Prescot Cables boss Daley plots instant return after relegation heartbreak

Prescot Cables manager Ste Daley has revealed he began plotting his side’s revival within a day of their relegation from the Northern Premier League last season, according to The Non-League Football Paper.

The Cables were relegated on the final day of the 2025-26 campaign, missing out on safety by a single point. It was a cruel end to a season that had begun with genuine optimism at the Prescot ground.

Speaking to The NLP, Daley admitted the drop hit hard but insisted there was no time to dwell on what might have been. “I started thinking the next day about how we can bounce back,” he said. “Every manager will tell you the work never stops, and that’s true for us.”

Play-off pain follows play-off glory

The relegation is particularly painful given how recently Cables had reached the top flight of the Northern Premier League. Daley’s side earned promotion via the play-offs, winning the West Division route at the end of the 2023-24 season.

That rapid rise made last term’s struggle all the harder to take, with the club fighting until the very last day of the fixture list only to fall agonisingly short of retaining their status.

Daley’s response has been to move quickly on rebuilding the squad, with the manager keen to ensure his players are ready to challenge for an instant return rather than allow the disappointment to linger.

Rivals await in the division below

Prescot Cables will now be plying their trade back among familiar non-league opposition, with sides such as 1874 Northwich, Bamber Bridge, Bootle, Lower Breck and Warrington Town among the clubs they could come up against in the season ahead.

For Daley, the aim is clear: use the disappointment of relegation as fuel to build a side capable of pushing straight back towards the level Cables had only recently reached.

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