“I DON’T ever want to be in that position again, but was it brilliant!”
That’s the view of Pickering Town manager Rudy Funk after the Ryedale outfit avoided relegation on the final day of the Ebac Northern League division one season after a remarkable finish.
Propping up the division with just two weeks of the campaign remaining, the Pikes completed what many had deemed a “mission impossible” to avoid a second successive relegation after picking up 10 points from their final four fixtures.
Pickering had to win their final match to stay afloat, and they did just that, striker Keelan Grist netting twice to secure the all-important 2-1 victory over West Auckland Town.
Whilst Funk, who has spent the majority of his 23 years in management leading teams at the top end of the table, wishes not to be in such a tense relegation battle again, he admits that he will seldom forget the emotions of joy and relief on the full-time whistle.
“That season just gone must be one of the most nervy and nailbiting ones that I have ever experienced,” he told The Gazette & Herald.
“Every mistake that we made only made it more exciting, and by the end of the season we were towering above everyone else in terms of form.
“I’ve never in all my life experienced anything like it - the relief, the joy, it was just fantastic.
“It was absolutely breathtaking, and I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s just given everyone a lift.
“Everybody at the club was brilliant, from the players, to the people on the gate, all the volunteers and cleaners.
“My wife said to me, ‘I can live with you when you’re up near the top of the table, but not when you’re at the bottom’,” he laughed.
“It was a real mission impossible!
“I never doubted anyone that we could stay up. If you have that self belief and be positive, it can only be beneficial.”
Next season, though, brings with it a new challenge for the Pikes in the Toolstation Northern Counties East League premier division, in which they will face North Yorkshire rivals Tadcaster Albion and Knaresborough Town.
The Pikes’ last season in the NCEL ended with promotion in 2018, and Funk is confident in his ability to ensure a repeat performance.
“There’s not many people who know the NCEL better than me,” he explained.
“It’s my home from home, and there’s not many people more qualified than me to lead a team in it.
“If I promise something this season, to me, it’s promotion.
“I’m not hanging about in that, and Pickering is a great club that deserves to be back in the Northern Premier League.
“It’s been a fantastic learning curve in the Northern League, and very eye-opening, but I feel like they made a mistake putting us there last season because of where we are."
He conceded: “It was a really hard season, but we just got on with it.
“We had to sign a lot of players from the North East, because we couldn’t look at our usual talent pool of players from areas like Scarborough, Leeds or York.
“We lost players last season, but I think that we won’t lose many this year.
“Everyone knows the Northern League and knows that it’s of a good standard.
“It was really, really tough for us, but over the last seven or 10 games everything just started falling into place.
“I knew that we’d have a great finale, but what a finale it was!”
Funk is appreciative of the messages of support that he has received from the Northern League, but is now looking forward to leaving his mark on the club.
Pickering’s fans and residents are invited to a meeting at the club’s Mill Lane home at 7pm this evening, in which he will set out his plans for their future.
“At every club I’ve been at, I’ve left a legacy,” he stated.
“A huge change has to come here at Pickering.
“That’s why we’re having a big meeting with the community.
“There’s a different outlook to come. I want to know ‘what can our club do to help the local community’.
“We’re doing everything that we can do to make this club a community, and that starts tonight.”
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