Craig Rouse hopes to replicate his Pontefract Collieries journey at Worksop Town

Craig Rouse gets his message across the players.

Rouse took a trip down memory lane to reflect on the duo’s experience which brought success during their time at Pontefract Collieries.

Rouse helped turn a club in turmoil into a side that took the Northern Counties East League by storm, helping the Colls to back-to-back promotions before being on the cusp of promotion to the Northern Premier Division.

The assistant manager explained: “It was late on in that relegation season when we got the job; the place was low on confidence and the budget had gone.

Craig Rouse and Craig Parry on the Tigers bench. Pic by Lewis Pickersgill.

“It was just about keeping a group of players together to be able to field a team and players were drifting away; we finished the season being relegated.

“The job from the summer was to rebuild the squad and rebuild the club. We put a competitive side on the pitch, and we finished second and was promoted with an entirely new team which was a new experience for us.

“We then went into the NCEL Premier Division and we used the experience gained at the back of our first season where we grasped an idea of side’s styles and we knew where we needed to improve upon from Division One.

“We tried to attack teams and we got off to a good start and we finished with a record points total and a record number of goals scored, and we tried to keep that momentum going.

“We made a few signings and adapted a few things and we pushed on and finished second behind Morpeth Town, who ran away with the league, but again we were the top scorers in the division.

“We got to a playoff final, but we were not good enough on the day and Brighouse [Town] won the game.

“The next season, we vowed to come back stronger and we were in the title race up until the Covid interruption – now we find ourselves here at Worksop.”

And Rouse is now determined to bring success to his new club.

He continued: “You look at the setup and the people around the club and the support and the volunteers and the work they all do deserves success – we want to be the ones who provide that.”

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