FRAMLINGHAM Town manager Trevor Wardlaw believes the Badingham Road side are on their way to restoring the club's former glories.Winners of the Metaltec SIL in 1991/92 and only denied a Ridgeons League place because of ground technicalities, Framlingham have mainly fallen on hard times since.

Elvin King

Local football:

FRAMLINGHAM Town manager Trevor Wardlaw believes the Badingham Road side are on their way to restoring the club's former glories.

Winners of the Metaltec SIL in 1991/92 and only denied a Ridgeons League place because of ground technicalities, Framlingham have mainly fallen on hard times since.

There has been the odd good season and a few great results sprinkled around, but the bottom line is that they have found themselves in junior football much too often.

Wardlaw is the man given the responsibility of lifting the footballing status to match impressive ground facilities.

He is now just over six months into the job, and has lifted the team into a strong challenging position for promotion to the Senior Division.

“We are third with six sides capable of making a strong challenge to go up,” said Wardlaw.

Armed with bags of experience having been in charge of Stowmarket Town and winning the SIL with East Bergholt, Wardlaw took Old Newton out of the First Division in 1999/00.

“The standard of Division One is the same now as it was eight years ago,” he continued. “It has always been a difficult division to get out of, and this remains the case.

“Leaders Woodbridge Athletic look a cut above the rest, and St Johns, Thurston, Old Newton and Achilles are also very much in the running.”

When Wardlaw left Debenham last summer and gave himself three years to bring senior football back to Framlingham.

“We have potentially the best set-up in the SIL - possibly within the First Division of the Ridgeons League as well.

“Framlingham officials have worked very hard to get such good facilities, and after losing our last two games we need to get back to winning ways against Thursday on Saturday.”

Wardlaw says that he is enjoying himself at Framlingham, with his team still in the Omnico Cup and a delayed fourth round game against Leiston St Margarets scheduled for the middle of next month.