Boss Dean Shiels reveals captain Douglas Wilson’s exit call night before game

Ballymena finished with a 5-1 success - with Wilson named in the starting line-up as captain before Shiels made a call to substitute the player after around 40 minutes.

Shiels, who was appointed as Swifts boss earlier this month, used his post-match interview to highlight the pre-contract agreement by Wilson.

“I’ve got my captain ringing me the night before the game, telling me he’s signing for the opposition,” said Shiels in a video posted on the Swifts’ YouTube channel. “So, how do you deal with that?

“I get a phone call on Friday night by Dougie Wilson to say that he’s signing for Ballymena the night before we play Ballymena.

“So you tell me, has he let me down, has he let his teammates down? I don’t know.”

In the interview, Shiels confirmed the decision to substitute Wilson with the scoreline at 2-0 due to “his performance wasn’t good enough”.

When asked would Wilson continue to play for a Swifts side he has represented since 2014, Shiels said: “I don’t know”.

The Swifts boss went on to outline plans for reshaping the Swifts: “I’ve told the board there are too many, we have to balance the squad, we don’t have enough in certain areas and too many in others...I have to learn what I need to strengthen in the summer and what I want to keep.”

--

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world.

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you