Hello. Here we go again. Season three already! Wait, that’s wrong – it’s season four. What the hell has happened with my numbering system? Balls, haven’t got time to read back over each piece and work out what I have missed.
This is definitely season four – we’ve won three promotions. Numbers are scrapped!
Anyway, when we left it yesterday it was matchday one in the EvoStick Premier League – basically, Division 7 of English football.
Stafford Town have never, ever been anywhere near this level – it is very much unchartered territory and, possibly, a step too far.
And, when Rowan Smith clipped their striker in the box after 90 seconds or so I was certainly of the belief we might struggle in this division.
We went 1-0 down to Bamber Bridge away, then got level. Then they went up to 4-1 and I thought that was it. But NO! John Nicholl scored on debut (ex-Forest Academy kid) and Ethan Pickford brought an audible GET IN from me that made the wife look sideways. 34-3 with nine minutes left – could we nick a point? No. But, that last half an hour gave me hope.
Valid hope too – we’ve made a more than acceptable start to the season. That 2-1 home defeat to Lutterworth was another learning experience – 1-0 up with 30 left and we managed to lose it in injury time. 2-0 up away to Morpeth became 2-2 before we led 3-2 – and then conceded in the 87th minute.
Hemel Hempstead (National League!) scored their equaliser in the 94th minute to force a replay (kinda glad they did actually, as it gave us the chance to put in our finest-ever performance in the replay!)
This has led to considering some kind of shut-up-shop tactic for the last ten if we are ahead – we’ve never needed it but maybe we do now.
So far, the team is finding its feet in this league whilst also settling down a bit into a regular starting XI – the main change and find is John Nicholl, the kid we picked up when he was released by Forest.
A decent start to his Stafford Town career, but you’d assume he’ll leave the moment someone else flutters their eyelids given he is a mercenary.
So this is where we are at after six league matches – Stafford Rangers will win the league I reckon and I’ll be delighted if we challenge for the playoffs. Early signs tell me we should avoid a relegation battle.
Cup-wise, we have a good chance of beating Cheshunt in the FA Cup Third Qualifying Round. I’d also hope we can beat Redditch in the Trophy. In the Northern Premier League Cup, we should ease past Loughboro Dynamoes.
Financially, we continue to grow.
We are £33K to the good this season, mainly due to gate receipts and matchday income. We’ve also clawed in £9K in prize money so far.
“Other” continues to be the main expense – £16K to date. We really do run things on a shoestring here but it has worked so far!
I’d have to check back and see how this compares to a couple of seasons ago, but it cannot have changed too much given that the players are pretty much the same.
It’s a bit odd that our left-back is our highest appearance fee and he’s not that amazing. Walshy, the one I am hoping becomes a class LCB option when retrained is the one closest to £100 a game. I don’t know how long we’ll be able to sustain this – only one player I have tried to sign has been coming after a PT contract at £110 a week, which I shat myself over and walked away from.
We are now at a stage where players are getting offers all the time but we are losing very few – probably because we are doing OK. So there is minimal stress. If anybody (other than Nicholl maybe) was to leave, I know we have someone equally capable of stepping in.
It’s a big six weeks ahead with all of the early season cup action PLUS the first proper derby match against Stafford Rangers at their place. We’ll know a lot more about this season after that little run.
Let’s fly around the other clubs in Staffordshire.
Two levels below us, Leek Town are just above the relegation zone – I am shocked at this.
One level below, Hanley sit second early in the season and Hednesford are in the relegation zone.
Above us, Tamworth sit in 11th in the National League North.
Port Vale lead League Two, Burton are 17th in League One and Stoke are 10th in the Championship.
It looks like I might be at Town for a little while yet!
