Market Drayton Town slip into relegation places and boss departs - but club optimistic of avoiding drop
Poor run-in form and results elsewhere sees Market Drayton fall into drop zone and manager depart - but club remain optimistic.
Dan Dawson has departed Market Drayton after the club finished the season in the relegation places - but Town are optimistic of avoiding the drop.
A fraught end to the North West Counties First Division South campaign saw Drayton go winless in seven games.
The season - as well as boss Dawson’s two-year tenure - ended with Saturday’s curtain-closer and a 3-0 Greenfields defeat to Foley Meir.
Relegation rivals Alsager Town capitalised with a weekend victory and, in their game in hand to finish the season on Tuesday night, won 3-0 away to relegated basement boys Haughmond in Shrewsbury.
Dawson’s amicable departure was confirmed in a club statement on Sunday, before Drayton chiefs insisted they were confident of avoiding relegation to step seven.
That is as a result of general nationwide and more localised restructuring and reshuffling of the non-league pyramid following each season.
Each campaign will bring a particular number of local clubs below Drayton, at step seven, applying for a promotion spot.
Moreover, clubs from the level above will be relegated into positions that fit geographically.
There has been talk of a restructuring of the regional divisions of the North West Counties League, it is believed.
Drayton are also confident that, having finished with 27 points from their 34 league fixtures, their points-per-game average will stack up strongly on a national comparison and see them avoid the drop.
Shropshire rivals Haughmond finished bottom of the division, one place below Drayton, on 15 points after struggling Wolverhampton Sporting pulled out of the league in February.
Dawson, who previously managed Redgate Clayton to success in the Staffordshire Premier, arrived at the Gingerbread Men in 2024 and helped stabilise the club after two successive relegations via rock-bottom finishes and what would have been a third if not for for a reprieve.
He also led Town to the FA Vase second round having progressed through three stages.
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