Craig Westcarr lifts lid on Hucknall Town exit and looks back fondly at his time with the club

Craig Westcarr has left Hucknall Town Football Club after two seasons it was announced earlier this week.

In his time at the club, the striker scored an impressive 73 goals in 94 appearances in all competitions.

Now his time at The RM Stadium has come to an end, Westcarr has spoken openly for the first time about the last two years.

It all culminated with promotion via the playoffs as Hucknall beat Birstall United on penalties in the final, with Westcarr one of the five Hucknall takers that found the back of the net.

Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News, Westcarr was positive about his time as a player at the club.

He said: "Hucknall was great. To be fair I felt at home, I felt really comfortable, really enjoyed my time. The fans have been amazing.

"I've kept my distance on the social media side and the after game stuff when people get involved in stuff they shouldn't do, I've kept myself away from it, I think it's turned out really well. You can only put in the effort if you feel good enough and I've felt good, it's worked out brilliantly.

"I think the fact of the matter is my mentality is at the end of the day they (the fans) pay money to watch you so I try and give as best as I can, this is kind of what I do and don't try to short change them. Just give an honest approach on and off the pitch. I've always thought I don't want to leave stuff on the pitch. At the end of the day you work hard, you get your rewards and people they give you respect.

"When I started Hucknall, I think a few people got in their heads he's here just for a last hurrah or whatever but it wasn't like that. My attitude was, and the boys will tell you, I kept saying to them, I haven't come here to lose every week."

This winning mentality genuinely shines through when speaking to him and is more than public relations spiel intended as a soundbite to appease the press.

Back in the summer of 2021, the announcement that Westcarr was joining Hucknall, was seen as a major coup given his stellar career.

The forward came through the Nottingham Forest academy, and in 2001, became the youngest player to ever play for their first team when at the age of 16, he made a late substitute appearance at The City Ground in a league game against Burnley; a record that still stands today.

After being released by Forest in 2005, he enjoyed successful spells in non-league football with Cambridge United and Kettering Town respectively, gaining promotion with the latter from the Conference North.

This attracted the attention of Notts County and he returned to league football with the Magpies, playing a key role in their League Two title winning campaign of 2009/10, scoring 11 goals in all competitions.

After his time at Meadow Lane came to an end, Westcarr moved to rivals Chesterfield, and again won more silverware, as he added the Football League Trophy to his collection in 2012. He scored in the final at Wembley Stadium as The Spireites ran out 2-0 winners over Swindon Town.

Following his time at Chesterfield, he played for Walsall, Portsmouth and Mansfield Town before moving back into non-league football in 2016.

Since then, a prolific couple of years at Alfreton were a highlight where he averaged a goal every three games as well as spells at Matlock Town and Grantham Town.

When he was unveiled as a Yellows player, then manager Andy Graves said: "We're thrilled to welcome Craig to the club. It's great to be able to have a player in the squad who has such an excellent background in the game and he still has a lot to offer.

"We're really hopeful that he can play a big role for us and his experience should be invaluable."

This proved to be an accurate statement as Westcarr scored 41 league goals in his first season, comfortably finishing as the club's top goal scorer and the third highest scorer in the Uhlsport United Counties Division One league.

Photo Credit: Lee Fox Photography.

Hucknall finished fifth, securing the final playoff place on the final day of the season. However, the season ended in disappointing fashion as they were swept aside 3-0 in the semi-finals by Hinckley AFC.

Looking back Westcarr said: "The first season we weren't really ready for them."

However, he feels the defeat motivated him further as he wanted to help the club "try to put the wrongs right".

The summer brought a change of manager as Graves was replaced with Andy Ingle and just a couple of months into the season the club left Watnall Road, their home for 79 years and moved to a brand-new purpose-built ground on Aerial Way halfway through the campaign.

Hucknall finished one place higher in the table with Westcarr again their top scorer, finding the back of the net on 30 occasions.

They then held their nerve in the playoffs winning both their semi-final match against Bourne Town, and the final, on penalties.

Despite all that Westcarr has achieved in his illustrious career, he still thoroughly enjoyed clinching promotion with The Yellows and regards it as a proud moment.

He added: "You can't beat winning the playoffs and that feeling of winning a trophy with the fans. Both semi-finals and finals are where I love to be.

"I just love football and being in those situations and being under pressure and I tried to deliver as much as I can for the team which the fans do recognise."

After such a successful chapter, it might surprise the fans that Westcarr has taken the decision to leave the football club rather than continue as the club moves up to Step 5 of the non-league pyramid.

However, Westcarr feels he had no choice after what he describes as a lack of communication from the management team about their plans for next season which left him in the dark over whether they wanted to keep him at the club or not.

"Obviously we finished the playoffs, and nothing really got back in terms of contact, but we had the awards, still nothing, no inkling obviously personally for me, of just saying look we want to do this or just hold on or whatever.

"So, communication wasn't the best in terms of that. But the decision was just to have a new challenge, it does come around full circle. In the seasons that I've had it's been similar stuff with communication, just respect wise. I'm happy to have a new challenge now, just to go from there.

"That's kind of the reasoning behind it, in the end just wanting a new challenge, and communication wasn't great up until I called him (Ingle) yesterday (Tuesday 23 May). I've had to push something that was clean two/three weeks ago. Even if it was just look we're doing this, we've got stuff in the background just hold on, brilliant, or look we don't want you or look we do want you but just wait, yeah brilliant.

"To not have the courtesy just to drop us a text or call and say this is the crack mate. What is the excuse? If you don't want someone, you don't want someone."

It is clear that Westcarr is disappointed with the way things have been handled regarding his exit but doesn't want it to overshadow what was generally an enjoyable two years.

"I've thoroughly enjoyed it, I've enjoyed being with the lads, it's been great. It's not worked out in the end in terms of the communication and stuff like that for someone's who's played two years and given it everything for you."

Asked what's next the 38-year-old insists he wants to continue playing and has no plans to retire just yet.

"There are a few clubs I've spoken to already, and I will just make a decision off that. I just want to get somewhere again and enjoy it as well."

What are your memories of Craig Westcarr at Hucknall Town and how do you feel about his exit? Let us know your thoughts by emailing [email protected] or by adding a comment on our social media channels.