Former Vauxhall Motors joint-manager Anthony Wright says he will look back on his time at the club with the ‘fondest of memories’.
Wright departed the Rivacre Park hotseat at the end of the season following the club’s announcement in March that they would be resigning from the Conference North and dropping into the West Cheshire League next campaign, owing to financial difficulties.
Alongside joint-manager Gary Martindale, Wright helped keep the Motormen away from the relegation zone in their final season, taking over the reins after popular manager Carl Macauley had departed to be Chester FC’s assistant manager in the wake of Motors’ shock announcement of their resignation.
Wright, Martindale and Macauley had been familiar figures on the touchline for Motors for many years as a well established and well respected management team, and will now link up once more after it was announced that they would be the new team at Northern Premier League side Marine.
Macauley was installed as manager at the Arriva Stadium last week after being unable to commit to Chester FC’s proposed full-time model and immediately set about getting his old team back together once more.
“When I knew that Carl was going for the Marine job, I thought there was a chance he might get me and Gary involved as we have worked well in the past,” said Wright, who spent 10 years as a player, coach and later manager of Motors.
“It is a massive opportunity for us all and I’m delighted that I’ll be back in football so soon after the disappointment of having to leave Vauxhall’s.
“Vauxhall’s is a superb little club and we were all gutted about the way it ended, but there is not a lot you can do.
“Every season was a battle with next to no money and we were just about surviving every year.
“Saying that, I had some of the fondest memories of my career and the best times of my life at Motors over the 10 years I was involved there. I think I’ve done every job in that place. I was a player, kit man, coach, manager. You name it, I did it.
“It was gutting to leave but I’m sure they’ll be back. The chairman has done everything to protect the club in the long run.”
With all last season’s Motors squad now available as free agents, Wright said that he, Macauley and Martindale were yet to discuss next season’s personnel, but hinted that some former Motors players could be on the Marine shopping list.
“That is down to Carl and we haven’t really discussed anything like that yet,” added Wright. “We had a great bunch of lads at Motors who we know very well and we had some excellent footballers there who are now without a club. Hopefully some can join us but it is very early days yet and it will be a case of wait and see.”
One of Carl Macauley’s first decisions as manager of Marine was to fix up a friendly match at Vauxhall Motors for July 24 (7.30).
