CHAIRMAN Richard Thorndike expressed his delight at securing title-winning duo Ian Long and Richard Colwell for at least the next two years.
Long and Colwell’s success in taking the Churchmen to the Midland League Premier Division championship has not gone unnoticed by higher league clubs who had courted the pair.
However, Thorndike exclusively told the Standard that manager Long and No 2 Colwell had agreed a two-year contract in a two-way commitment to continue to build the club.
“That’s a massive coup for us because there was interest from a number of Step Three clubs,” said Thorndike. “Ian and Richard have taken us to promotion and we want them to be here a lot longer.
“Myself and Simon Redhead sat down with the boys and convinced them that we are going in the right direction.
“It’s the first managerial contract we have ever given out at Alvechurch. What they have done in the past couple of season speaks volumes for the hard work they’ve put in, the squad they’ve built and the calibre of the players.”
Long, who joined Alvechurch in May 2015 from Tividale, said he was delighted to stay.
“I get on well with the chairman, we’ve won the league and the future looks exciting,” said the boss. “There’s plenty of potential here. The club is going in the right direction, on and off the pitch.”
Alvechurch, who clinched the title on Saturday with a 1-1 draw at Shawbury United, look set to make the step up to Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Division One South, rather than the Southern League, with Long determined to ensure they can compete in the top half of the table.
With talk of a new Midlands tier in non-League being established next summer, the Churchmen want to keep progressing.
Long led Tividale as Midland Alliance champions into the Northern Premier League Division One South to finish eighth and he says there will be no fear if that is where Alvechurch are placed for next season.
The Football Association will decide on the constitution of the leagues in a couple of weeks when all the play-offs have been decided.
“From our point of view, the travelling will be better in the Northern Premier League and we would have more local games with the likes of Chasetown, Romulus and Bedworth,” said Long.
“We’ve already had experience of playing at that level and so have a lot of our players. We’ve got some knowledge of the level and there are some good teams which you’d expect.
“But we’re a good team too. We’ve shown that in the last couple of seasons.”
