MFL Weekly Round Up (Division One and Two)

Division One

Ingles

Shaun Wilkes has stepped down as the manager of Ingles to take an opportunity with a club higher up the pyramid. It’s been an excellent two seasons for the Leicester side since joining the MFL back in the summer of 2022 with finishes of 13th (22/23) and 4th (23/24) in Division One.

Ingles thanked Shaun Wilkes for his two and half years with the club and for helping them become an established step six side under his watch.  

Ingles are looking at announcing a new manager over the next few days and it will be interesting to see who they recruit.

The timing of the appointment is a positive as it gives them a good amount of time to prepare for the new season and for the start of the pre-season schedule in early July.    

​If they get it right, they should be capable of finishing in the play offs like last season.  

Cradley Town

The Hammers have announced their management team of Aaron Morris, Andrew Thompson and Matt Clarke will be staying for the upcoming season. It was an excellent season for Cradley Town throughout 23/24 with a top half finish and they came close to a play off place.

They improved on last season’s finish of 16th with a 7th place finish in 23/24 and there making notable progress in step six.

Keeping the management team in place is a huge positive and they could be dark horses for the play offs if they can bring in the right players to add to a good squad over the summer.   

The foundations are in place for the Hammers to challenge next season which should give supporters hope going into 24/25.  

Shawbury United

It’s been an excellent week for Shawbury United who won the TJ Vickers Cup on Monday evening with a 1-0 win against Shifnal Town at the New Bucks Head. The win caps off an excellent season for the Shropshire side who secured a top half finish in MFL Division One. 

Alongside progress being made on the pitch under manager Richard Brown, there’s also been progress off the pitch with plans for a new ground. The new floodlights are being installed this week which signals an exciting future for the club.

They could be one of the teams to watch at step six going into next season.  

​Division Two

Littleton

Littleton have responded to the resignation of Adam Parker last week with the appointment of Andy Robbins as their new manager. It’s been a tough season for the Tonboys at step seven who were relegated from division two last week. It was a brilliant effort, but they fell marginally short of safety by a point to Bolehall Swifts who finished in 14th.

Glen Brotherton and Andy Mason will also be part of Andy Robbins’ management team for the 24/25 season.

It’s an excellent move by the Tonboys to bring back a manager who has played such a big part in the history of the club. He was the manager at Littleton from 1998 to 2016 and got them promoted all the way to step six when he left. 

He’s got a track record of developing players and moving them on to the next level down the years with the successes of Joe Lolley and Matt Smith standing out. 

Having momentum can go a long way in non-league and this appointment gives them a good chance of bouncing back for the 24/25 season.   

Fairfield Villa

Fairfield have announced that GJ Singh will remain in charge of the Swans going into next season at step eight. It’s been a challenging season for the Worcester club, and they were relegated from division two last week four points adrift of safety.

None the less, they have responded well to the setback and are making the right moves to challenge for promotion next season. Keeping GJ Singh as manager is a smart move and having that stability will give them a good chance of bouncing back.  

The club are excellent on twitter, and they put out a post earlier in the week stating they want to challenge for promotion next season and how they will be looking to develop players which is encouraging.

Similar to Littleton, having that continuity is huge in adapting to the challenges of step eight.

Round up feature written by Rhys Beardmore for the Midland Football League