needed if they are to challenge the top clubs in one Step 5’s most competitive leagues. “We want to compete with the top six and have good runs in the FA Cup and FA Vase, which I think is the target for most clubs in our league,” he said. “It will be difficult but I don’t think we are too far away at the moment. We have some good footballers in the squad and I think we are two or three signings away. “There is one prominent position that we need to fill and we have irons in the fire on that one. We said that we wanted a bigger spine and there has been more changes than I anticipated but we aren’t far away from being up there. “Hopefully this week or next, all of that will be sorted.”