Albion Sports gunning for NCEL promotion admits manager

The West Yorkshire club have had their best ever season to date, having finished 5th in the NCEL Premier Division, while they progressed further than they ever have done before in both the FA Vase and FA Cup.

But this weekend they have the chance to create history and go one step further by being promoted to the Northern Premier League Division One East, as they take on Garforth Town in the play-off final.

Giving his thoughts on what a promotion would mean to the club, and everyone involved, Mohammed reflected on a deeper meaning for Albion Sports.

He said: “A lot of people look at it and say, wow, a promotion is a remarkable achievement but for me, I want it to be an eye-opener.

“We’re still a club that don’t officially have our own ground yet. The daily battles and challenges that myself and the club face with that, and with trying to get training on, get players to training and then with trying to convince players to join; it’s tough.

“We’re not able to grow as a club without having our own base. It’s the club’s 50th anniversary and they’ve had false promises regarding a home owned ground in the past, but it’s never materialised.

“We’ve had to suffer as a club and there was a point where people lost a bit of hope that the club could ever progress.

“So, hats off to everyone involved, whether that be the players, the coaching staff or the board members.

“We’ve got a chance for promotion, and hopefully, if we achieve that, we’ll have a new ground to play a very good standard of football in next season.”

Just as they were in fighting for the play-offs and in their semi-final against Campion, Albion come into Saturday’s game against Garforth as ‘underdogs’, but that particular label is continuing to motivate the side from Bradford.

Mohammed said: “We’re not going to sugarcoat the fact that we are the underdogs and have been the underdogs for a while now.

“However, everyone loves an underdog story and we’re pushing to complete the best ending to this season possible.

“Garforth are a great team and have lots of experience, something that we don’t have loads of.

“They also have home advantage, which will work in their favour, but nevertheless, we expect a really tough game whatever the scenario because it’s a play-off final.

“We’ll be ready for any challenge come Saturday.”

Ashley Flynn was the hero against Campion last weekend, as he struck a brace to give his side a 2-0 victory in the semi-final.

The club’s top scorer, Robbie Fox went off with a slight strain in his hamstring which allowed super-sub, Flynn to make a telling impact for his side.

Ash Flynn sends Aidan Kirby the wrong way from the spot to put Albion in front in their play-off semi-final against Campion (Image: Martin Taylor)

Mohammed was full of praise for the forward, when he said: “Ash isn’t a spring chicken anymore, so it’s about working out when’s best to use his strongest attributes.

“He’s not the tallest of lads, so that’s why he missed out in the first place. Campion are strong from set-pieces, so we’d factored that in when picking our line-up; we wanted height.

“Unfortunately, Robbie came off with a slight strain (expected to be fit for Saturday) and it meant the game opened up for Ash. In hindsight, it worked out brilliantly and Ash was magnificent when he came on.

“More importantly, he took his chances and ended up being the match-winner to see us into the final.”

The final gets underway at 3pm on Saturday at Garforth Town, with tickets being priced at £7 for adults, £4 for concessions, £2 for u16s and u5s go free.