Rhyl clinch runners-up spot
RHYL ended the Huws Gray Alliance season in second...
Nomads finish the season in style
CROWNED as Huws Gray Alliance champions last weekend,...
Conwy United name change approved
CONWY United have had a name change to Conwy Borough...
| Uncertain future for Welshpool |
| Monday 08 November 2010 |
 MEMBERS of the Welsh Premier League last season, but now 19 points adrift at the bottom of the Huws Gray Alliance, Welshpool face an uncertain future.The resignation of manager Mike Barton after just a month at the helm has sparked an emergency meeting tonight, and the postponement of Tuesday night's scheduled league visit to Penrhyncoch. General manager Liam Pritchard had informed Barton to advise his players to look for new clubs, but says that was only a recommendation to tonight's meeting in a bid to buy time to secure the club's long term future. "This club is far from dead," Pritchard says. "Any decision to withdraw from the league is not mine to make unilaterally. I will put it to the committee, if they agree then we'll shift our focus to preparing for next season. If not, I will continue to implement the decisions of the committee as usual. "However, I do believe that, on balance, based on a number of issues I'll be informing the committee of on Monday night, if we find ourselves in the position where we cannot fulfil fixtures then, to avoid continued fines, futher points deductions and repeated bad publicity, it would be best to withdraw from the league altogether. "This would mean having to start from the very bottom again but I don't see that as a bad thing and don't think the club should either. "We have the infastructure and fundraising in place to be a real force in that league. I know it sounds arrogant but I believe that we will acheive three successive promotions and reach the Mid Wales League Division 1 very quickly, which is where we're going to be next season anyway. "The way we are at the moment, our supporters are breaking their backs raising funds and they're just being swallowed up by running costs, there's no room to breathe or forward plan." Pritchard denies the future of the club is in the balance. "I feel that taking the hit now and ripping the plaster off will see the club emerge much stronger and better equipped to deal with football at this level," he added. "We'll almost certainly never be a Welsh Premier League club again, but I feel in the future we can compete at the right end of the Cymru Alliance." Photo: Liam Pritchard with his previous incarnation, TNS mascot Spot the Dog. |