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One of the worst kept secret’s that was current in non-league football was finally resolved earlier this week within a mad 48 hours. The rumours began circulating early on Monday that Worthing FC manager Adam Hinshelwood was set to move up one division to York City.
Frantic messages around, Twitter/X going a bit nuts with speculation, WhatsApp groups kicking off, is he or isn’t he? Well, in end it was confirmed that Hinshelwood was indeed on his way from the South Coast to swop a promotion play-off charge for one avoiding relegation to the National League North. But, what can York fans expect and what now for Worthing? That I’ll come to very shortly.
Adam was the first manager I worked with properly when I wrote for the Worthing FC website. Twice a week we spoke for a match preview and then a review after the Saturday or midweek fixture.
The questions were all my own, he never knocked one back and the insights I gained were fabulous every time. Unfortunately, as time moved on we couldn’t make it work, but he’s always been available at the drop of a text for an interview just like all the other managers I know within the game and friends they become.
So then, what becomes of Worthing and what can York City hope for over the remaining two months of the season? Well you can read on below via a paid for subscription, access to not only this article but around 700 other pieces for the price of £5 a month.
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Quite a few have looked at this move as jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire given the two sides’ respective placings in their division. However, if York were doing well this move wouldn’t have happened and I wouldn’t be penning this article. Hinshelwood has had interest shown in him over the last couple of seasons, not unexpected given the job he has done at Woodside Road over the last six years.
No question, along with Gary Elphick and Cam Morrison, they have a huge task to keep the Minstermen in the National League by the end of April. One of four clubs on 39 points at the time of writing, only outside the bottom four on goal difference, that’s how big the job is with 11 games to go.
They aren’t a million miles away from pushing up the table such is the intensity in the bottom eight clubs, Ebbsfleet Utd are currently showing on a five match unbeaten run under a new manager that its feasible to get out of the mess they find themselves in.
Under Neal Ardley they didn’t concede heavily and while their strike force is decent for this level their issues tend to come from a lack of creation. That might be a problem Hinshelwood has to find a way around rather than solving before the summer such is the necessity for quick points on the board.
Their first three games in charge might give a good indication as to their upcoming direction facing three sides either directly in front or just below themselves, no time like the present to endear yourself to the fans.
Potentially only one of those 11 opponents they face between now and the end of April has nothing really to play for, that’s a harsh run of games to face for the new management team, but one they are no doubt relishing.
Having listened to Hinshelwood’s last interview at Worthing he’s ready for this. It’s an ex-Football League club, a recently new stadium and an average home attendance of over 4,500, comfortably the next step in a management career that has huge potential.
Yes, there is the danger they might be relegated, but there is no guarantee Worthing could have gotten promoted under Hinshelwood and the clubs to be passing each other. It could happen, they could be playing each other in the top division, but lots of permutations of what could happen.
But what of the club he’s left on the South Coast? They’re in good hands for me, a trio in Aaran Racine, Dean Hammond and Darren Budd should bring some continuity until the end of the season and they are nicely placed in third to enjoy a second successive play-off campaign.
Their identity won’t change just because Hinshelwood is no longer there, it’s been ingrained in the club for around six years. Yes, it’s a body blow, yes it’s tough to take. Managers don’t last that long at clubs anywhere, it’s a bonus if you get one that stays so long.
A lot of Worthing fans I spoke to or saw comments from online saw it as a strange move with only two months of the season left to play. As stated above York City is an attractive club despite their current predicament, whilst Hinshelwood was full time Worthing as a playing staff aren’t and still at least two years away from that.
These opportunities don’t come around too often, like players management can be a short career especially if there isn’t too much on your CV and there are more wanting the hotseat than there are jobs.
Hinshelwood’s ambitious, he’s well known down here in the South for what he as achieved so far, League Two is far more a northern league and if he has aspirations to get into the EFL it’ll do his pedigree no harm to be in the eyes of another region.
It’s way out of the comfort zone he could have remained in, would he have departed in the summer had Worthing not been promoted? We’ll never get to know the answer to that, the sliding doors moment is here now, fine margins, time will tell whether it’s success or failure, I’m banking on the former and Hinsh to make another mark in the world of football.
