Silsden glad of Silsden Whitestar link after Steeton shock

When WYL boss Jacob Mistry left ahead of the season to become Roy Mason’s assistant manager at neighbouring Steeton, many of his players followed him to Marley, meaning there was no real hope of Silsden fielding a second team during the 2024-25 campaign.

And while the Cobbydalers’ first-team joint manager Matt Cavanagh feels that situation should have been handled better, he insists he holds no bitterness towards those who upped sticks and joined Steeton.

Instead, he is delighted to see his club link up with Craven League side Silsden Whitestar.

The Cobbydalers’ new chairman, Will Twigg, has confirming the amateur outfit will be integrated into the Silsden set up moving forward, his biggest decision yet since taking over from the popular John Lohan, who will still be involved with the club.

The link up with Whitestar means they can offer the pathway towards Silsden’s first team that the WYL side used to offer.

Cavanagh told the Keighley News: “From the moment we (he and fellow joint-boss Luke Lavery) came into the club, the West Yorkshire League team was a big part of our set-up

“We wanted lads to develop in there and come through, which you can see now with the likes of Danny Hunt, Luke Brooksbank and Mo Conteh being regulars in our first-team squad.

“That pathway is an important thing to myself and I feel for a few players who’ve moved on to other clubs and probably been lied to if I’m honest, told they’d get a game and they haven’t been given an opportunity.

“But we’re just focused on ourselves now and the correct thing to do is build a partnership with people that want to be at Silsden.

“Whitestar have been a community team who have played down on the external pitches at Silsden and have come to support our first team when we’re at home, providing income at the bar.

“It’s just the right time now to build that relationship to bring the two clubs closer together.

“Both of us have our own identities, but hopefully we’ll look out for each other and help each other.

“By building partnerships, you’re stronger together.”

That feeling of togetherness at Silsden right now is only set to increase with the integration of Silsden Whitestar into the set up. (Image: Gary Lohan.)

Addressing the Mistry departure that undoubtedly rocked the boat at Silsden, Cavanagh said: “Listen, I’m fine with it.

“Everybody wants to progress in football and everyone has that right, and I hope every single person who’s left Silsden does really well.

“But at the same time, there are ways of doing things correctly, and I don’t feel that was done correctly.

“I’m happy for the lads though, and I speak to a few of them regularly because I class them as friends.

“I’m not really fussed about the situation anymore, it’s gone now, and we’ve been focusing largely on the first team set up here, while also speaking to Chris Wademan and Jez Fay at Silsden Whitestar, building that partnership up.

“But we have largely focused on ourselves, which I suppose shows with our good results so far.”