Young relishing life at Hurst Green after ditching plans to quit

Steve Cunningham has taken charge of the first team, assisted by Nathan Gibson, while Craig Barnes is leading the reserves alongside Martin Seedall and Will Nolan.

One of the new players brought in - and this season’s first team captain - is Marc Young, the former Padiham, Colne, Rossendale and Barnoldswick defender.

And it’s going well so far with two wins from two games, a 2-1 victory against Southport Hesketh and a dominant 4-1 win against Poulton on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old spoke about why he chose to come out of retirement and what his hopes are for the 2021/22 season.

Tell us about your playing career.

"I’ve played the entirety of my football career at non-league level making my debut at 16.

"At 18 I was offered a scholarship in the states where I spent four brilliant years playing for one of the best university teams in the country at our level.

"I also spent four summers playing PDL with two separate teams, one in New Orleans and another in West Virginia.

"In-between all this I spent a couple of months at home where I played with Rossendale in what was then the Unibond on their push to a play-off spot.

"Upon returning home, I rejoined Colne which culminated in a league winners medal and have since played at both Padiham and Barnoldswick in the North West Counties where I was club captain at both."

What brought you to Hurst Green?

"I’d officially hung the boots up after a couple of broken seasons in non-league due to Covid and other reasons.

"On top of this I’ve recently had another child so my commitment levels higher up couldn’t be what they once were.

"I then got a call from Steve, which I nearly didn’t answer, and he told me he had got the Hurst Green role.

"He asked if I’d come along and help him out.

"I’m a big fan of Steve, there is no agenda with him, what you see is what you get and I’d always heard positive things about the club, the set up and the people in the background and knew the level was still very competitive so I thought I’d push myself one more time and get back to enjoying my football."

What is your early take on the club?

"The set up at Hurst Green is non-league standard, it is excellent.

"The training facilities, the pitch, the commitment levels of the people in the background is all on a par with semi-pro set ups I’ve seen and played at.

"We also have a really good group of lads with no egos who are totally committed to the club.

"It is really refreshing seeing how long a number of the lads have played here, how they embody the ethos of the club and how they have welcomed the changes and the new lads into it.

"We’re still coming together but the early signs are very positive."

How has pre-season/the start of the season gone?

"Pre-season has been very good, again to say that there are close to 10 new faces complementing a very established group of lads, the cohesion of the group has been really encouraging.

"The first two league games have also been very positive, the first league game at Southport we showed that we had the ugly side of the game, the grit and determination to see out a result and the most recent game with Poulton we showed that we can also be creative going forward complementing the discipline in our shape.

"Encouraging so far but I believe from what I’ve seen we can get even better."

What are your expectations for the season?

"As a team I’d like to see us competing for a top six spot.

"From what I understand there are some strong established teams in this league with non-league aspirations but from what I have seen most of our lads could play higher so there is no reason for us to not be competing.

"Personally I’d want to get a bit fitter, play every game and score more goals than Tom Divver.".