Craig Rouse is a man that is synonymous with Pontefract Collieries, whether that’s from his time as a goalscoring forward or to his time in the dugout.
January 26th 2023 marked the two year anniversary of his appointment as First Team Manager and the start of his first stint as a first team manager. We caught up with the man himself, to discuss some of the highlights and what he’s looking at moving forward this year;
Congratulations on surpassing your two year anniversary, tell us what it means to have reached this milestone at a club you’ve been involved with for years?
I’ve always had a close connection to the club and I’m honoured to have had two years at the helm, in an era where loyalty and backing from clubs is in short supply. The backing we’ve had from the club to do our roles has been good and there’s a good healthy relationship between the club, staff, players and supporters.
From playing for the club, to now leading the current crop of players, how does it compare?
I’ve always been the type of character who’s fully committed and that’s never changed in management. The responsibilities are obviously higher, but naturally I’ll always strive to do my best while ever I’m in the role. I’ve been lucky enough to have success at the club both in playing and management and I’ll keep working to try and deliver more successful days with a brilliant squad that is currently at the club.
In your two years the club have had some memorable days and some extraordinary evenings, what’s your highlight so far and what more are you looking to add your name to in the Colls history books?
There’s been plenty of highlights and there’s been moments where I’ve felt we could and should have done better,but that’s football. The key for us moving forward is to try and replicate our stronger performances on a more consistent basis. There’s a lot of football still to be played and a lot of things we can still achieve so our full focus is on that.
A big game this weekend against the league leaders, how key is it to build on our victory over Stockton to try and claim another three points?
It is a tough game against strong opponents, the same as last weeks. No matter who we play we want to win games. There’s obviously a connection between the clubs, but for us the focus is solely on the game and trying to get the result we need to reach our aims that we set as a squad.