Darlaston Town are delighted to announce that manager Dean Gill and his management team will continue their management of the first team for the forthcoming season.

Dean and his management team took over the first team in March 2021 following the COVID outbreak and has presided over two hugely successful seasons resulting in promotion from Step 6 via the play off’s in his first season, followed by a fourth place finish in Step 5 the highest ever finish in the clubs long 149 history.

Just before the season ended the FA announced that with effect from next season the League Champions will earn automatic promotion to Step 4 and the second promotion place will now be decided by end of season play-offs between the 2nd to 5th placed clubs, something Darlaston have already experienced in their promotion winning season.

I spoke with Dean earlier today, who said “I’m happy to accept the club’s offer to manage Darlaston again next season, we have finished in Darlaston’s highest ever league positions in our two seasons at the club - something I’m extremely proud of.

I have had personal offers to leave recently which is always humbling as it’s nice to be appreciated for the work the team do. I’ve only ever moved clubs for the benefit of the team of players I manage, I’ve never left them behind in my quest for personal gain. It was obvious to me many years ago that the only chance I would have of managing higher was to do it myself, and that’s what we have done - we’ve stayed loyal to each other and worked hard to achieve, something that I hope never changes.

The club and I have had a very constructive few weeks since the season ended. When we came in 2 years ago I hoped it would take 4 or 5 years, if at all, to be where we find ourselves now which is being competitive in getting out of step 5. One of the biggest factors for joining Darlaston in the first place was that I believed we could develop financially sustainable football at Darlaston that would match our success on the pitch should we be successful, up to yet we have done that, thanks to the great work of the Directors, Committee, Volunteers and our tremendous supporters - I read club’s bemoaning their luck daily but there is no benefactor at Darlaston financially and they’ve built a lovely club on continuous hard work and smart decision making.

Due to the infrastructure work the club have continually done over the last decade we have the best football facilities I can think of anywhere in non-league locally, it needs to be said some of the facilities we have encountered away from Darlaston this season were simply unacceptable - some of the worst at any step of football. I’m not precious one bit but some of the facilities were simply not fit for purpose for players health and safety and with the massive resources being paid on the pitch by said clubs I have to respect and admire Darlaston in their steadfast belief that visitors to our “Home” will be treated as guests into said home, therefore they won’t comprise their standards to finance a first team at the expense of their long term legacy and personal pride and beliefs.

The local non-league football scene is incredible - an extremely competitive place to be. I expect next season will be harder than last, with five places up for grabs with one automatic promotion and four in the playoffs, I’m not a believer in second season syndrome drivel, we’ll be ok because I’ll make sure we are and we as a group don’t have any excuses to hide behind. We will work hard and smart over the summer to be as good a version of ourselves as possible, we will again need to punch above our financial weight to finish anywhere in the top half but we have an exciting plan for next season that we’re working on and we won’t be found wanting for effort.

Finally, another thank you to my staff and players who continue to be ridiculously loyal and committed in a pool that can be murky to say the least at times, we continue to work in our own bubble of mutual respect, discipline and honesty - I’m extremely lucky to work with so many good people”.

And Chairman Neil Chambers also said “I am hugely delighted that Dean and his management team will continue to manage the first team and help guide the club into the next phase of its development. His brand of attacking football, his thirst for success and drive to achieve results, makes him one of, if not the most hard-working manager in non-league football and his attention to detail and work ethic has seen him produce fantastic results over many season.

We very much look forward to continuing the working relationship with him and his team once again next season”