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Hopes for bright new era as Guisborough Town appoint well-respected local man as new Club Chairman

Guisborough Town FC are delighted to announce the appointment of a new Chairman to spearhead the Club’s drive to ensure a better and more secure future after battling successfully through one of the most difficult periods in the history of the club in recent months.

The new man at the helm is Dr Stephen Hill, 41, who has excellent credentials both from an academic, career and footballing point of view and he has a clear vision of how he intends to take the club forward to future prosperity and success.

Guisborough-born Stephen is a highly-qualified Scientist and Lecturer with three awards for outstanding achievement to his name already – and has been strongly involved with local football from grass-roots level upward since his childhood.

Stephen enjoys immensely the coaching aspect of football and is currently working his way up the FA Coaching Badge programme and he already holds the FA Level 1 Coaching Certificate, although ongoing problems with arthritis have limited further progress.

He currently manages the recently-formed Under-9 ‘B’ team which is part of the vibrant and thriving Guisborough Town Junior Section and as a sign of his great love for and commitment to youth football he hopes to continue with this involvement alongside his challenging new Chairman’s role. 

In a playing career as a goalkeeper which was sadly cut prematurely short by persistent injury and health problems, he played for several local East Cleveland teams including North Skelton, Marske Under-18s Boosbeck and the Hollybush Hotel.

“Unfortunately, I was getting too many injuries and eventually had to choose between either furthering my footballing ambitions or developing my career aspirations, the latterly of which clearly had to take precedence for my own longer term future and that of my family,” commented Stephen.

He is married with a young family of two daughters and a son. He is also a keen gardener and allotment holder and a committee member of the local Allotment Association. Although born in Guisborough, Stephen has always lived in the East Cleveland areas of Skelton Green, Skelton and Boosbeck.

During his early working career he spent some 18 years with former chemical giants ICI in a variety of job roles. This helped Stephen build up an excellent portfolio of skills, knowledge and experience in the chemical industry. 

Following an intense period of change and massive re-structuring in the chemical industry, Stephen took a major career change into academia and currently works as a Chemistry and Chemical Engineering lecturer at Redcar and Cleveland College. He also is seconded two days a week as a Regional ‘STEM’ (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Advisor for Colleges and Skills Providers throughout the North East region.

Stephen said of his appointment:  “I feel I have a natural drive and a strong determination to succeed, which should stand me in good stead to help take Guisborough Football Club forwards.  A key part of my future plans will be to continue to grow the club’s junior section, which is the lifeblood for the longer term, and I also want the club to work even more closely with the local community than it already does.

“Of course, one of the most crucial and pressing tasks will be to improve the club’s financial footing and stability, particularly in the light of recent well-publicised problems which we have experienced.”

He continued: “I would like to stress that the current Club Committee has done a fantastic job under very difficult circumstances, but there is still a lot of work to be completed in the short to medium terms to improve the club’s legal and financial position and to work towards sound stability and overall sustainability.

“Once this is achieved and firm foundations have been put in place, we can then start to build and focus more on our future aims and aspirations to move the club onwards and upwards.  We are planning to develop a five-year development blueprint for the club which will reflect and incorporate the thoughts, ideas and views of as many Club officials, members and supporters as possible,” added Stephen

A magnificent milestone was achieved at Guisborough Town’s King George V ground on Saturday when the Priorymen’s 2-1 victory over Penrith marked the 100^th competitive Town win for first team boss Chris Hardy since he took over the managerial reins early in 2008.

Chris (or ‘Chardy’ as he is affectionately nicknamed by people at the KGV) is now in his fifth season at Guisborough, having started his career with the club as assistant manager in November 2007 – ironically against last Saturday’s opponents Penrith in an Ernest Armstrong Cup game which resulted in the same scoreline 2-1 – but in the Cumbrian side’s favour on that occasion.

Since then Chardy has been in charge of almost 200 first team competitive games – so his 100^th first team victory on Saturday represents a tremendous success strike rate by any standards.

For the record, Chardy’s Guisborough tally so far is: Played 196, won 100, drawn 33, lost 63.

Chardy seems to be developing a canny knack of chalking up significant match milestones – during his most successful managerial season to date last year he not only steered the team to promotion back to the Northern League First Division, he also celebrated his 150^th game in charge of Guisborough by winning the North Riding County Senior Cup Final 1-0 against fierce local derby rivals Marske United.

Commenting on Saturday’s milestone victory against Penrith, with two goals by Jamie Poole clinching the win for Town, Chardy said: “Last weekend’s win was very pleasing for a couple of reasons – firstly and most importantly for putting another three points on the board and move that step closer to consolidating Northern League Division One football for next season.

“Secondly – as it has been pointed out to me – this game marked the 100th winning game for Guisborough throughout my time in charge. When reaching any milestone there’s a certain level of satisfaction to be had, as happened last season in winning the North Riding Senior Cup against Marske United on my 150th game. I suppose it shows a couple of things – that goals and achievements are being reached, while on flip side you continue to get that little bit older!”

Chardy added: “My thoughts on the direction of the team at the moment are very positive – it’s taken over four seasons of literally blood, sweat and tears and I’m not exaggerating when I say that we are now proving to be a very good footballing side, playing at the highest level.

“I know this is a development path that we are on and creating solid foundations both on and off the field is of the utmost importance.  The progress that has been made at the club makes me believe the future is very bright and all involved with Guisborough Town Football Club have lots to look forward to.”

Prior to joining Guisborough, Chardy had previous coaching roles with Bishop Auckland and Thornaby as well as local team Thornaby Athletic.

Chardy has demonstrated he has a very keen eye for spotting potential young players and developing them into Northern League footballers and creating a team that plays attractive, consistent football. 

His first win as Guisborough manager was in February 2008 when Town thumped Team Northumbria away 5-1.  His first home team victory was 2-1 against Crook Town in April 2008. His first signing for Guisborough was Luke Bythway, who is still with Town, demonstrating the loyalty Chardy gets from his players.

Other notable achievements during his career so far with Guisborough include memorable victories in the successful FA Vase cup run in 2008/09 season – 5-0 against Pontefract and 6-3 away at Armthorpe Welfare, which earned Town the ‘Team of the Round’ accolade.  In the following season Town defeated Scarborough Athletic 2-1 then Wakefield in a great FA Cup run when they were drawn against teams considered to be playing a higher level.

Town’s biggest wins under Chardy include 9-1 against Morpeth in February 2011 and 8-1 against Washington two months later, which helped seal promotion back to the top flight in the Northern League.

Meanwhile, the win against Penrith on Saturday was also very special for new Guisborough Town Chairman Dr Stephen Hill, whose appointment was confirmed the night before at an Extraordinary General Meeting at the KGV clubhouse.

Steve commented:  “I was absolutely delighted to see my Chairmanship get off to a winning start, so full marks to Chardy, his assistants and the team itself for that. I am confident this will be the first of many successes for the club both on and off the field.”

Meanwhile, forthcoming Guisborough home games at the KGV stadium in the next week are:

Wednesday, 29 February – Guisborough Town v Shildon (kick-off 7.30pm)

Saturday, 3 March – Guisborough Town v Tow Law Town (kick-off 3pm)

Wednesday, 7 March – Guisborough Town v West Auckland (kick-off 7.30pm)

Wed, 7th Guisborough Town v West Auckland Town

Sat, 10th Spennymoor Town v Guisborough Town

Wed, 14th Guisborough Town v Spennymoor Town  League Cup 3rd Round

Sat, 17th Guisborough Town v Sunderland RCA

Tue, 20th Whitley Bay v Guisborough Town

Sat, 24th Bedlington Terriers v Guisborough Town

Tue, 27th Penrith v Guisborough Town

Sat, 31st Guisborough Town v Norton & Stockton Ancients

Town currently lie 15^th in the table and will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing midweek home defeat against Middlesbrough in the North Riding Senior Cup semi-final tie last Wednesday.

Three of the four upcoming home league games are against sides either just above or below Town in the table – apart from the clash with current league leaders and title favourites West Auckland – so team manager Chris Hardy and his squad are hoping to lift themselves towards mid-table respectability.

Saturday’s visitors Penrith have already been beaten twice by Guisborough so far this season – in the FA Vase and the Northern League Cup – so the Cumbrians will be going all out to avenge those defeats.

GOOD OMEN?

The last time Town had a glut of home games – five in a row back in October and November last year – it proved very productive with three wins against Birtley, Spennymoor and Jarrow Roofing and a draw with Bedlington Terriers. The only defeat in that home run was against Newton Aycliffe, right in the middle of the back-to-back sequence.

So Town will be hoping that excellent performance will be a good omen for the forthcoming run of home games. 

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The other games coming up at the KGV stadium in the next fortnight are:

Wednesday, 29 February – Guisborough Town v Shildon (kick-off 7.30pm)

Saturday, 3 March – Guisborough Town v Tow Law Town (kick-off 3pm)

Wednesday, 7 March – Guisborough Town v West Auckland (kick-off 7.30pm)

The West Auckland match will be eagerly anticipated, with the table-topping visitors also hot favourites to win this season’s national FA Vase competition, after impressive recent victories in both league and Vase games over keen rivals Whitley Bay