Hinshelwood: I thought this club had so much potential and keeps showing me that

At the back end of last week I caught up with Worthing FC boss Adam Hinshelwood to find out where the club is at planning for the new season and his views on the fantastic Crowdfunder appeal:

TK: How have you found the lockdown period personally, a time to reflect, to look forward or a mixture of both?

AH: Initially I think a lot of reflection and I’ve done a lot of reading and studying and now I’m looking forward and planning for the season ahead.

TK: How early did you start to plan for the new season and how far in advance were u able to plan?

AH: Just meeting this Monday to start planning out pre-season, but its hard with not having a start date to work to at present but we know pre-season will be 6 weeks so we can start getting a guide together of what it will look like from day to day.

TK: Have you had good contact with the squad from last season and how many do you expect to return?

AH: Really positive talks with all the squad from last season so far, they all seem keen and raring to go. We also need to recruit for our youth teams so it’s going to be a busy period over the next few weeks, but I am looking forward to it.

TK: How fantastic was it to see the Crowdfunder appeal reach it’s target so quickly?

AH: It was amazing to see and just highlighted to me what a great community club we are part of, it’s definitely given me a buzz to get back and I’m working hard to make sure we are better than ever when the new season kicks off.

TK: What changes do you see coming for non-league football given the financial struggles for many during this pandemic?

AH: Well, clubs are going to have to call upon their local communities to come together and support their local teams. Clubs are going to have to support local businesses, its going to be a hard time for many but the only way through it is everyone sticking and working together. Hopefully coming to a revamped Crucial Environmental Stadium will go a long way to helping everybody.

TK: Do you expect there to be a bigger pool of players available as clubs higher up the chain cut back on squad sizes?

AH: Possibly, but we like to stick to local players as much as possible and developing our own, I’m excited by the young players we have coming through.

TK: As per last summer, do you think you might lose one or two players to a higher level?

AH: Yes, I expect one for sure will be leaving us for a club a few levels higher in the pyramid, but we are quickly getting a good reputation for giving younger players an opportunity and with that we are getting good young players coming to us. It’s something as a club we are starting to become accustomed to, obviously we want to move up that pyramid ourselves and start to hold on to players instead of them leaving to further themselves.

TK: We can’t finish without mentioning the Away Day Boys, 5 years old now from creation, what do they bring to this club?

AH: It’s a following that is just growing and growing and really are the backbone of the club. There was a game against Moneyfields in the FA Cup a couple of years ago where it felt like we had taken over their ground, like a league club heading to take on a non-league outfit. It was the first time I thought this club had so much potential and it keeps on showing me that.

My thanks to Adam for sparing the time to answer these questions.