South ready to "Go again"
Sat 18th July 2026 | South Liverpool | By
After a season where there was a number of changes around the squad even before a ball was kicked, NWCFL Premier Division side, South Liverpool, managed a fourth consecutive improved finish position since returning to the National League system. With pre-season well under way and the fixtures starting to come in, long-serving Manager/Director of Football Martin Ryman is clearly looking forward to the challenge.
We spoke with Martin this week and started by asking him if he has had a chance to relax or had any time off?
“There’s no such thing as time off in reality, those within the game know themselves that for supporters there is a chance to relax across May and June but for ourselves and the club officials it’s the busiest time of the year. We are looking to sort pre-season games out, adjust the playing squads as we will have ins and outs, there are things like affiliations to The FA that we need to sort out. Everything happens quicker these days earlier than it used to, we had clubs announcing pre-season games as early as April/May. Pre-season is looking ok and there’s not a day that goes by where I’m not doing something to do with South Liverpool. I will try and sneak in a couple of weeks away to Spain with my wife and back in the day that will have involved the classic line ‘get away from it all’ but there is no such thing these days with the way phones are. I'll just have to check my phone discreetly when we're away!”
“I did get a chance to watch some of the World Cup games and like everyone else, I’m a bit disappointed about England going out but same old story for me, England do well against the standard teams and when we come up against someone decent, we fall short.”
That’s a fair assumption and we know where Martin is coming from. Martin touched on pre-season there, so we asked him how that was going and had the player turnover been hearty?
“Pre-season has gone really well, we have had 11/12 training sessions so far mixed in with a couple of games, these games in-turn have gone well, getting minutes and into good habits. The lads have trained hard, been well attended and things have gone well. Yes, like many other teams we have lost a few players, but also we have also attracted a number of players in. That’s one of the difficult things with pre-season in a way as you have a lot of change in the player group and you can sometimes lose that togetherness that has been built up over time. Trying to gel them all together can be a challenge but we as coaching staff are doing our part by integrating the new squad together and there are a number of good lads who have come in and understand what we are looking to do. ”
There has been a lot of talk around the League about the risk of lateral movements of clubs between the NWCFL and The Midlands League in particular. We asked Martin how that had impacted his preparation and was he surprised to remain in the league?
“We all heard that noise and we were aware that there was a real risk of us being moved in that direction, in all fairness this was mentioned to all clubs at least seasons League AGM and I believe a reminder was put out to all clubs this summer too. We also have a Club Chairman (Gary Langley) who is more aware than many of the risks and he kept us as up to date as he could. That said, there is nothing that we can do as coaches about that, wherever we would have ended up we would have took the challenge on. It would not have been our preferred option and it’s really strange seeing a Midlands League Step 5 Division that has a huge group of what would be classed as typical NWCFL clubs in it. I was as surprised as anyone to see the Manchester Clubs moved across but its fair warning to all in Merseyside, The Wirral and Manchester.”
“I’m happy that we remained in it and even then, our task has been made tougher with the numbers being reduced from 24 to 20 clubs but it is one that we will have a good go at. Naturally we want to avoid relegation first and foremost. Last season not only did we improve but we also got 15 points more than the season before and we will be looking to improve again. First things first consolidate staying in the division and then we will go after last seasons points tally and if we can get anywhere near that we will have had a good season.”
It will be a tough season for sure for all teams, so we asked Martin who he viewed as the leading challengers this season in a different looking NWCFL Premier Division. Also, with a large number of clubs having changed managers does this intrigue him as one of the league longest serving gaffers?
“Main challengers, well FC St Helens spring to mind, they have recruited really well and I expect them to be up there. Some people have been writing Ramsbottom off with their change of Manager and player turnover but I absolutely expect them to be up there with their on and off field line-up looking good. Chadderton, they have been so close of late with a solid line-up, Trafford - theyhave strengthened since dropping out of the NPL and of course I am hoping that South Liverpool can be in the mix, if we can have another good start and keep that consistency across the final third of the season, who knows?”
“Long serving Managers are a bit of an endangered species, there’s not too much patience out there in a throw-away society and this includes football. When I think about Managers at all levels over the years, many of the successful ones were given time. Im an Evertonian and Howard Kendall back in the day was given time despite a tough start and he created a golden era. Alex Ferguson at Man United, that is well documented as a masterstroke of patience as he was on a sticky wicket for some time. Nowadays if you don’t get it right in a short space of time, the managers themselves feel an obligation to walk because they haven’t achieved instant success, some clubs are also like that themselves where they feel change guarantees an upturn, it doesn’t. Long serving managers are rare but the ones who are around are doing the business.”
“Like everyone else, I’m looking forward to getting going and whatever happens, we will give it a good go and here’s hoping for another season of drama and maybe some success thrown into the bargain. If we don’t put the work in though, it won’t happen.”
South ready to "Go again"
Sat 18th July 2026 | South Liverpool
By
After a season where there was a number of changes around the squad even before a ball was kicked, NWCFL Premier Division side, South Liverpool, managed a fourth consecutive improved finish position since returning to the National League system. With pre-season well under way and the fixtures starting to come in, long-serving Manager/Director of Football Martin Ryman is clearly looking forward to the challenge.
We spoke with Martin this week and started by asking him if he has had a chance to relax or had any time off?
“There’s no such thing as time off in reality, those within the game know themselves that for supporters there is a chance to relax across May and June but for ourselves and the club officials it’s the busiest time of the year. We are looking to sort pre-season games out, adjust the playing squads as we will have ins and outs, there are things like affiliations to The FA that we need to sort out. Everything happens quicker these days earlier than it used to, we had clubs announcing pre-season games as early as April/May. Pre-season is looking ok and there’s not a day that goes by where I’m not doing something to do with South Liverpool. I will try and sneak in a couple of weeks away to Spain with my wife and back in the day that will have involved the classic line ‘get away from it all’ but there is no such thing these days with the way phones are. I'll just have to check my phone discreetly when we're away!”
“I did get a chance to watch some of the World Cup games and like everyone else, I’m a bit disappointed about England going out but same old story for me, England do well against the standard teams and when we come up against someone decent, we fall short.”
That’s a fair assumption and we know where Martin is coming from. Martin touched on pre-season there, so we asked him how that was going and had the player turnover been hearty?
“Pre-season has gone really well, we have had 11/12 training sessions so far mixed in with a couple of games, these games in-turn have gone well, getting minutes and into good habits. The lads have trained hard, been well attended and things have gone well. Yes, like many other teams we have lost a few players, but also we have also attracted a number of players in. That’s one of the difficult things with pre-season in a way as you have a lot of change in the player group and you can sometimes lose that togetherness that has been built up over time. Trying to gel them all together can be a challenge but we as coaching staff are doing our part by integrating the new squad together and there are a number of good lads who have come in and understand what we are looking to do. ”
There has been a lot of talk around the League about the risk of lateral movements of clubs between the NWCFL and The Midlands League in particular. We asked Martin how that had impacted his preparation and was he surprised to remain in the league?
“We all heard that noise and we were aware that there was a real risk of us being moved in that direction, in all fairness this was mentioned to all clubs at least seasons League AGM and I believe a reminder was put out to all clubs this summer too. We also have a Club Chairman (Gary Langley) who is more aware than many of the risks and he kept us as up to date as he could. That said, there is nothing that we can do as coaches about that, wherever we would have ended up we would have took the challenge on. It would not have been our preferred option and it’s really strange seeing a Midlands League Step 5 Division that has a huge group of what would be classed as typical NWCFL clubs in it. I was as surprised as anyone to see the Manchester Clubs moved across but its fair warning to all in Merseyside, The Wirral and Manchester.”
“I’m happy that we remained in it and even then, our task has been made tougher with the numbers being reduced from 24 to 20 clubs but it is one that we will have a good go at. Naturally we want to avoid relegation first and foremost. Last season not only did we improve but we also got 15 points more than the season before and we will be looking to improve again. First things first consolidate staying in the division and then we will go after last seasons points tally and if we can get anywhere near that we will have had a good season.”
It will be a tough season for sure for all teams, so we asked Martin who he viewed as the leading challengers this season in a different looking NWCFL Premier Division. Also, with a large number of clubs having changed managers does this intrigue him as one of the league longest serving gaffers?
“Main challengers, well FC St Helens spring to mind, they have recruited really well and I expect them to be up there. Some people have been writing Ramsbottom off with their change of Manager and player turnover but I absolutely expect them to be up there with their on and off field line-up looking good. Chadderton, they have been so close of late with a solid line-up, Trafford - theyhave strengthened since dropping out of the NPL and of course I am hoping that South Liverpool can be in the mix, if we can have another good start and keep that consistency across the final third of the season, who knows?”
“Long serving Managers are a bit of an endangered species, there’s not too much patience out there in a throw-away society and this includes football. When I think about Managers at all levels over the years, many of the successful ones were given time. Im an Evertonian and Howard Kendall back in the day was given time despite a tough start and he created a golden era. Alex Ferguson at Man United, that is well documented as a masterstroke of patience as he was on a sticky wicket for some time. Nowadays if you don’t get it right in a short space of time, the managers themselves feel an obligation to walk because they haven’t achieved instant success, some clubs are also like that themselves where they feel change guarantees an upturn, it doesn’t. Long serving managers are rare but the ones who are around are doing the business.”
“Like everyone else, I’m looking forward to getting going and whatever happens, we will give it a good go and here’s hoping for another season of drama and maybe some success thrown into the bargain. If we don’t put the work in though, it won’t happen.”
