Warrington Town chairman on search for a new manager

After almost three years in charge, the club confirmed Beesley had resigned from his post following Saturday’s FA Cup exit at the hands of Radcliffe.

With eight points from their opening eight league matches, Town currently sit 18th in the National League North table as they seek Beesley’s successor.

Club chairman Toby Macormac sat down with our sports reporter Matt Turner to bring supporters up to date about how things move forward from here…

Chairman Toby Macormac has started the hunt for Mark Beesley's successor (Image: Darren Murphy)

MT: Just talk us through if you can how this has come about? There’s been a few rumblings of discontent among the fanbase about the start to the season but I think it’s fair to say this news has still taken a few people by surprise?

TM: I can understand that, from both views.

There’s always expectation at this club – that comes from the amount of play-off finishes we’ve had and the good times we’ve had.

People will always expect us to improve season-on-season, as I do, but we did say this season was going to be one of sustainability.

We’ve got the ground to pay for – we’ve still got ground work to do at the far end of the ground – and the new shop has opened, so the scope of the club has changed.

Whilst we’re looking to do what we did last year in terms of the table, that is the absolute priority and I felt that we didn’t start as well as we could have.

One of the things I did say in the summer was that an FA Cup run was really important, moreso in terms of the exposure with it being 10 years since our last big run.

The financial support would have been great, but that was more of a secondary – I know that sounds a bit contradictory given what I just said about sustainability, but it was all about the exposure and bigger picture for us.

It was a very abject and uninspiring performance on Saturday against what was effectively Radcliffe’s second string, because they had 10 injured players.

I did say at the season launch that if I didn’t think something was right in the club, I would change it in a heartbeat.

We sat down and tried to find a way forward but unfortunately in meetings like that, sometimes you don’t find it and people part company.

MT: So the announcement stated that Mark had resigned from his post, but was this a mutual decision?

TM: Mark felt he’d come to the end of his time here, offered his resignation and I felt we needed a change.

It was a proper mutual agreement in the terms. We had a good conversation and finished on the very best of terms.

We’ve always tried to do that with players and members of staff, and there’s nothing to say that in years to come, Mark wouldn’t come back and work at the club in the future. There’s absolutely every possibility of that.

I’ve said I’ll do all I can to help him in whichever role he lands in next.

MT: There have been a few murmurings that things may not be quite right almost since Dave Raven left at the start of the season.

Can this in anyway be linked back to that? Has this been brewing, from your point of view?

TM: I wouldn’t say it’s been brewing.

Pre-season and the season itself are two very separate things. It was my own personal view and I’ve done enough seasons here to know when a group of players are fit and when they aren’t, and I didn’t think they were.

There’d been some other instances with myself and Dave which aren’t for now, but I thought a change needed making and it was made.

The season itself is a different chapter, but we didn’t start overly well and I think it needs a change, which could reignite everyone.

On Saturday, hopefully we see a response and a different performance.

Beesley's trusted assistant manager Dave Raven left Town on the eve of the new season (Image: Sean Walsh)

MT: It is a shame in terms of how its ended because Mark has been here for eight years, first as assistant manager before taking over from Paul Carden as manager.

Given what he’s achieved, will his work at this club always be valued and remembered?

TM: Absolutely.

When you talk about the great managers of this club, Paul obviously got us to the play-offs and I always say this club would be a division higher than it is now were it not for the disgraceful “super play-off” in 2019 that kept us down.

Then Mark has taken it on, got us up and kept us there.

Football is a fast-moving, results-driven industry. It’s as black and white as that, and that’s what my thinking was.

One of my children was 10 when Mark first arrived here and she’s 18 now, so she’s grown up with Mark being here.

His achievements will always be remembered, and now we move onto the next chapter.

MT: That next chapter starts on Saturday, so how will you move on in terms of an interim solution for at least the game against Spennymoor this weekend?

TM: It’s quite easy really – Mark Canning and Nigel Keogh will take training on Tuesday and Thursday and will take the game on Saturday.

At the moment, we don’t have a game the following week unless we look to move one, so we’re in absolutely no rush to appoint anyone.

I’ve got every faith in Mark and Nigel and the players – the reaction from them has been brilliant.

There’s been no complaints, everybody is looking forward to training and looking forward to Saturday. It’s positive in the camp and I’m hoping we can take that onto the grass on Saturday afternoon.

Then it will be down to me to make the right appointment for the club.

First team coach Nigel Keogh will take interim charge of Saturday's game against Spennymoor Town alongside goalkeeper coach Mark Canning (Image: Sean Walsh)

MT: You just alluded to it there but there is a two-week break after the Spennymoor game. In an ideal world, would you look to have appointed someone in that time or is that not even a loose target?

TM: It would be nice, but I’m not putting any kind of target out there because I’m in absolutely no rush.

I’ve got every faith in the senior players and in Mark and Nigel. As a group, they can more than hold their own during this transitional period.

It’s important that we don’t lose ground in this period – it will be difficult and points can be dropped in that time, and I understand the fans will want an appointment but we can all agree that it’s not one that should be rushed and that we should take our time.

If we don’t get it right, we could end up being one of those clubs that appoints three managers in three years, and I don’t want to slip into being one of those clubs.

We need continuity and stability – you can’t work tirelessly for sustainability off the field if you don’t have it on it.

MT: It’s a pretty new thing for you as well because you haven’t really been in this situation for eight years?

TM: It is, and it’s difficult because not every manager is the same.

I am looking for a certain kind of person this time that I think can take us forward, and they have to be right for the club.

I haven’t even advertised it and we’ve already had 30-odd applicants, so there’s lots of interest.

MT: You mentioned there that you want a certain kind of person to take this on, so what kind of profile are you looking for?

TM: We need a manager that’s operated previously at National League North level. That’s the arena we’re in.

They have to have a good recruitment network but most importantly, they have to understand the club.

Rightly or wrongly, this club is run by three people – myself, my wife Lisa and James Gordon. A lot of people say that kind of structure is far too thin for a club at this level, but that’s how it is and that’s how it will be for the foreseeable.

There’s different areas of the club that are expanding like the under 18s, the under 21s and the women’s team, and the new manager has to take an interest in those areas because as a small unit, they will help take us forward.

Fans are buying into that – fans are going to watch the 18s and 21s games on a Sunday, so it shows it’s working.

They need to buy into that – that’s the kind of manager we need.

I’m not saying for any minute that we’re going to have a mass exodus of players because I don’t think we need that. I think we need somebody to come in and reinvigorate the group.

We need to look at next season as well as this because we do have players who will likely move on at the end of the season due to their age or where they’re at with this level, so we need someone who’s ahead with recruitment so we land on our feet next season.

We are in for a tough 18 months and that’s another prerequisite – whoever comes in has to understand that they will have to suffer some pain as we hit this sustainability target.

I’ve said numerous times that now we are a National League club, we have to remain one. We can’t bounce between divisions because we won’t recover.

We want to be a steadfast National League club and we need the right manager in to ensure that.

MT: That kind of message about it being a potentially painful 18 months might be a tough one for fans to hear, but would your message to them just be to stick with you?

TM: Absolutely.

The club’s not about me – it’s about the fans and the players – but I’d like to think that in my 15 years here, I’ve only really got a couple of decisions wrong, hand on heart.

Trust me to make the right decision, stick with it and if you see me on the terraces on a Saturday afternoon and want to ask me a question, I’ll always give you an answer.

I’ve said it’s going to take everybody to keep us in the National League and that includes fans whether they come to the game, follow us on socials or even from abroad.

It doesn’t matter where you follow the club from, it’s the next chapter in our history so lets write it together.