Following the end of Widnes Wild’s 23/24 season, assistant coach Mark Gillingham has decided to call time on his coaching career due to work commitments.

Mark has been a key part of the coaching staff from the very beginning, starting as head coach back in the inaugural 2013 season, then stepping down to coach alongside Richard Charles, Jason Coles and most recently Josh Grocutt.

Under his coaching, Widnes Wild have collected numerous trophies, including becoming NIHL Division 2 playoff champions from 2016-2019 and winning the NIHLD2 league in 2019 which led Widnes to take the step up into Division 1 hockey. Since then, the Wild have also won the NIHL North Cup both in 2021 and 2022 and most notably the Moralee cup in their first season of D1 hockey in 21/22.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Gilly in all he has done for the club over the seasons and also his mum and dad who have volunteered for Widnes over several seasons.