Tigers ready to roar

Having evolved massively as a team last year, Hyde United are eager to return to play and supporters can look forward to the new season with enthusiasm. 

Tigers manager Dave McGurk worked relentlessly with the team last season, taking them from strength to strength and creating a successful squad ahead of the planned full season this year. 

“We tried to evolve last season and from the first day I started to the last day of the season I felt like the team had evolved to the point where we had better footballers on the pitch and now, we’ve got a pitch that suits us in terms of playing good football. 

“I’m not going to promise an all-out attack play as that’s not going to be the case in every game, but we will aim for that. Now we have an established team, and we don’t have to rip everything up and start again which we’ve had to do in the past. 

“We’ve got a team and a squad in place now,” he said. 

After composing this strong team last year, the club have decided to keep the majority of their players from last season and build upon their current strengths. However, the club have signed one new addition to the club and are looking forward to testing their play once pre-season begins. 

Pre-season for the team is set to begin on June 15 and McGurk says that the team will be eased into training after having such a long time away from the sport.

“The lads are going to have a couple of weeks easing into it and the real work will start around June 29 which will programme us to be ready for games to begin. My job between now and then is bringing in those players and confirming the team from last season,” he says. 

During this extended period away from the game, Hyde United have been able to maintain their stunning ground, aided by the work of their fantastic volunteers. 

“We’ve got brilliant volunteers here so they are constantly maintaining the ground and the pitch is in use every day with the education and the academy, so the stadium is not dormant.

“I’d imagine every pitch in the country when we do go back should be in immaculate condition and we’ve got no concern for this, we have an unbelievable facility for this level and because of that we can hire it out on a day-to-day basis, which does give us revenue as well,” Dave says. 

Having been a huge football fan since childhood, McGurk has missed the atmosphere of the fans at games, with that being one of the most attractive features of the game for him. 

“There will be definitely more fans that will come through the doors because they’ll have missed it so much. I’m thankful we didn’t get put in a position where we had to play in front of no fans because I don’t think I’ll have been involved in football as much as I have if the fans weren’t there.

“My addiction to football as a kid was going to games and watching the fans. I’ve really missed that, and I haven’t watched a lot of the premier league because I found it difficult without the fans. 

“I don’t feel like it has the same emotion to it without the fans and if we can get a couple hundred on the gates when we return to play, that will make a massive difference to the club,” he says.