Tonight, we face our good friends from Brackley Town in the National League Cup quarter final, may I wish their Directors, Manager, players and supporters a pleasant stay with us and a safe journey home.
Well, our recent Scunthorpe United midweek game here and the Altrincham away game on Saturday, didn’t exactly go the way we’d all hoped and after six straight league wins it’s most definitely a step backwards.
Against Scunthorpe we lost a game uncharacteristically within the first 45 minutes and even though we were much better in the second half the damage was done and we lost 3-1. In terms of the Altrincham away game, we started ok but for the most part we looked lethargic, slightly disjointed and tired in certain areas and the game was over early in the second half and though we huffed and puffed in the later stages we got what we deserved and lost 3-1.
Tonight, I’d like to see a more robust response to those two losses with an up tempo but solid performance as I’d like to see us progress to the semi-final of the National League Cup, which is a competition we’d like to win.
In the last few weeks without me making excuses, we have quietly been dealing with and trying to overcome one or two quite nasty injuries and in truth as people have returned from injury, we’ve gone and picked up a few more with skipper Callum Reynolds being the latest.
On a more positive note, recent signing Ollie Kensdale should be fit for this evening’s game after picking up an impact injury in training which meant he has been unavailable for selection over the last few weeks. In fact, at times, we’ve had to name injured players on the bench just so the opposition did not know we’ve been down to bare bones.
Hopefully things will now look up, as I’m told Erico Souza will be available for selection on Saturday and from hereon in let’s try to ensure we get one or two in to solidify our squad. I’m told by Saturday that only Luke Norris, Tom White and Callum Reynolds will not be available and both Marley Marshall- Miranda and Junior Robinson will be available after being cup tied for this evening’s game.
Even though we have a few injury issues, that’s football at this level and our squad, though tested, must stick together and remind itself that it is still full of quality and ambition and we must all deal with these type of setbacks. I think you’ll find that the team and squad Luke picks this evening, will still have depth in most areas and I’m sure the players chosen will show everyone tonight that we are not on life support and we are taking this game very seriously.
On another note, I know from those who have text and emailed me, that many of you were as disappointed as I was with our home support against Scunthorpe United last Tuesday. On the night we numbered just 650 home fans and that included all season ticket holders. Admittedly the weather was pretty appalling on the night, but we do have plenty of stand cover to deal with a bit of rain.
As I understand it from those fans who have contacted me, it was more about the Champions League matches being shown live on TV that night with both Spurs and Arsenal being shown. Surely that was not the reason for two or three hundred home fans to abandon us in a promotion six pointer? If that is the reason, it certainly does not apply to my incredibly loyal ‘Wood Army’, but possibly more to our wider home supporters who are more FA Cup and Play Off game driven?
What I think we can all say, is that we applaud Scunthorpe United’s away support on the night, they showed real passion, they made a huge effort to get here and made their presence felt and got rewarded by their teams’ very good performance.
For clarity, I cannot ask any more from our loyal ‘Wood Army’ supporters who travel home and away and that was shown yet again with 91 of those very hardy souls travelling to Altrincham on Saturday…. but just to ram home the point in a home six pointer we had just 650 home fans and the rest was made up of 250 away fans, some media, a few people in hospitality, and around 18 player comps.
I feel with the football that we’ve been playing in general, that we really do need to get our message out there. That message is very simple, “we need our town and wider community with us from now until May if we are to challenge and maintain a top 5 play-off push”. For me the league, 46 games and the cups was always going to test a club of our size with our fanbase, and I just feel that last week tested us and we came up slightly short for the very first time this season.
The truth is the title might have gone in the space of a week for everyone save for York City and Rochdale and I now believe they will have a battle royal for the title from hereon in. That will perhaps leave ourselves, Forest Green Rovers, Carlisle Utd and Scunthorpe United battling each week for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th, which is so exciting and means that every game has real meaning between now and the end of the season.
It’s why we are going to need a home crowd, going to need your noise, going to need your numbers and we are going to need a partisan home atmosphere from minute one in all of our remaining home league games if we want to give ourselves a chance of being in a top 5 play-off spot or better come this seasons end.
Please, please help me to get our message out there, especially for our remaining home league games but especially for those really big six pointers that are coming up. In truth we will possibly need some of our FA Cup crowd and we’ll certainly need a lot more than just our loyal ‘Wood Army’ to turn out.
For me if we really want to realise our EFL dream, then it will perhaps take our wider support base to get themselves down here more regularly and that means some of them must give up watching Arsenal and Spurs on TV on a Champions League night.
That’s not me whinging or being in any way a defeatist, as I’ll continue to build and invest in the club both on and off the field of play whatever happens. I’m just saying we are going to need a bit more help on the terraces, and I feel this manager and dressing room deserve it.
My final Planning Submission has now been submitted and accepted by the HBC Planning Department. As such I’m now just dealing with a flood risk issue/ report and once that has been done, we should be given a date when our application and submission can finally be heard, addressed and hopefully passed.
In terms of the Stadium and our associated facility upgrades and builds, I’ve worked tremendously hard along with all of my partners, along with my staff, architect and my QS to create a community project that will change the landscape for our community football club, for our local residents, for our Meadow Park users and for our high street and retailers.
If I’m successful, then across the board we’ll be spending around 4.5 million pounds on improving our stadium and our associated facilities. For me this type of investment means it becomes a legacy project, and I’ll have HBC, EBTC, The Football Foundation, Arsenal, Arsenal Women, my staff and project partners to thank for believing in a vision that began for me more than two decades ago.
In truth I’m possibly just 6 weeks away from knowing if my long-held dream of building my community a stadium and a facility fit for non-league’s top table and the EFL is a pipe dream about to become a reality, or will I fall at the final hurdle and be the bridesmaid?
Whatever happens in the next six weeks, all I ask is that you continue to support our manager Luke Garrard and the dressing room throughout this sticky spell, and I ask that you trust me, as two defeats is not catastrophic, it’s disappointing but it’s still just a bump in the road.
Now is the time for unity and togetherness, it’s not the time for doubt or recrimination. Now is the time for me to re-focus on the clubs future, invest further in my community and it’s time for me to push, cajole, meet and communicate with the planners, council officers, local councillors and my partners in regards to what’s now needed to move this club forward. I genuinely believe that for 27 years I’ve understood more than most, what my supporters, local residents, park users, football club and town has needed to move ourselves forward.
So please whenever it’s possible, get yourselves down here to support your local community football club, support Luke Garrard and the dressing room, trust me they deserve your support and if you do that you will give me, the club and yourselves a platform to keep our EFL dreams alive.
As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was Boreham Wood Football Club. We are a small club born from adversity and from the returning soldiers coming home back from the Second World War and it was they who founded us way back in 1948. I know our history and I of course salute all who have come before me.
That said in all those years from 1948 until now, we’ve never been in better shape as a football club than we are today. In truth it has taken 27 years of my and my family’s life to get us to the top table of non-league football. It’s taken a lot of sacrifice, plenty of hard graft, countless sleepless nights, planning and builds, more planning, more builds and lot of investment.
I’m genuinely now ready to go again if you are? I know my loyal staff are ready, I know Luke Garrard and the dressing room are ready, I know my partners, our sponsors and our local councillors are ready, but it’s no good all of us being ready and dreaming the impossible dream, if our wider fan base is not ready to stick with us and help us grow our support base every week, if the weather and Champions League TV nights means you go on the missing list.
Anyway, whoever you support this evening, let’s hope for an open, attacking game and may the best team win.
Take care,
Danny.
