Button outlines his plans for OPK

Monday 04th May 2009

VANDANEL Kent County League Division 2 West OPK Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Martin Reece and Marlon Button as joint first team managers with Terry Hawkey joining as first team coach.

Reece is a well respected youth coach who has been coaching and managing sides for the last 15 years. For the last three years he has been managing in the Kent Youth League picking up four lots of silver wear to show for his efforts.

On his appointment to OPK Reece said in a statement sent to www.kentishfootball.co.uk , "I can’t wait to start work with the new management team at OPK, to bring success and fulfil not only my ambitions but those of everyone connected with the club in line with the five year plan."

Button is a well known figure in Kent Football having been a member of Whitstable Town’s double winning side in 2006/07, scoring the winning goal in the Kent Senior Trophy.

His previous clubs include Leyton Orient, Millwall, Folkestone, Grays, Bromley, Herne Bay, and more recently Erith & Belvedere, Thamesmead Town and Sevenoaks Town.

Button has no intention of quitting playing and will be OPK’s joint player-manager.

Hawkey has a wealth of coaching experience and FA badges. He has been appointed to structure and deliver training sessions for both the first eleven and reserve teams.

Hawkey has also played Kent League football boosting Erith & Belvedere and Tunbridge Wells as previous clubs.

Commenting on their appointments chairman Simon Kidby added, "The appointments speak for themselves; you cannot underestimate the combined wealth of knowledge, skills, experience and contacts these three guys bring to the party.

"I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of applicants we had and I am absolutely delighted with our new management team".

In the statement, Button says he cannot wait to lead the club up the league's swiftly and explained how he's going to do it.

"My ambition for OPK is to lead the club to the highest possible level within a short space of time and to build a squad of players that bond together and stay united for many years," he said.

"I want to give opportunities to younger players and have the right mix of youth and experience within the whole set-up of the club.

"I have targeted a number of players that have a wealth of experience and have played at very high levels. Gary Carter who was a trainee at Burney and also played in the double winning squad has agreed to sign for me.

"Having spoken to a number of players and expressed my ambitions, they are interested in joining a squad that will be successful and that has a professional approach.

"I have one massive player up my sleeve and I am hoping he will join me. I cannot mention his name at this point as it is not guaranteed, I have invited him to pre season training that will commence on the 7th July at the Business Academy Bexley in Thamesmead at 7pm.

"I also welcome as many new faces as possible as we will be running many trial games to start with to select a squad of around 18 players for the first team.

"I am confident we will attract a lot of talent and also build on the second and third teams and use a structure that gives all the opportunities to all players throughout the club, regardless to whether they start in the third team. Players that perform well will be given the opportunity to impress in the first team.

"We will build a squad that has a winning mentality and we want players on board that play with pride and passion for the club and not for cash incentives as we do not have any budget.

"To attract players we have the use of a state of the Art 3G Astro training facility which with no question will be an asset to the team. This is something that many clubs do not have the opportunity to have due to financial restraints.

"Although we have no budget at the present time, we are hoping to attract many sponsors to take these ambitions forward.

"I am hoping that we attract players to the excellent set-up the club has, the training facilities and the professional running of the team that we have in place.

"At the end of the day, it isn’t all about playing for money, yes a budget and incentives help, but I don’t want players that turn-up, collect there money and don’t really care whether they win, loose or draw.

"Hopefully at some stage we will be able to offer incentives, but we need to do our talking on the football field first and want to win regardless.

"Training will be well structured and organised which is vital to the success of the team. I have also appointed Terry Hawkey whom has a wealth of training experience and has his FA badges; he will deliver excellent training sessions for the boys.

"Terry has also played Kent league football and has played for Erith & Belvedere and Tunbridge Wells.

"I have experienced the need for well structured and quality training sessions, and when I won the double with Whitstable Town, this is what we had, sessions that were well planned and enjoyable.

"This enabled all the players to bond together and forms a quality squad of players. So with the likes of Liam and Terry working together and on board, I believe we can achieve success, which Martin and I have been appointed to do.

"This is a great opportunity for all of us and we want to make a massive impression."