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In vain -PAGE 70
Thursday, LAWSON AXED! By Adrian Capstick
TOMMY Lawson was relieved of his duties as manager of Clitheroe Football Club earlier tliis week. The shock decision to sack the
manager was made at Monday’s committee meeting, citing a combi nation of the first team’s lack of league success since mid-October, teamed with the club no longer being able to sustain Lawson’s “relatively high salary”. The 10-man committee came to a
dFficult decision, voting seven to one with one abstaining and the chair man’s casting vote not being needed. There were apparently several
items of discussion, one sticking point being the uneven distribution of pay cuts Lawson had issued ance the first team was asked to take a reduction in expenses.
. However what has changed
between now and then is not enSf^ ly clear! ■
The reason for Lawson’s d is ra i^
has been put squarely at his lacS^of ■ success in the league since vici35ry against Chorley on October
ISth.ir, Just one win in 10 games has'Seen ^ recorded and the side has dropjjedte ‘ 15th in the league. . ■ • However in that time the
dra\vn four of those games ani £10,000 in cup prize money nobody denies has kept the'' afloat. • . And had they won on Sati
'kt;;,
the play-offs. : Value for money is the major
point', though. Three weeks ago Lawson was asked to reduce the budget by a set amount. However the pay cuts were not distributed equ^ly, which apparently has led to some unrest in the dressing room. Lawson was also originally taken
on by the former chairman on the understanding that he would be paid 52 weeks of the year, not just during the season, and this had not been renegotiated. This, added to the fact that Neil
Reynolds-one of Chtheroe’s longest serving players and one of the few local lads left at the club - followed others and agreed to seek a first team place elsewhere, acted as a cat alyst to the committee’s decision. Admittedly injuries had plagued
Lawson’s selections since November, but supporters had questioned whether it was acceptable to have injured players naihed as substitutes - on the bench on more than one occa sion, leaving Clitheroe playing with less than 11 fit players.
' V ^ Acting chairman Carl Gamer and
the committee’s full statement reads as follows: “I t was unanimously ■ decided at a committee meeting on Monday night that the club would be relieving manager Tommy Law- son of his duties. “As acting chairman I was given
against Gresley rather than tl ^ . ing away a two goal lead to d raw ^ ; 3, this decision probably wouldn^'" have been taken. • : -.i ■ - .;:“s-y, . ; I t isn’t all doom and gloom either -
as,, with three games in hand, . Clitheroe have the potential to reach eighth in the league - two places off.
sj' the task of informing Tommy and I have to say it was the most difficult phonecalllhave ever had to make. ■ “After lengthy discussions, the
committee decided results on the ■ field since last October- in which time the club won just once in 10 league games - has seen the side slip' from championship contenders to hovering just above the relegation
zone, which, allied to Tommy’s rela tively high ^ a r y aw ^ ed to him by the former chair and vice chair, we are no longer in a positipn to sustain. “It was felt it was the right time to
take this decision in order to give the next manager a fair and realistic chance to make his mark on the squad this season, given the number of games left and the time needed to register players. “After all the hard work behind
the scenes, the recent decline on the pitch has given cause for concern and it is imperative that we protect our UniBond status at Clitheroe. “To that end, an executive com
mittee has been formed to draw up a shortlist to make approaches to those candidates selected. 'We will not be advertising the post, and as with everything, we are thinking long term and we are looking to appoint a young manager Mth good awareness of the Lancashire non- league scene. “We would like to personally
thank Tommy for all his efforts at Clitheroe. He is a great lad arid I am sure he will soon be offered another position elsewhi^e. ‘As for Blues supporters, these
young players have never needed your backing more than now, please get behind them. •. “We hope to make an appoint
ment as soon as possible. The jour ney of Clitheroe Football Club con-
• tinues, we hope to make it a prosper- OUSOne.”
Understandably this decision was,
a total surprise to Lawson as he defended his actions: “I was disap pointed and shocked. The last thrre games have seen us play champi onship contenders. 'We more than held our own against Colwyn Bay
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I B e tte r s o u n d throu gh research* HARRY GARLICK IM for a draw, narrowly lost to Kendal
■ and had victory snatched away from us by Gresley. “The injury list has been a prob
lem and the reason we havn’t played games was we were earning money in the cup runs which helped sustain the club - you can’t have it both ways.” “We all accepted cuts, players,
. management and medical staff. Cuts to expenses was a joint thing.” He added: “I honestly didn’t see
this coming. I had been prepared to come to the meeting to make people aware of what was going on regard ing the team and the reasons behind my decisions.” Lawson received a phone call ask
ing him to resign or be relieved of his position, the manner of which he thought was very unprofessional: “He asked me to resign but I said I wouldn’t walk away as people would have the ^v^ong impression. It would have looked better for me not getting sacked but that wouldn’t have been the truth and I have nothing to be ashamed of.” Garner retorted: “This decision
wasn’t taken lightly. Everything was done in a proper and a democratic way and a unanimous decision was made to ask Tommy to leave. There was nothing personal in this decision. “And I thought it was
better for him to-hear the result strai^t away from source rather than from a third party.” iB Lawson’s former assistant Mark
: Smitheringale, alon^de Neil Reynolds, Mil take charge of first team affairs a t Shepshed Dynamo on Saturday.
Late postponement
CLITHEROE Rugby Club’s league fix ture against Broughton last Saturday was called oft at the last minute after the oppo sition failed to appear, claiming a shortage of front row players. Clitheroe now await further instructions
from the RFU as to whether the game is rearranged, or they can claim the points. On Saturday, Clitheroe host a Roses :
derby match as they-welcome Skipton to Littlemoor, who will be
out.to avenge their 17-11 reverse a t the hands of their Lan cashire rivals last time out.
Cricket meeting
ENOUGH teams have already come for ward for the Pendle Junior Cricket League to be reformed for 2006. . But there is still room for more Under
16s teams if any are interested.. Any teams from local cricket clubs,
sports club or schools interested in joining should contact Richard Hodgson (01282 614601) as soon as possible. ' The league’s annual meeting MU take place at the Pendle Forest Sports Club in Fence on Tuesday,- February 28th, at 7-30 p.m.
' T i »: i ' y •
O I ^ .’v 's I ^
» r ' I / I
«. H 5 1 ^ 1 1 I t f 1 s .............................................. Capstick
Lions cement place at top
Clitheroe L io n s 2 they put in superb last- Craven College........... 0 ditch tackles, denying
CLITHEROE Lions maintained their place at the top of the table with an e.xcellent display over youngsters Craven Col lege. Despite starting slowly,
they worked extremely hard and created more opportunities as the game progressed. Top striker Pinard could
well have scored five, but was denied by some excel lent goalkeeping, with Holden also having a good chance on goal. But it was the electric
winger Conti who put the Lions ahead with a superb left-foot finish into the top corner midway through the first half. After th a t ; the Lions
played soine good football, giving the opposition no time to relax on the ball. This was chiefly down to
excellent defending from; the Clegg brothers. Pickup and Matt Day. Time a fte r they time
Craven any goalscoring chances. Avci and man-of-the-
match Gaughan soon dominated in the middle of the park, pulling the strings for the chances that followed. Callaghan helped the midfield to combat the opposition’s five in mid- field, but was also a threat going forward. The second goal came
deep into the second half from Pinard from close range, after some great set up work from Holden. Even a t 2-0, the Lions
had to keep their concen tration as Craven’s lively forwards produced some ' great saves from Michael Mashiter in the goals.
977096336511906 0
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