Hunslet coach Gary Thornton signs new deal
Gary Thornton has committed to coaching Hunslet in 2021.
Hunslet were top of the table before the coronavirus lockdown. With the League 1 season being cancelled for 2020, Hunslet will now turn their attention on next year.
The club say that announcements will be made over the next few weeks regarding player retentions and signings.
Thornton said: “I was delighted to be able to resolve my own future with the board.
“There’s a job to be seen through here. It was very disappointing, after we’d had such a good pre-season, with three wins in as many games plus impressive victories in our two league fixtures – not forgetting to mention a couple of good performances in the Coral Challenge Cup – to have the action being brought to a halt.
“That was especially so as our last match, in the third round of the Challenge Cup at Championship favourites Featherstone Rovers, involved our only defeat, from which we learned quite a few valuable lessons.
“We were champing at the bit to put what we’d learned from Featherstone into practice but we didn’t get the opportunity as the lockdown dragged on. Now though, we have a straight edge and we can at least begin to prepare properly for next season.
“I’ve been in the game long enough to know that we have a very good squad in place, made up of good characters. We’d like to kick on from where we left off, not least for our fans and for everyone else who is involved with this club.
“I’ve also been able to stress to the players, with every justification, what a superb board we have in place here. I’ve seen at first hand the way they have steered us through the stormy financial waters caused by COVID-19, while making sure that the players’ interests are looked after. They’ve kept Hunslet in very reasonable shape and I take my hat off to them.
“I’m very impressed, and that’s an extra incentive for everyone to not only stay, but to pay this club back. I’ll certainly be striving to repay the faith that’s been shown in me with tangible results on the pitch next year.”
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