HOOK REELED IN BY SPELLY!

NEW manager Myles Hook is excited by the challenge of helping Spelthorne Sports grow on and off the pitch.

Hook and assistant Dan Green have been promoted from within following the departure of Mark Harper and Andrew Viney to Chertsey Town.

It comes at an interesting time for Spelly as they have just been switched to Combined Counties Premier Division South from the North division where they finished 15th last term.

While results on the pitch will be important for Hook and Green, it’s only part of their mission at the Ashford outfit founded just over a century ago.

“We have lost a lot of our coaching support staff, so we are almost starting from scratch,” Hook told The NLP. “We have to stabilise the club because there’s been a lot of change in the background. For myself and Dan, it’s not just about us managing and coaching at Step 5. We want to bring the community together. We are asking people associated with Spelthorne in the past and present to be involved in that.

Community spirit

“Our average attendance was 47, the second lowest in the North, but Spelthorne Borough has a population of 100,000. The potential of the club is huge.”

The managerial duo are keen for Spelly to tap into their well-established youth section to try to improve attendances and increase community spirit.

“From under-sevens to under-15s, we’ve got about 250 children,” said Hook. “We are offering them a free season ticket and we want them and their families to be part of this.

“We’ve been coaching through the youth section and we want to bring everyone together. We are introducing family days. We have been moved across to the South and a lot of the teams we’re going to play at senior level also play against us at youth level.

Demanding

“Prior to our kick-off, we will arrange a small game on the pitch. Children can be mascots for both teams and we’ll have penalty shoot-outs. That community aspect is what we are trying to achieve as a club.”

Winning football on the pitch always helps and Hook, who works in IT, is keen to get stuck into his new role.

“It’s a huge challenge for me personally,” said the 46-year-old. “I’ve played at this level and so has Dan. We’ve both been associated with Spelthorne for a number of years, but we are almost starting from new.

“We would love to play attractive football, though the style of the opposition can be very direct. It’s a physical league, it’s demanding and it’s a long season.

“First and foremost, we want the players to buy into the community aspect. If they are enjoying their football here, then hopefully that will encourage some decent football to come out as well.”

As for the lateral move to the South, Hook only sees it as a positive.

He added: “Where we are located, being in the North was difficult for travel. With the South, we are closer to the teams based around Surrey and the southern region.

“It creates more local derbies and will hopefully improve attendances. It can also help attract players, so, overall, it’s exciting for us to move across.”