Milligan aids Best's Lytham Town campaign

27 Jul 2022 By Andy Sykes

Part 7 - Chris Best would love a repeat of last August when the 44-year-old’s Lytham Town sat pretty at the top of the Premier Division. But babies were the unlikely cause of Lytham’s ninth-placed finish…

How do you sum up last season?
“It was frustrating. We had a great start but then lost a couple of players who had just become fathers so decided they were needed elsewhere, which is fair enough.

"One of the those was our captain. We then had two spells where we lost five on the bounce which put paid to any chances of a good placing.”

Best side you faced and best player?
“I said to John Beavers at Thornton it was them and they proved it by winning the league. Thornton seemed the best equipped all round to come out on top.

“I liked the lad Jack Arrowsmith at Wrens – he impressed me a lot. He used his pace and scored a very good goal against us. He looks like he will have a good future ahead of him.”

Players in and out
“We’ve got a couple of young lads from Jamie Milligan’s academy set up and there’s a few from the reserves who came in to the side towards the end of the season who looked like they could be ready for the West Lancs Prem.

“We’ve lost Bob Harris who has gone to be Martin Baird’s assistant at AFC Blackpool.”

Aims for the season
“To stay in the division. We don’t have the backing or support that other clubs in the league enjoy so that’s the minimum target, and also do better in the cups than last season.”

Where next?

Allen: 'We're not just here to make up the numbers' Part 8 - For Richie Allen, 2021/22 was mission accomplished – promotion to the Prem and a cup win to boot. After a debut season as a football manager, can he go one further at Wyre Villa?

Murt 'underwhelmed' after scintillating start Part 6 - Anthony Murt, 38, is another West Lancs manager to see his top scorer cherry-picked by a higher level club. But he’s still aiming high after a sixth placed finish last term at Burscough Richmond.