Paul Marshall hung up his boots after a six-game swansong with Workington Reds – but is already making his mark as a manager.
The former Man City midfielder led Cheadle Town to play-off success last season in the North West Counties South and is gearing-up for life in the NWC Premier Division.
Marshall was signed by former Reds boss Chris Willcock at a time when the Borough Park club was hit by a crop of injuries in his season in charge.
He scored one goal in six appearances and although linked with a move to Wythenshawe ended a 14-year playing career after leaving the Reds.
Although he never made the senior side in three years at City, Marshall was capped three times by England Under-20s and had loan spells at Blackpool, Port Vale and Aberdeen.
His longest spells were with FC Halifax for whom he played 93 times but his list of former clubs in a 261-game senior career included Walsall, Stockport, Bradford PA, Alfreton, Curzon Ashton, Mossley and Radcliffe.
He was appointed Cheadle manager in May 2022 and took them to sixth in the table from where they surprised the pundits by beating runners-up Stockport Town and then Sandbach United in the final.
Cheadle started their pre-season programme with a friendly against an all-star side put together by former Manchester City, Aston Villa and Newcastle United player Stephen Ireland.
It was the second year in a row that Marshall had used his City connections for Cheadle to host a team put together by the former Ireland international, and the match ahead of this season had
Ireland himself was joined by former Everton, Man City and England defender Joleon Lescott; Premier League winners with Leicester in Danny Simpson and Danny Drinkwater; and former Newcastle fan favourite Papiss Cisse.
Other famous names that featured included former Everton and Hull striker Oumar Niasse; former Brighton and Hove Albion stalwart Dale Stephens; and former Manchester United and Sunderland right-back Phil Bardsley.
Cheadle lost that particular game but Marshall felt his players got plenty out of it, and last night they had their final warm-up game – a 3-1 win at Denton.
The main reason for these pre-season games is to prepare for the new season, which Marshall himself said he’s “ambitious” for.
“Maybe it’s unrealistic, but I want to push for play-offs. I do believe in my team, that they’re more than capable of doing that, so I would say a big push for those places. I know where I want to aim because I believe my team is good enough,” he told the NWC website.
Cheadle will entertain Kendal Town early in the season, on September 2.
