Egerton’s open age team continue to progress in their third season in the Altrincham and District League.
After a first season in division 2 in 2008/09, the adult team, managed by Phil Ballance and his assistant Richard Wackett, narrowly missed promotion in their second season last year but now head the division 2 table thanks to a combination of age and experience.
‘’The first season was a steep learning curve’’ says Phil, ‘’but once we found our feet the team have improved almost weekly’’. The squad is coached by its centre forward Ryan Routley on Wednesday evenings. ‘’We deliberately follow the under 18 session and we have been able to play a number of the youth team. The transition to adult football has worked well’’ maintains Phil.
The majority of the adult team are former youth team players who have decided to remain loyal to Egerton having spotted the potential of a growing club and first rate facility. ‘’If we can gain promotion we want to see how far we can go and we certainly see ourselves challenging Knutsford in the Mid Cheshire League in years to come’’ says an ambitious Ballance.
The formation of a new age group at Under 18s this year has assisted progression to adult football and the overlap between both teams is underlined by the involvement of assistant Richard Wackett as manager of the 18s. ‘’We certainly want to put more juniors in the club first Xl, says Phil, ‘’but we also need the guiding experience of our professional coaches and the more experienced players’’.
The availability of a licensed bar and a TV results service after the match on Saturday has certainly helped to maintain interest and if promotion is achieved this season the Sky certainly will be the limit!