THE former manager of Wigan Athletic goalkeeper Sam Tickle from his Pilkington FC days spoke of his pride at seeing the 21-year-old take to the pitch against Manchester United this week.
Tickle was in goal for Latics at a sold-out DW Stadium as they faced Manchester United in the FA Cup third round on Monday evening.
Tickle signed for Ruskin-based Pilkington FC aged 16 in 2018, making 21 league appearances and he was named player of the season as they won the Cheshire Football League in 2018/19.
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And there was no prouder man than Pilks former manager and director Stephen Palfrey on Monday evening.
“He was a good one, that year he ended up getting Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year, and of course we won the league that year and got promoted which was fantastic,” said Stephen.
“It was great to go and watch him (on Monday). It was a great experience for him to play against his boyhood team.”
United progressed through to the next round on the night 2-0 thanks to goals by Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes.
Ste believes Tickle has a bright future ahead of him in the top levels of the game.
“It’s fantastic for him, that kid is going only one way,” he added.
“He is a very level-headed kid, he was down here a couple of weeks ago and was still as grounded as the days we had him in our team.”
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