Austen to take over at Wroughton (From Swindon Advertiser)

Austen to take over at Wroughton

6:00am Saturday 23rd March 2013 in Sport By Matthew Edwards

RICHARD Austen is relishing the challenge as he is set to take over struggling Wroughton FC.

The current Ashton Keynes boss will be moving to Weir Field next season and is expecting a lot of his playing staff to follow him to the Wiltshire Football League Premier Division side.

Ashton Keynes are currently playing in Junior Division 1 of the Wiltshire League and are in a position where they cannot proceed any further into a higher standard of football because their facilities do not fall into the current criteria required for the next step up.

Wroughton have found themselves in financial difficulties this season with outstanding pitch rental fees of £960 from the 2011/12 season which has meant the club have been unable to play, but Pebley Beach Group have stepped in to clear the debts.

After a meeting with Kevin Cook, chairman, treasurer and secretary at Wroughton FC, Austen has agreed to the move and is confident that the club’s current financial problems are behind them.

He said: “I have been at Ashton Keynes for five years now and I am doing quite a lot there, as are a lot of local football clubs, and I wanted a new challenge.

“There are a lot of players here at Ashton Keynes who want to step up a division.

“A lot of the players I have are from the Swindon area so it will be easier for them to get to somewhere more local.

“I will be taking the players that are loyal to me and the team here will go back down to one team.

“Wroughton has a good history and I am looking forward to the challenge.”

Kevin Cook said: “Richard has a lot of contacts with local players and he is confident of taking over and moving things along.

“A long with this, we are confident of acquiring the services of many local Wroughton lads who have been plying their trades elsewhere and are happy to pledge their services for the cause.”