WOKINGHAM AND EMMBROOK will have a new chairman from next season after a massive shake-up at the club.
Steve Williams, the current head of the youth section committee, is set to step up to lead both the youngsters and seniors with Sumas aiming to adopt a new ‘one club’ philosophy.
The move has been prompted by the resignations of long-serving club members Mark Ashwell and Graham Tabor, who operated as president and chairman respectively, while first team manager Clive McNelly has opted for a career change, taking over as owner of The White Horse Pub on the Easthampstead Road.
Vice chairman Neil van den Dungen and treasurer Jane Rance have also stepped down with a host of names from the youth section continuing in the dual roles.
And Williams, who also runs a Sumas Under-15s side, feels now is a good moment to make some changes.
“I think it was just the right time,” Williams told The Wokingham Paper.
“The main change was Clive leaving to run a pub as a career move, which takes up a lot of his time and means he can’t do a lot of the stuff at the club.
“Having a full-time job and running a football team, as I do myself with the U15s, is difficult enough.
“Running a pub and a football team is virtually impossible because your peak working hours are when the team will be training and playing football.
“I think it’s like the end of an era and it prompted the others to say, it’s time to step down.
“So we took the decision that we would just go back to being one club, Wokingham and Emmbrook FC, rather than split into senior and youth sections.”
Jonathan Hales moves into a vice chairman role having previously played a key part in the youth committee.
And Williams says the history of the club has also encouraged promoting from within.
“When I joined Sumas my eldest son was eight and he’s now 23,” explained Williams.
“Graham Tabor was the youth section then he stepped up and Neil van den Dungen became the youth section chairman.
“Then Neil stepped up and I became vice chairman and then chairman. So there’s been a lot of succession there.
“Neil has certainly said he’s happy to carry on. We’ve got a lot going on already within the youth section with 40 plus side, so in terms of actually running the teams and dealing with that side of it, we will need to bring people in.”
One area that will soon need addressing is that of the first team manager post.
First team coach Jamie Shepherd is expected to stay involved while Jack Herridge, son of Binfield boss Roger, stepped into the breach last week for the Reading Senior Cup quarter-final victory over Henley Town when McNelly was unavailable.
But Williams would not be drawn on who might take the job permanently, but says there are plenty of candidates.
“Jamie is staying on and we’ll be looking for people to help him,” he said.
“I think there’s a number of names in the hat that have stepped forward saying yes, I’d like to be involved. But there’s nobody I could say yet until they’ve said ‘yes’ definitely.
“We don’t want to bandy names around and then it turns out that they’re not going to do it.”
He added: “Clive’s done a great job and Matt (Eggleston) and Dan (Bateman) did a great job before him.
“We’re not hoping for a mass exodus.
“Personally I’m certainly not going to be the one that gets involved in picking players and choosing who plays in the reserves or the first team.
“I’m sure that during the summer we’ll be having trials and advertising and getting people along to hopefully keep it all going and improve it.”
Despite taking on this added responsibility of four senior sides, including those competing in Sunday leagues, Williams is keen to retain a strong focus on the younger teams.
And he hopes players within the borough will soon see a clear pathway from youth to adult football with the Sumas.
“We want to have a senior section which a lot of the local clubs don’t have for our players to aspire to,” said the new chairman.
“It’s a challenge.
“We’ve got about 36 players at U15s who will move through to U18s and then a lot of them will go off to university and do other things. But a number of them, if they enjoy their
football, will want to move on to adult football.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why we would like to bring the Sunday teams in house because they could be at a level where some of our younger players could step up into.
“If you talk to ex-Sumas boss Roger Herridge, they will say that a lot of the players that came through when he was there we players that came through the youth section.
“That’s what it’s all about.
“You don’t want your players clearing off when they get to a certain level and saying ‘I’ve played for Wokingham since I was U7 and now I’m off to play for Finchampstead or Ascot or Bracknell.
“You want them to be able to aspire to something.”
