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Hednesford Town get fans talking with new manager and his first summer signing

Hednesford Town get fans talking this week with their new manager Steve King and his first summer signing in Dominic McHale.

It is big appointment for Hednesford Town, who finished who finished 19th in the Northern Premier League West Division, with 32 points from 38 games, but got a reprieve, as Steve King takes charge at Keys Park.

Also coming in at the club is Dom McHale, with the signing already getting fans feeling The Pitmen are going to mean business this season.

CLUB STATEMENT:

Hednesford Town are delighted to announce the appointment of highly rated Steve King as Manager on a long term contract in a deal that will bring continuity and stability for the rebirth of the club.

Steve, 55 began his career with Lewes taking them from the Isthmian league Division One South to the National League Premier within 5 years; a trophy laden period that included 3 titles and two top 5 finishes. Lewes were unable to play in both play-offs because of ground grading issues.

He is the most successful manager in Conference South history, finishing 1st, 2nd(twice)3rd,(twice), 4th, 5th and 6th; winning 5 Senior cups and embarking on countless FA Cup runs which included reaching the 1st and 2nd rounds, reaching the playoffs 8 times and being in 4 finals as well.

After a short spell with Northwich Victoria as caretaker manager in the National League, he then moved to Farnborough with whom he won the Southern premier league title in his first year in charge. During his second season he guided them to 2nd place in the Conference South, narrowly missing out on promotion and losing in the playoff final.

Since then, he has gained experience in a variety of leagues and areas and his other clubs include Macclesfield, a National League Premier Side at the time, where he topped the league during the season and was in and around the playoffs throughout. Steve also made history by guiding them to the FA Cup 4th round.

After that he was at Whitehawk in the Conference South where he took the team to the playoff finals and the 2nd round of the FA cup as well as winning 2 senior cups.

Next stop was Welling Utd where he finished 3rd in the Conference South and made it to the play off finals ; also winning the London cup for the first time in 30 years.

He then made the short trip to Dartford in the Conference South, where they were 5th from bottom when he took over. A staggering 50 points from 66 points later , he steered Dartford into the playoff finals; losing on penalties to Weymouth. The year covid struck , the league was suspended with Dartford 2nd in the league. The following season they finished in 4th place and unfortunately lost on penalties in the play-offs. Back to back Kent cup titles were secured during this time.

Gloucester City in the Conference North was his next move where he took over with them sitting in 15th place in the league. An instant impact meant they made it into the playoffs for the first time in their history ; losing on penalties to Brackley and Steve most recently had a short spell at Havant and Waterlooville near the start of last season.

Steve has had an incredibly impressive career making history at five clubs and winning numerous league titles and play-offs in all divisions. He has also been instrumental in the development and success of Premier League & Championship players Solly March ,Jed Wallace, and Joe Ralls and is the only manager in history to reach the play offs in both the Conference North and Conference South.

As part of the deal, Steve will be relocating to the area so he can be fully hands on with his role, embrace the local area and become part of the outstanding pitman community.

We all wish Steve the very best of luck as he embarks on his journey with the club at the start of a special time where we enter a new dawn here at Keys Park.

Hednesford Town are delighted to announce the signing of talented attacking midfielder Dominic McHale from Scarborough Athletic who becomes Steve Kings first official signing.

The highly skilled attacker, 27; who can also play on either wing; started his Career in the Manchester City youth set up playing alongside players such as Devante Cole, Tosin Adarabioyo and Marcos Lopes before moving to Barnsley who were then in League 1 of the football Pyramid. Dominic spent time in Cyprus playing for Achyronas Liopetriou before returning to England where he gained further high-level experience playing for teams such as FC United, Oldham and Salford City.

Dom then moved to AFC Telford Utd where he was a regular starter before moving to Gloucester City being signed by our new Manager Steve King. He made an instant impact scoring twice on his debut. 10 goals in 21 games during the 2022/23 season including 4 goals and 4 assists in January 2023 which gained him the Conference North player of month earned him a move to Brackley for the 2023/24 season. Dom was also voted as one of the top players in the Conference North for the year 2023 by Supporters and Peers.

He then moved to Scarborough in January of this year, appearing 14 times before finishing the season on loan at Hereford FC.

Manager Steve King had the following to say ’I am delighted to sign Dom as he was instrumental for me whilst at Gloucester and this was one of the key signings I wanted to get over the line. I am sure the fans will be excited by his style of play and we can’t wait to see him on the pitch’

Everyone here at Keys Park is excited to have Dominic on board and wishes him every success here at the club.

#WelcomeDominic

#UTP

As mentioned, Hednesford Town get fans talking with their new manager and his first summer signing…

ON THE MANAGER:

@athole52: Good appointment but he does like a big budget

@markcooper412: Just to add a bit to his CV regarding his “short spell” at Havant and Waterlooville, it was 11 league games (2 points) , 2 cup ties against lower div teams , both lost.

@adamwest71: Hopefully there is an influx of lots and lots of money into the club – your going to need it

@kitmanedge: Good luck, you’ll most certainly need it…

@ryan_tee: Hmmm… good luck with this one 👀

@alcock_glenn: Congratulations! Having met him recently, thoroughly nice chap in my impression

@FolgerSam: You guys are in a much better place than 13 months ago, so happy to see a local non league club back on the scene. Get yourselves up through the leagues and we’ll see you and @telfordutd in the NL together hopefully.

@blakey_28: Great appoint to the club, always builds great teams can’t wait to see the future ahead, Hednesford going in the right direction 👏🏽

@AndrewM03369459: Best of luck with that, if the budget is not enough to sign ‘his’ players then it will sour relatively quickly… There comes a point when it always does.

@C8JP8S: This is more like it, Hednesford town should have this kind of pull and this apppintment excites me for big things at the club. UPTP!👏🏻

@C8JP8S: I find it funny and pathetic how other clubs so called fans are saying bad things, maybe it wasn’t the manager and just how bad your club is ran. Take your fishing trip elsewhere.

@alr_00: Absolutely delighted to get this over the line after a long process, known Kingy a long time and undoubtedly one of the best non league managers in the UK! UTP🤍🖤

@Chriss_DFC: Unlucky lads.

@kiddyguest: What is going on at Hednesford? Have they found some cash from somewhere? Not taking the mick, something must have changed that I have missed.

@kingerinit: They’ll be in debt soon then

@JUSTIN_AVFC_: Feels like a solid appointment and the long term deal hopefully finally gives continuity to the job, the commitment to relocating to the area is huge as well!! Good luck Steve !!

ON THE NEW PLAYER:

@LiamP2710: Outrageous signing, what a player and an even better bloke. Gonna have some season, all the best @Mchale_dominic 👊❤️

@Big_Grumper: You’ve got yourselves a cracking footballer there. Kingy’s putting the band back together!

@C8JP8S: 2 very good signings so far and a top manager, things going in the right direction.

@RHVlogs_: Hednesford aren’t messing about this time around! Wouldn’t be surprised to see them at the top end of the table this season.

@kiddyguest: Hednesford are not messing around.

@mrbluesky2uk: Welcome Dominic 😊

@Rovert551: How the hell did we get this over the line . 👍⚽️

@gue5ty84: Welcome, Dominic! 💪🏼👏🏼👊🏼

@LiamStones23: What a signing this is! First @JoelTaylor03 now @Mchale_dominic 😮‍💨💪🏼

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