Jimmy Williams was confirmed as part of Craig Rouse’s management team, when he renewed his current deal. The home town man sixth season at Ponte and last season surpassed 150 appearance for The Colls.
We caught up with his to discuss his first season as player/coach at Ponte, here is what he had to say;
Welcome back for another year Jim, into your second year as player/assistant coach how did you find last year?
Last year I definitely learnt a lot from been part of a coaching staff, which you don’t realise how hard it is as a player. The season became a lot more enjoyable as the season went on and over all with the cup run, the season turned out a successful season in the long run.
You’ve been at the club for a number of years now, what do you make of the current group of players and what can we expect this year?
I’ve been with the club several years now and I can see the club only moving in one direction on and off the pitch. We’ve retained a group of players who are honest, hardworking, with great attitudes and got a lot of ability. Then also with the players we’ve brought in, the experience and know how of them players at this level can hopefully push us further up the league table this year, hopefully have a decent cup run and get the Pontefract town behind us again.
We were involved in some big games last year, in front of some big crowds, do you think that will help the lads going forward?
Last year was definitely the most fans I’ve seen down at the stadium since I’ve been at the club, and the record crowd against Halifax was a great occasion for the club, the players and coaches involved on them two special occasions that we will never forget. The players shined on both occasions and the experience of them games will definitely help the lads going forward into this season.
Finally what are the expectations this year for both yourself and as part of the management team?
Hopefully this year we can get off to a better start and give us a platform to build on, I feel we’ve got a great bunch of lads with talent and a lot of experience which can guide the younger lads on and be a successful season. Expectations on a personal point is to carry on playing and coaching and if I can achieve playing around 20 games at this stage in my career I would be happy with that, as a management team hopefully we can excite the crowd with fast flowing football and lots of goals. Last year we were a new management team built together, and I think the last years experience will help us massively moving into this season.