LIAM Moran knows he will see tears as Droylsden FC go for glory. Hopefully, happy ones.
Then there may be a few of his own as he weighs up whether to call it a day.
The Bloods stand 90 minutes from promotion to the North West Counties League Premier Division.
Defeat Euxton Villa at the Butchers Arms in the North Division Play-Off Final and they would have made their first step up since being brought back to life after Covid-19 saw them mothballed for three years.
And captain Moran knows what a boost that would be to a club so important to its community.
Something that was clear to see after the penalty shootout win over Holker Old Boys which set up the Saturday, April 26 clash.
“I saw some of the fans in tears after we defeated Holker Old Boys, that’s how much it means to them,” said Liam.
“It’s mad and that drives me on more than anything, seeing how much it means to people who’ve lived through not knowing if the club would still be going.
“Droylsden had to pull out of one stage, so to have a bit of success will make it all worthwhile for them.
“And being a Droylsden player, you constantly feel it. Personally, I’ve never been at a club with a fan base like it. People on social media are always in touch about the Bloods.
“The club’s definitely there but it’s hard to explain how much the support is, you feel it all the time. They’re messaging constantly and they absolutely love for it. It’s their life, so for me, I want to do it for them as much as for myself.
“Hopefully, I see tears, happy ones, on fans’ faces, 100 per cent – a few of the players will maybe shed a tear too!
Attendances at Droylsden have showed how big the club is to the town. More than 800 people attended the Holker Old Boys game and captain Moran expects ‘a lot more’ against Euxton.
Having achieved promotion from fifth place, the lowest ranking team where Euxton finished, with Cheadle Town, the 35-year-old knows his side – which ended in third – is there to be shot at.
He added: “We’ve played them three times, the two league games have been 2-1 in our favour and they beat us 3-2 in the Edward Case Cup.
“It’s going to be a tough game again, another tight one I expect, so hopefully we come out on the right side of this.
“Obviously, they finished fifth but when I was Cheadle we won from there, so there’s no way on earth anyone would be underestimating them.
“Because Cheadle played away and then away again, it made it even sweeter and you know that the pressure’s on the home side.
“We just need to make sure that we keep our heads and don’t let the pressure get to us.”
Once the Euxton match is out of the way, with promotion hopefully secured, the big question comes for Liam, ‘Do I go on?’
Having won a clean sweep of player of the year awards, you could be forgiven for thinking there was no doubt.
But combining a physical job as an engineer for Openreach with a much tougher fixture schedule – 46 league games instead of 34 – will all form part of his thinking.
Liam told The Correspondent: “I’m very kind of energetic myself, but it’s more the mental side of it.
“If you’ve got long days, with, say, a midweek game away at Holker, you’re in at like 1am, then you’re up for work at 5am or 6am.
“Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it so I wouldn’t change it but I’ll see after the Euxton game.
“I was more or less certain I was going to finish because I’m older. However, I don’t know now.
“I don’t want to 100 per cent decide to knock it on my head and then miss it, so a couple of months’ rest and then I’ll see, but there are lots more games in the league above.
“You’re playing most Tuesdays and Saturdays, whereas this season we’ve not played one or two midweek games since Christmas.
“And the awards have probably given me a bit more to think of, thinking, ‘Well, I’ve still got it. I’m still doing alright.’
“But I’d swap all of them to guarantee a 1-0 win over Euxton Villa. 100 per cent.”