Wakefield AFC focus on promotion bid after beating Sheffield Wednesday in pre-season friendly
- Seb Sternik
- 27 July 2023
Wakefield AFC capped off their pre-season campaign with an impressive win over Sheffield Wednesday. Their attention now turns onto the new season which gets underway this Saturday.
Wakefield AFC's main goal is to 'push for promotion' admitted head coach Gabriel Mozzini following his team's 3-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday.
The West Yorkshire outfit, who represent the biggest city in England without a professional football team, kick off their NCEL Division 1 campaign this weekend.
Victory over the Owls - albeit a very young Wednesday side - left Mozzini impressed in the final pre-season outing of the season.
"I'm very pleased with the way we have performed," he told Planet Sport.
"We've been training a few specific things and when you come up against a side like Sheffield Wednesday - even though it was a young side - they're clearly well trained and well drilled.
"It was a great challenge for us. In my opinion we coped well, got some good goals. Overall, it was a good match. Really pleased with the game."
Wakefield pushed for promotion last season only to ultimately fall in a play-off semi-final against Rossington Main
The West Yorkshire side - who are five divisions below the EFL - will look to put forward another promotion charge in 2023/24.
"I do think we can possibly push for promotion," said Mozzini. "That's our main goal. We've been training for that.
"Our league is very competitive - anyone can take points off you. That's how it was last year, we finished fourth.
"We are coming with that mindset of competing for promotion and for winning the league. At the same time, we know it's not going to be easy, so we are very much looking forward to it."
Mozzini, who previously worked with the academy at Queens Park Rangers, admitted the job of building the team from the ground up appealed to him.
The head coach said: "Overall, I'm very excited [about the project]. It was one of the main reasons if not the main reason why I joined.
"The idea of building something form the bottom up in Wakefield. There's clearly a demand for a football team in the city. The community wants it and supports us."
He added: "The long-term plan is something that I wanted to be part of. At the same time, it was a step up to adult football, I was at academies before.
"It was a great match and a great opportunity. Once I joined, we got promoted from step seven to step six. We finished fourth last year and looking to fight for promotion again this upcoming season."
As a boost to their brand, Wakefield will play their home games in their hometown after moving over from their initial spell in Featherstone.
The football club will ground-share with Super League side Wakefield Trinity.
"There are a few pro teams that will have worse grounds than this," said Mozzini. "We are very fortunate to have this deal with Wakefield Trinity.
"We came from Featherstone to Wakefield which makes more sense for us. The same name, the same colours. Just by coming here we can tell attendances will be higher - just by being in Wakefield.
"The ground is just amazing. For our level it's very unusual. We hope to take advantage of it."
Wakefield kick off their campaign away against Retford United this Saturday. Their first home game will come against Staveley Miners Welfare on Tuesday, August 1.
