FC Halifax Town: McClelland has taken our recruitment to the next level, says Wild

Town boss Pete Wild says the appointment of Gareth McClelland as head of recruitment has taken the club’s recruitment “to the next level”.
Pete Wild. Picture Tony JohnsonPete Wild. Picture Tony Johnson
Pete Wild. Picture Tony Johnson

McClelland rejoined the club in January having previously been chief scout under Neil Aspin and helping bring the likes of Marc Roberts, Dan Gardner, Matty Pearson, Liam and Scott Hogan and Lois Maynard to The Shay.

“I’ve known Gareth for years, I’ve been at games with him,” said Wild.

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“I’d been asking the chairman for a while to help me in terms of getting a head of recruitment in. I can only do so much, I can’t do it all.

Gareth McClelland during his stint as Town's caretaker manager in 2015.Gareth McClelland during his stint as Town's caretaker manager in 2015.
Gareth McClelland during his stint as Town's caretaker manager in 2015.

“Fair play to the chairman, he obviously knows Gareth and how good he is, so when he said ‘what do you think about bringing Gareth in?’, I snapped his hand off.

“He’s taken our recruitment to the next level.

“Already the preparation for, hopefully, me recruiting in the summer has started.

“And his match analysis, he watched Wealdstone v Boreham Wood on Tuesday night, so it’s not just recruitment, it’s his match analysis as well.

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“So he brings so much to the table, so much experience to the table, and that can only benefit me and the football club.”

Wild says McClelland will help the club to unearth some hidden gems that can then be sold on and bring vital transfer revenue into the club.

“That’s what we’re about. Players come here, they do well, they move on for more money, that’s the reality of the situation,” he said.

“We’re always going to have to find the next gem. I’m saying to him ‘where’s the next one, where’s the next one’.

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“We’ve got a great young squad here, that’s only going to get better, so we’ve got to get them on good contracts, and then we’ve got sprinkle on top with mine and Gareth’s and Chris experience of players.”

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