The last campaign may have been a disappointment in terms of the hoped-for push for promotion to the UniBond League but on the whole it was a second promising season for Thackley.

The disappointment at Dennyfield is that it was the last in charge for Dave Morgan, the former majestic Guiseley and Avenue centre back.

Morgan tendered his resignation, reluctantly due to increased work commitments away from football, after the last game of the season.

Thackley went into the campaign with a desire to build on the previous season’s fourth-placed finish. It had been Morgan’s first in charge and he had instilled a local feeling back into the club and was hugely impressed by the hard work off the pitch from the committee which led to a higher ground-grading and increased the Dennyboys’ chances of promotion.

Morgan had his boys prepared and they started well in the league and had a nice run in the FA Cup as they beat higher-ranking Harrogate Railway Athletic and two tough outfits from the Northern League in Stokesley and Marske United before falling at Ashington.

There were also wins in the early rounds of the FA Vase until they hit the buffers with a 1-0 home defeat to Whitley Bay, another tough Northern League club steeped in tradition.

Form in the league tailed off and then the bad winter kicked in and no games were played for what seemed an age - an ice age.

The impromptu break did no clubs any favours but it appeared to hit some harder than others, and in that time it turned out that leading scorer Luke Hudson, who had been playing and training whenever possible, had a broken leg. He spent Christmas in a plaster cast from ankle to groin.

Despite exits from the national knockout competitions, it was still a cup that was the high point of the Dennyboys’ season.

They reached the final of the West Riding County Cup, and though they were beaten by Blue Square Bet North near-neighbours Guiseley, it was only after extra time.

That match was held at Valley Parade and it was fitting that it proved to be one of the last in charge for lifelong Bantams fan Morgan.

Standing in the dugout, barking out orders and organising his team in front of the main stand with two of his sons, Rob and Matt, playing on the hallowed turf, it was a proud moment for Morgan.

It probably even rivalled his two appearances under the famous old twin towers of Wembley when he was part of the Guiseley team who went there for two consecutive FA Vase finals in the early 1990s.