The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Deeping were great under Goode, but he needed a break
Football - Top local manager would love a crack at a higher-level club
Michael Goode would love to take his love for free-flowing, attacking, entertaining football to a higher-level nonleague club.
Goode has surprisingly stepped down from his local club Deeping Rangers after five years at the helm.
The 43 year-old father of two young girls is in need of a break from football after 20 successive years at United Counties League level as a player and a manager.
But he insists he will be back when the right opportunity presents itself. Hopefully at the level above Deeping.
Goode led Deeping to two second-placed finishes in the UCL Premier Division as well as record-breaking runs in the FA Cup and the FA Vase.
“It’s a sabbatical,” Goode said. “It will be great to spend some extra time with the family, but I’d love to be back one day and even have a shot at a higher level. I have-never had a sniff of managing a club at Step 4, even though my record is not bad at step 5. I wanted that with Deeping but just missed out.
“I’ve loved every minute at Deeping. They are my local club and it was a thrill to play for them when they won the UCL Premier Division title.
“We have been unlucky not to win the UCL Premier Division in the last five years. We finished second to the outstanding Peterborough Sports team. We won 95 points that season and still couldn’t get near them, but we would have won the title most seasons with that points tally.
“We also finished second in the Premier Division last season to an excellent Daventry team
“We’ve created a strong identity at the club. We play an excellent style of football which helped us attract players we had no right to sign given the budget we had.
“The time is right now for me to have a break. I played for 10 years straight until I was 33, and then went straight into management at Blackstones and Peterborough Northern Star before moving to Deeping. I managed over 500 games and that’s a lot at any level. I am ready for a break.”