Pic: Stocksbridge Park Steels FC
STOCKSBRIDGE PARK STEELS have rewarded manager Chris Hilton by handing him a deal that will keep him at the club until the end of next season.
Hilton took the Steels job in the summer of 2014 following a successful spell as boss of Northern Counties East League outfit Worsbrough Bridge Athletic.
Stocksbridge finished 17th in the Evo-Stik NPL Division One South in Hilton’s first season but this campaign has been a much more fruitful one.
They are ninth in the league and five points adrift of the play-offs ahead of Saturday’s trip to bottom club Tividale and Steels have already surpassed their points total from last season.
Hilton’s men also made it to the FA Trophy first round for the first time in the club’s history before losing to National League side Gateshead – a run that netted the club £14,000.
The Steels’ improvement has led to a contract for Hilton until the end of the 2016-17 season and he told the club’s website, www.stocksbridgeps.com: “It’s always appreciated to be wanted at a club, so I was only too happy to sign when I was offered a contract.
“I’m enjoying my time here, everyone from the chairman to the secretary and the committee have been very supportive since the day I walked in the door.
“I said when I arrived here it would taken time to build a squad capable of challenging for promotion. We are by no means the finished article, we’re still very much work in progress.
“But I firmly believe we are on the right track and with everyone pulling together we can hopefully get this club back to the Premier Division.”
Chairman Allen Bethel added: “We have a very good relationship with Chris and we share the same aims. We’ve had a good season irrespective of whether we get in the play-offs or not. Everyone can see the improvement in the team has made under Chris.”
