YO-YO YEARS HAVE TO END – PARKY

VICTORIOUS Altrincham boss Phil Parkinson has set his sights on ending the Robins’ yo-yo years after sealing a place in the National League for the first time in four years. Though regulars in Non-League’s topflight over the last two decades, Alty – hamstrung by parttime status – have invariably struggled. Relegation in 2016 was the catalyst for a tumble into Step 3 for the first time in almost 50 years and it is that kind of turmoil that Parkinson is desperate to avoid. “I can’t wait to sample that National League,” he said. “I know it’s going to be really rough and there’ll be games where we’re a little bit out of our depth. “But we’ll have to adapt very quickly otherwise we’ll be back to being that yo-yo club, which I don’t want to associate with the name of Altrincham any more. “This is where the fans think we belong. Where the owners think we belong. Now we’ve got to go and prove it. “If that means going hybrid, we have to do it. If it means finding new investment, we have to do that. Because that’s what it’s all about, ultimately. We’re doing the right things on the pitch and the board need to do the right things off it – which they are. “I want to keep moving forward. Myself and Neil (Sorvel, assistant), we’re very ambitious. We want to go far in the game and all this good stuff we’ve done… it could all be washed away if we got relegated. “We’re not a massive club, even though we’ve got massive history. But we’ve got to start acting like a massive club if we want to stay in that division.”