Chris Vessey introduces the clubs we will meet this season in the Blue Square Premier.
Aldershot Town
The Shots have had a relatively quiet summer since the announcement of Gary Waddock as first team manager. Waddock replaces caretaker manager Martin Kuhl who was looking after team affairs since Terry Brown quit the Shots after his wife was diagnosed terminally ill last March.
Rather than wield the axe from the start, Waddock signed three of the clubs stars on long term contracts. The experienced trio of Ricky Newman, Ryan Williams and Ryan Hilton were all told Waddock required them as part of the furniture at the Rec' for the near future. Waddock's first disappointment as manager was the news that top scorer John Grant would need surgery on his groin, meaning the former Halifax front-man would miss the opening weeks of the campaign. The club have swooped to sign West Brom's Rob Elvins for a year to counter this bad news.
Shots fans rejoiced a month ago when outstanding 'keeper Nikki Bull penned a new deal to keep him in Hampshire for another two years. Bull was best remembered for his heroics against Cambridge in the monumental 1-0 Cambridge victory which many believe saved United from relegation.
Aldershot's expectations have already been meted out by the chairman - play-offs at least. This season will be the Shots' fifth campaign at the pinnacle of non-league, the first three of which they easily reached the play-offs. In 2003/04 they were beaten in the final by Jimmy Quinn's Shrewsbury Town, and that taste of near success whetted the appetite for more, hence why last season's 9th placed finish was met with disappointment. If you consider the fact Aldershot were in 4th place heading into November, last season will be filed under 'must do better'. If John Grant can stay fit and hit the net as he did last season, and Nikki Bull once again performs as well as he did against us, the Shots could be worth an outside shout for the play-offs.
Altrincham
Despite finishing fourth bottom and therefore relegated (for the second season running), Alty will be competing in the Blue Square Premier for one more season at least. Due to Boston's inability to ensure their fixtures could be fulfilled and impending financial disaster, they were forced to plummet from League 2 to the Conference North. Boston's devastation became Altrincham's joy as the club were therefore reinstated.
Manager Graham Heathcote reacted to this by calling on experience to try and avoid a 'third time unlucky' relegation. Darren Tinson, Jake Sedgemore and Chris Lane, all Conference stalwarts and all over 30, have joined the Robins on year long deals. One blow was losing talented teenager Lewis Chalmers who surprisingly signed for divisional rivals Aldershot after he was tipped to join neighbours Stockport County. The 19-year-old midfielder was head and shoulders above everyone last season and it was no surprise to see him leave for pastures new.
Although he announced he was leaving at the end of the coming season, Alty chairman Geoff Goodwin has declared he will be staying on for the foreseeable future. He has admitted his work is not done at Moss Lane, and is determined to see the job through, whatever that is, as he has not given any concrete reasons as to what he is going to do! The coach company owner is believed to have run out of patience trying to find a successor to the club and decided to plough on himself instead.
The loss of Chalmers is a massive blow to Alty, and they will need to work hard if they are to avoid relegation again. Better away form is a must - it took them seven months of the season to register their first win on the road. On a brighter note striker Chris Senior has decided to permanently sign from Halifax after a spell on loan last season. His partnership with veteran forward Colin Little is vital to Alty's success. Should they fail, expect the Robins to struggle.
Burton Albion
The Brewers agonisingly missed out on the play-offs by three measly points after spending most of the season in the top five. Despite being flanked by the more illustrious likes of York, Exeter and Oxford, Burton almost became the play-off surprise package but unfortunately a home defeat to Rushden on the final day ensured Exeter would finish fifth and take the last coveted play-off berth. Despite missing out, last season can be considered as a massive success as most thought Albion would suffer more mid-table mediocrity.
Credit goes to Nigel Clough for his sterling work at the Pirelli Stadium and the progress made over the past five years.
Since they burst onto the Conference scene as Unibond champions in 2002 Burton have ended the season 16th (twice), 14th, 9th and 6th.
Last season's unprecedented success has raised expectations and a similar challenge must be mounted this campaign. But when you have a striker like Daryl Clare, arguably the best player in the Conference, anything can be achieved.
Clough has persuaded 41-year-old 'keeper Kevin Poole to stay on for one more season and has picked at the bones of Boston's demise by signing the Pilgrims out-of-contract pair Mark Greaves and David Farrell. Other than that the squad remains largely the same as last season bar the trimming of a few fringe players. Burton have also made the conscious decision to stay 'semi-professional' despite most of their squad being on full-time contracts. The Brewers look like they could really push on this season for one of the four play-off spots if Daryl Clare keeps his shooting boots on, which many are sure the former 'Conference Golden Boot' winner will.
Crawley Town
Football wouldn't be football if we didn't have a summer crisis at Crawley Town. Last season's ten point deduction proved only a minor hindrance as the club easily avoided relegation due to wonderful work by John Hollins, who was unbelievably sacked after guiding his side to mid-table. Youth coach John Yems then took the mantle and as the side slipped down the table relegation would never be an issue, finishing two points behind ourselves in 18th. Yems was duly disposed of by controversial chairman Chas Majeed, who appointed equally controversial Steve Evans as manager!
Evans is infamously known not only for relegating Boston United last season, but for causing mass controversy when Boston first gained promotion to the League. After a lengthy investigation Evans was charged with paying players outside of their wages and failing to notify the FA. He received a ban and Boston were deducted four points.
Crawley almost met the same fate as Boston as the fixture release date was delayed so Crawley could ensure they would be able to fulfil this season's fixtures. Then came the news that CVA payments had not been met, but the Conference board stressed there would be not be another points deduction. A fans group is still trying to wrestle control of the club back from the Majeeds but without success so far.
Back to the football, Evans has made a host of impressive signings in the build up to the season, and with his managerial acumen Crawley could surprise a few people this term, if the club can sort out their finances. Guy Madjo, Thomas Pinault, Tyrone Thompson, Glenn Wilson and Magno Vieira are just a pick of the eyebrow raising players Evans has accrued.
Droylsden
The Bloods are one of five teams this season making their first appearance in the top tier of non-league football. Droylsden, which is based in Greater Manchester, are managed by Dave Pace, who also owns the club. Pace took over The Bloods in 1998 and has built the club up from financial ruin. Having made himself a millionaire from his window fitting business, Pace has invested £3,000,000 over the past nine years including the redevelopment of their ground, the 'Butchers Arms', into a fine non-league residence with a team to match.
Along with the good work he has done for his club Pace has developed a reputation for being quite the outspoken one. One major run in with Altrincham manager Graham Heathcote has already seen the fans of both sides licking their lips at this season's clashes.
The Bloods coasted to the Conference North title with numerous games to spare last season, which included a 3-0 success at fellow promotion side Farsley Celtic. Their squad includes two of non-league's prolific strikers, Terry Fearns and Jody Banim. Fearns fired Southport to the North title the previous season by hitting the net over 30 times. Fearns almost repeated this feat for Droylsden last campaign, but his healthy 20 goals still helped Droylsden clinch the title. Banim is a player Jimmy Quinn knows well, having shelled out £25,000 to Radcliffe Borough for him during his tenure at Shrewsbury. Sadly for Banim the step up to the League proved too much and he was sold to Stalybridge six months later.
Dave Pace, always ready with a quote or two, amazingly claimed his side were going for promotion this season, despite staying part-time and never having competed at this level. That seems a tad optimistic and even the most die-hard Bloods fans would expect at best a mid-table finish.
Ebbsfleet United
It's been a summer of change for Liam Daish and his Stonebridge Road outfit, and not just on the pitch. The club will now be named as Ebbsfleet United, a change from the previous Gravesend & Northfleet. The club have stressed the new name change will open the floodgates to better sponsorship and opportunities within the local community. Ebbsfleet is a new town just a mile from Gravesend which will inhabit a huge Eurostar train station, and developers hope it will become as successful as Milton Keynes.
Back to the football, and ex-Cambridge defender Daish has had many fresh headaches to deal with.
The spine of last season's squad which finished above expectations in 7th have left for pastures new.
Classy Canadian defender Ross Smith has joined League 2 newcomers Dagenham & Redbridge, whilst the biggest blow came from the departure of prolific strike duo of Charlie MacDonald and Onome Sodje. Those two players contributed 36 of their 66 league goals last season, with MacDonald's 27 putting him second in the 'Conference Golden Boot' behind Daggers' Paul Benson. 'Macca' has been snapped up by League 1 Southend whilst Sodje has relocated to North Yorkshire to join up with York City.
This has left Daish with striker problems, as targets Roscoe D'Sane, Danny Kedwell and Danny Hockton all decided their future lay elsewhere after speaking to Ebbsfleet. The Fleet will do remarkably well to repeat last season's feats, although if pre-season is enough to go by (undefeated including beating a full strength Millwall) then they shouldn't struggle either.
Exeter City
The Grecians have had just over two months to get over their heartbreaking Wembley play-off defeat to Morecambe. Despite dominating most of the game, Morecambe came from behind to win 2-1 while Exeter's shame was compounded by a Matt Gill red card for violent conduct. Weeks later rivals Torquay swooped on St. James' Park to take Paul Buckle and name him as the new manager of the Gulls.
It was inevitable he'd look back at his former club for players but it was a surprise to see two of Exeter's better stars, Chris Todd and Lee Phillips, move to Plainmoor. Both accused Exeter of 'dallying' over new contracts and opted for the security of two year contracts at Torquay.
Paul Tisdale didn't take long finding replacements - returning to his former club Team Bath for Matt Taylor and signing the experienced Steve Basham from Oxford.
Due to the Man Utd FA Cup game three years ago, Exeter have none of the financial problems that dogged them when they were first relegated, and with that comes the pressure for Tisdale to mount a serious title challenge.
Their first three seasons they finished one point outside of the play-offs before last season reaching the final. Fans will be expectant for the club to go one better this time around, despite the loss of Todd and Phillips.
Tisdale is an impressive young manager, having guided the University club Team Bath to numerous promotions and FA Cup runs so fully expect to see Exeter one of the teams dominating around the promotion stage.
Farsley Celtic
Leeds-based Farsley Celtic arrive in the Conference having endured what can only be described as something akin to 'Roy of the Rovers'. When former Bradford City player Lee Sinnott took over the reins at Throstle Nest five years ago, the club were languishing at the bottom of the Unibond Division 1 playing in front of 100 fans. Fast forward five years, four promotions and a cup win and Farsley have become the most successful team in West Yorkshire in recent years.
Now just one division below Bradford and two below Leeds, Farsley are no longer regarded as that 'little, friendly club up the road'. Last season started with a 3-0 hammering at the hands of Droylsden and not one Celtic die-hard would imagine the Villagers would be hosting the likes of Cambridge, York and Oxford this campaign. Come the end of the season and a surprise play-off berth was secure. Kettering were defeated in a penalty shoot out before a thrilling 4-3 final win over Hinckley ensured Farsley's Blue Square Premier future.
Farsley are part-time and will remain so for the near future. The bulk of last season's squad has been retained, including 25-goal striker Damien Reeves. They also have a plethora of Football League experience, with Andy Watson (Chester), Amjad Iqbal and Gareth Grant (Bradford) and Mark Jackson (Preston). Sinnott has also strengthened adequately, bringing in nine new faces to create competition for places. The pick of these are ex-Doncaster Tris Whitman and Scott McNiven, who was at Oxford.
Farsley have just released news that they are sounding out fans about a name change - to possibly FC Leeds. They have stressed the 'FC' would stand for Farsley Celtic but are eager to 'do an Ebbsfleet' and attract more major sponsors after admitting that no one outside Yorkshire knew where Farsley was. Despite their meteoric rise in recent years, Farsley will most likely struggle and this season would be considered a success if they finished 20th.
Preview continues tomorrow.
Chris Vessey
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