Ketton appoint Darren Moody as new manager of Peterborough League club
New Ketton boss Darren Moody is hoping his appointment can help to have a progressive impact on the Peterborough League club.
Moody has been named as the new manager of the Premier Division side following the recent resignation of Matt Holdup.
The former Peterborough Northern Star reserve team boss has set his sights on a top 10 finish in his maiden campaign at the Pit Lane helm and also wants to help any ambitious players further their footballing careers.
Moody has also been head of youth at Northern Star for the past three seasons and plans to merge some exciting teenage talent with the established squad currently in place at Ketton.
He said: "It's a good opportunity and I won't have to go in and re-invent the wheel because the foundations are there.
"I would like to thank Matt and the committee for the opportunity and I am looking forward to working closely with them.
"It is unprecedented times at the moment though because you're trying to get everything organised in the background of what's going on elsewhere.
"I've taken advice from Matt on players and the key for me is that everyone will have a clean slate.
"It is difficult because I would have loved to have sat down in front of the players and spoke to them face-to-face, but it's now going to be a Zoom meeting and a WhatsApp group.
"They will all be invited for pre-season and we'll take it from there because the feedback has been very positive and I'm really looking forward to getting cracking.
"Finishing in the top 10 is the first target because Ketton have said that they need some younger blood in there in what is an ageing squad so that's what I've been tasked with doing.
"It's a step seven club and my honest opinion is that why wouldn't any young lad who wants to kick on in the game come and take that next step at Ketton.
"I'm all for progressing players who want to then go on and earn money out of football.
"The club knows its limits so if people want to use it as a stepping stone then that's down to them.
"The foundations are in place with the nucleus of the squad, but I want people to look at Ketton and think they want to come to us and earn a good move elsewhere and you can use the likes of Dan Swan, Tom Mann and Will Bird from recent seasons as examples."
Moody started his playing career as a 16-year-old with Northern Star in the United Counties League but was forced to retire three years later after suffering a double anterior cruciate ligament injury in his knee.
He then turned to coaching in youth roles with Peterborough City and Orton Rangers before returning to Northern Star where he ran a junior side and the reserves who played in Division One of the Peterborough League last season.
Moody, who is also an academy scout at Peterborough United, added: "It was more of a case of feeding the first team last season rather than results as the league table would suggest.
"We had seven players make first team debuts so it was a constant case of having a recruitment drive.
"We were doing our job of helping the first team but it was frustrating as well so this opportunity at Ketton will give me the chance of being number one and I'm really looking forward to it."
Outgoing first team boss Matt Holdup - who is on Ketton's committee - oversaw the selection process and was pleased with the standard of applications.
He said: "We were really chuffed with the response which we had this time. We had some good candidates.
"It was nip-and-tuck between them, but Darren just showed a very professional application and spoke really well.
"It was an unusual process in that we can't sit around the table and shake hands and see what people are like face-to-face so it's difficult on both sides, but Darren put himself across better than the others.
"He's got great experience with youth football which was a real attraction for us because he will remain to have that link with the Under 18 age group so he's got plenty of contacts.
"One of our main issues has been that the squad we've had over the last 10 years has been brilliant, but it peaked about five or six years ago.
"We were probably at our best when we first got into the Premier Division, but now a lot of those lads have started to hang their boots up.
"He's certainly got a good base to start from, but we need some fresh blood in there to balance it out.
"We've always had that and the only time we've really lost players is because they've retired or were too good for this level and we've been able to facilitate a move upwards.
"We haven't had a manager leaving and then being followed by a mass exodus.
"We've always had numbers there with plenty to work with which is a positive.
"The lads have stuck around and they now need to be rewarded with a manager who is going to give a bit of continuity back."
Ketton were second-from-bottom of the Premier Division table when the coronavirus pandemic curtailed their campaign.
They had finished 10th and 11th in the previous two seasons and Holdup is hoping Moody's appointment can inspire a rise up the rankings.
He added: "We're aiming as a committee to be pushing for the top half because we've been established in the Premier Division for a few seasons now.
"Our first thing was to make sure that, whoever we appointed this time, we're not going to have to be doing this job again next year.
"The good thing about Darren was that he has ideas past this season which gave us confidence that he was the man for the job.
"We're excited as a club that Darren is the manager who can take us to that next step.
"We've done so much at the club off the field because it's such a fantastic place to play football so hopefully Darren can come in and push us on a bit."