A Preview of the Upcoming Season

Wyke Wanderers Season Preview

So at last the new season is almost upon us!

Hopefully this season will be just as enjoyable and successful for all teams.

The Under 8’s will be playing friendly matches between other local teams for their first season together. They will be joined with some of the Under 7’s from the Mini Soccer School. They did very well in the U8’s League of the Wyke Wanderers Gala in June, against players a year older than themselves, so we can expect exciting things from our youngest team this season.

The Under 9’s will be taking part in their first season of competitive football this season. The two teams will be in Division I and E, which are Divisions set up with teams from the Northern side of the Huddersfield League (i.e. Bradford, Batley and Dewsbury teams). With a new Manager, in Dave Turner, and a lot of new players it will be interesting to see how both teams get on. Good luck to them!

The Under 10’s also have two teams, as they kick off their last season of Mini Soccer in the G and O Divisions. Neil Silson’s boys did the club proud last season, both managing to achieve a top 4 finish in the league. With two strong sides, Neil has the makings of a strong 11-a-side team next season. However that’s another year away yet, and the Under 10’s will be concentrating on this year, hopefully building on their success last year, to try and push their way further up the league.

The Under 11’s will be embarking upon their first season of 11-a-side this season. Steve Wakeling’s boys have been preparing for the season with lots of pre-season friendlies, whilst learning a whole new game of football. Steve’s team will be competing in the 3rd Division this season, which will see them playing against teams of a similar ability, which should provide them with a confidence boosting season, and who knows, maybe some success at the end of the year. Good luck to our 11-a-side Newbies!

The Under 12’s had a strong start to their 11-a-side campaign last season, with a steady 3rd place finish in Division 4. That success earned them promotion into the 3rd division, and with a strong start in Pre-season friendlies, John Lyons’ team could well be pushing for a second consecutive promotion. However they will have to overcome the likes of Westwood Dolphins and Rastrick (who finished above them last season) if they are to have any chance of achieving success.

The Under 13’s had a brilliant finish to the season with 13 wins out of their last 15 games, and they also managed a top half finish. They will remain in the second Division this season, but the 2nd Division has been split into 2A and 2B, with the league randomly split, with no fewer than 8 new teams joining the league from other leagues. Dave Turner and Andy Pickersgill’s boys may consider themselves fortunate to have been put in 2B, which looks slightly the easier of the two divisions. The omen’s look good for the boys, and Wyke will be looking realistically for at least a top three finish, if not a title challenge.

The Under 14’s continue to fly the flag in the first division, with 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishes in the last three years at 11-a-side, Sean Rodgers’ team will be hoping to echo their Mini Soccer successes by winning the league. Sean’s team has recently had an influx of new players and he will be hoping to finally bring the title home after coming so close in previous seasons.

The Under 15’s will be joining a very tough division next season after a fantastic promotion and title win last season. Billy Davidson will be hoping for a strong performance from his boys this year, with them joining the 1st Division for the first time in their history. However after such a strong display last season, with a 25 game unbeaten run, Billy’s team should be achieve a mid table position at minimum.

The Under 16’s will be playing their last season at Wyke as a junior team. Its been a long road of ups and downs for the team over the last ten years, but the team have had a lot of success over the last two seasons, and Steve Vickers will be hoping to continue the clubs recent traditions of Cup and League successes with the Under 16’s teams over the last four seasons.

Good luck to all our teams this season !