We are delighted to announce that Lewis Whitham has signed a new contract with the club for the 2024/25 season.
One player who cannot wait for the new season to come is Guiseley forward Lewis Whitham who has spent the last year on the sidelines battling for recovery from a serious knee injury, writes Rachel O’Connor.
Whitham, 22, has faced a long journey since sustaining a complete tear of his ACL, MCL and Meniscus in the game at Marine in March, 2023.
Now he can see the light at the end of the tunnel and is looking forward to pulling on a Guiseley shirt once again as the new season gets underway.
The South Yorkshire-based player said: “It has been tough, really tough, more mentally than physically. I would not have got through all this without the Guiseley club and its supporters.
“They paid for me to have the operation privately so that I could get treatment straight away. The club provided physio and other support and kept me motivated by gjving me another contract when I could not play.”
He added: “I cannot wait to get back playing to be able to reward them all. The club have been so patient with me. It was a lot longer process than I thought, maybe 15 months in all.”
To help with his mental health Whitham has, away from football, taken on a job as a delivery driver. He said: “I have left football coaching behind. I needed to get out in the fresh air and open spaces and I find it relaxing and am happy doing it. It allows me to fit in my football and my gym work.”
Whitham, like all his Guiseley colleagues, will start the new season under a new management team in Mark Bower and Danny Boshell and he is looking forward to that.
“I have spoken to the manager and it is clear that he wants the club to progress. He has done it with this club before and he knows the club inside out. It is a hard league and we have to get a winning mindset.
“We got in a good position last season but then heads seemed to go down. We need to have leaders all over the pitch and 100 per cent I will be there.
“If plans go as we want in pre-season we should be up there for a play-off spot or better, the manager wants to win the league and has already shown the drive to get us back up there.”
Whitham is somewhat of a cheeky chappy and is very popular with the supporters, who are eagerly awaiting his return to action. He is a player who excites the crowd every time he steps on the field.
A fund was set up to raise over £8,500 to fund the operation Whitham needed and he is eternally grateful to all who contributed and hopes to re-pay them when he is back on the pitch.
Supporters, teammates and others associated with the club chipped in.
Whitham, who scored seven goals in 17 starts after joining Guiseley from Alfreton Town in November, 2022, was full of praise for everyone at the club.
He said: “I cannot thank everyone who has contributed enough. I love this club to bits, I have enjoyed every single minute I have been here and I love being around it and the people involved in it.
“The club giving me a new contract when I was injured showed massive faith in me and I appreciate it. I just want to get back out there on the pitch now.”
