Marsden FC is a club back from the brink of going out of existence. With little optimism around the place and fresh ideas badly needed the club committee asked Huddersfield Town Women’s goalkeeping coach and UEFA-qualified Luke Haigh to take over as manager.
Golcar born and bred, the new boss wants to emulate what his home village has achieved and build a successful community football club both on and off the field.
Haigh, 35, has seen the success of Golcar United and is ready to create that same mentality at Marsden FC but he wants to do it his own way.
Marsden was founded in 1907 and has been playing in the Huddersfield & District Football League. However Haigh believes the club should be put back on the map and is determined to get them there. However he knows it will take a great deal of hard work and dedication from everyone at the club.
He said: “When I was asked to join the club last year it was in a bad way, I have to be honest. There was no direction for the players and while the club has terrific facilities there was no drive or optimism.
“It was close to going out of business and that would have been a real shame as it’s a fantastic, proud club which has well over 110 years of history.
“I’ve been very honest since joining and the committee back me 100% which is good. The facilities we have are good, they just need touching up here and there. Then we need to get the squad sorted.
“The first thing I told the committee was we need to get out of the Huddersfield & District League, as it will be a struggle to attract the kind of players I want at this club.
“So we applied to be in the Yorkshire Amateurs Association Football League, which is Step 7 of the football pyramid. We got the call a few weeks ago to say we had been accepted into the league which was brilliant news.”
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The Town Women’s coach explained how he wants to change the squad at Marsden and said: “Whilst the club had a big squad it sometimes only had eight players available for games due to injuries.
“It was an ageing squad so I’ve brought in some younger lads and been able to move things around. I will be having tough conversations with players over the next few weeks.
“I want to build a squad here which can play football in the right way on the deck with flowing movement. We are talking to new players all the time and there has been lots of interest in playing for the club of late.
“In fact I have been told that we had so much interest we are talking about setting a second team up which, from where we were a few months back, is just unbelievable. “
Haigh appreciates what former Marsden bosses, now Golcar joint managers, Ash and Gav Connor (above) have built at the Skye Direct Stadium, but believes if things go well at Marsden FC that success could be replicated.
He said: “Golcar have set the standard for what every club wants to achieve and be. Ash and Gav have done a great job and built a club from the ground up.
“What I would say is I think we are starting at an even lower base, Marsden locally is a sleeping giant and we want to wake this club up. We can build something just as special in this village as they have there.”
Haigh has worked at various levels inside football clubs including being head of recruitment for Liverpool FC at under 16 level across the whole of Yorkshire less than two years ago.
He’s also worked in a number of academies across the country and is well respected at that level. Having proved an asset to Town Women in a coaching capacity he now wants to make a true impact at Marsden FC.
“I have talked to Huddersfield Town Women and said my plans at Marsden won’t interfere with the job I do there. Both sides play and train on different nights which is good. I think my wife will kill me for taking this on but it’s something I’m very passionate about and I want to help the club build a solid foundation.”
Having brought in his own coaching staff, who also work at the Town Women, Haigh has trusted people around him to make an impact at Marsden straight away.
So what are his immediate targets? “I’d love to say let’s go and win the league, but I think first of all we need get a squad together that’s ready to be competitive and slowly build things from there.
“It’s going to be hard work. However, if we get this right, we can put Marsden back on the map and back where they deserve to be. I am determined with my other coaches to get the club really going again and make a success of things here.”
