Pickering Town's pre-season 'a million times better', says chairman

The Pikes begin their NCEL Premier Division season at Frickley Athletic on Saturday (3pm), hoping to improve on a disappointing 19th-placed finish last campaign.

But with an influx of new players, a friendly against former Premier League side Bradford City, and a new stadium at partners Flamingo Land on the cards, things certainly paint a different picture one year into the chairman’s tenure.

“Pre-season is a million times better than last season when I first took over as chairman of the club,” Hopwood told the Gazette & Herald. “There’s been nothing but a lot of positives.

"There’s been some really good new faces that have come into the squad with a lot of energy, and pre-season training has gone really well.

“The guys are so far looking pretty good fitness-wise, there have been a couple of holidays – obviously we’re in that holiday period – and we like the lads to take them as soon as they can with the first game being early again.”

Pickering’s pre-season has been somewhat of a mixed bag, with the abandonment of their high-ticket clash with Bradford sandwiched by a 12-0 hammering of Beckett League side Sinnington, and 5-1 defeat to Billingham Synthonia, alongside losses to both Yarm & Eaglescliffe and Northallerton Town.

But Hopwood warns supporters not to read too much into those results, for pre-season is solely for manager Tony Hackworth to scope out his players.

“With regards to the Bradford game, a lot of people see the 1-0 result to us, but pre-season is an opportunity for the manager to have a look at some of the younger academy players,” he explained.

“I know Tony’s been putting in a couple of 16 and 17-year-olds, and it’s always interesting to get feedback from local people in the community on this result and that result.

“But although it’s nice to see wins on the board, you’re playing very different squads week in, week out, and obviously Tony does that to see who we might start at the beginning of the season.

“It’s always a funny one pre-season results-wise. But looking beyond that, things have been pretty good.” 

A poor run of results at the end of the season saw Pickering slump to a second-last finish in the NCEL Premier Division last time out. (Image: Ellen Thornton)

The Pikes now have a picture of just what their season could have in store, with the NCEL’s full fixture lists released on Monday evening.

A busy opening month pits them against Golcar United, Goole, Knaresborough Town, Hallam and Winterton Rangers, alongside clashes with Penrith and Newcastle Benfield in the opening rounds of the FA Cup and FA Vase competitions.

October begins with a derby against North Yorkshire rivals Tadcaster Albion before home games against Bradford-based pair Thackley and Albion Sports, whilst their 2024 home campaign concludes against Winterton on December 21 – their only home game that month.

Trips to Albion Sports, Campion and Thackley are then on the cards in February before four home matches in five close out the season, which will end against Eccleshill United at Mill Lane on April 5.

Despite the Pikes having slumped to a second-last placing after a poor run of results at the end of the campaign, Hopwood was not disappointed, but feels there has been a lot of progress made since.

The chairman admitted: “My goal to Tony last year was very clear, finish 19th and above, and I’m happy only one went down. 

“But it was a lot closer than we’d have liked and the last four weeks were pretty nerve-wracking at times.

“This year, we've had to start from scratch with a complete rebuild of where we were with the squad and atmosphere with the club last year from start to finish. Every week was demotivating the camp and the atmosphere in the changing room was not positive.

“There was a lot of nervousness around, a lot of changes week in, week out, and three or four different names on the team-sheet in a lack of consistency.

“But the squad atmosphere now is brilliant. Even with fresh faces the squad are getting on well and there’s a good mood in camp, which helps definitely on the pitch, especially with it being a team sport. 

“Everyone’s working with each other, from the manager to players, and even to the academy lads and we’re starting to get to what we want to achieve. We win or lose together, and we’re getting there.

“I’ve fingers and toes crossed that we can get off to a positive start. The games come thick and fast with the league and cup games – for the first five weeks, we’re going to be playing twice a week.

“But we’re hoping for a pretty strong start.”