On Friday we welcome our good friends from Wealdstone to the Mangata Developments Stadium. May I wish their Directors, Manager, players and supporters an enjoyable stay with us and a safe journey home.
At present both our clubs still have much to play for this season, with Wealdstone having got themselves to the final of the FA Trophy by beating Marine last Saturday with a late winner. They’ve earned the right to enjoy that amazing walk up Wembley Way, and for me just to play on the hallowed turf that is Wembley and be within that iconic Stadium with your community is simply joyous and I am incredibly jealous.
That said I wish Rory, the club, team and supporters an amazing day and nothing but success. For us it’s more about the bread and butter of the National league and achieving as high a league position as possible. It’s also worth mentioning that we’ve already secured a record number of points and scored more goals this season than in any other season in our 78-year history.
As such while it’s possible, we’ll still strive to finish as high as third but it’s more likely we will finish fourth or fifth. Third is obviously the aim as it would give us the very best chance within the play-off system by guaranteeing us home advantage in a one-off game to get ourselves to Wembley.
It’s been two years since Wealdstone last came here with both clubs battling relegation. We won the battle that day by beating them comprehensively, but ultimately, we lost the war that season as they survived and we were relegated.
With that in mind I thought I’d try and give you an Easter monologue that’s not quite the resurrection but pretty damn close. Here’s an honest three-year insight into how a small community club recovered from a play-off defeat, a subsequent relegation and how we’ve fought tooth and nail since to get ourselves back to where we sit today.
Just two years ago we lost to Ebbsfleet here on the final day of that season. We all knew we hadn’t done enough, we were on the floor, and we were down but not quite out. The tears of course flowed as our bubble had well and truly burst, the recriminations certainly began but from that day until now we have tried everything in our power to find a way to bounce back.
So much needed to change here both on and off the field of play for the betterment of our football club. So, for the last two seasons from top to bottom we’ve worked hard at identifying our failures, on how we could evolve, on re-cementing relationships and worked harder on our strengths, long-standing friendships and partnerships.
Simple changes maybe, but they’ve brought about a renewed togetherness, focus and a realistic ambition back to our football club that we’d perhaps lost. In truth, when I’m now in the company of my manager, staff, partners, sponsors, players and our ever-growing supporter groups, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more comfortable.
Perhaps it’s just me getting older but my mindset is now about creating a more positive narrative and a better working environment. I think we all work so hard which will help us create more magic moments and memories, and next season we will get closer to completing our Stadium and facility builds.
For two years I’ve tried to create an environment that was less about the me me me, can I have, I want, I need brigade (which is not easy in football circles) and more about re-creating ‘old school’ values, based on mutual respect with a more patient approach.
Looking back, after that damaging, painful and gut-wrenching play-off loss three seasons ago, I knew the clubs academy and football structure would need addressing, but also knew the club needed more investment for our South Stand build. If you stand still, you go backwards, so I needed to get on with completing the stadium and facility builds to EFL standards.
To find a way to move our club forward meant I needed to stay and not take any investment away from our dressing room while still investing in our facility to move ourselves forward. I believed then and believe now, we need to build the South end of the ground while improving our squad and if we do that, then one day we will fulfil our EFL dream.
To be given the time to do that is testament to my family, my staff, my long-standing sponsors, partners at HBC, EBTC, Football Foundation, Premier League and Arsenal Football Club. We all know I’m not getting any younger but I want a facility here that can house the magic moments and memories we create, like the ones we recently shared when beating Crawley Town and Newport County in this season’s FA Cup and when winning the National League Cup here against West Ham United’s under 21’s.
Our recent success brought a togetherness to my staff, our gaffer, dressing room and to you our loyal supporters. I believe our recent success and progress on and off the park can be traced to a culture change from my loyal staff who’ve created an environment and structure that has continually improved us over these past two years.
Our small family type club is not for everyone, but it does help sign some seriously good players and it has helped me build this club, whilst allowing some very good young players to flourish and develop. Trust me that isn’t down to luck, it comes from smart investment, great recruitment, leadership, attitude, discipline, desire, experience, care, patience and good decision making.
All of which allows the positive people wrapped around me to quietly progress our football club even when dealing with setbacks. It must be remembered that as recent as May 2023 we endured what was a very damaging last-minute play-off defeat up at Notts County after leading 2-0 at half time.
After many years of over achievement, we were again play-off losers only this time the pain was felt by everyone and with me sat marrow deep. On our very quiet journey home I felt both myself and Luke Garrard were possibly at our lowest ebb. We were drained, fatigued, burnt out or whatever you wish to call it, and in truth we didn’t get over that loss as quickly as we should have and went into the 2023/24 season exhausted.
For me non-league had changed and my loathing for disruptive agents, for cheating clubs who prospered while not paying their debts, tax bills, vat and players or paying in cash while not putting in audited accounts, breaking every league rule had perhaps affected me far more than I imagined.
As did the decision by the National League to give away what I considered to be our most valuable asset namely our live Broadcasting rights for an absolute pittance. Our Board in their wisdom simply signed off on a contract in a panic after losing the TNT contract. I felt they had signed up with a streaming production company who would be sub-standard for our level of the game and would give poor production value and I have been proven right….
A streaming company in my opinion who would care nothing for non-league, would give no true production value nor give the member clubs and National League a wider audience to grow our game. In my opinion the Board took a huge risk as these streamers did not have a bigger broadcaster’s track record to showcase our strengths and sometimes you have to say NO to a deal while you look at your options calmly.
I would go as far as to say that DAZN have no real understanding of non-league football or our supporters travel habits, wants and needs. I felt then and still do that the National League Board sold our soul to the devil for absolutely no money and with no thought for what the supporters or member clubs needed.
For transparency that broadcast deal was done behind the backs of all club owners who were not on the National League Board and without ever discussing the deal with some very business savvy and knowledgeable club owners, as they didn’t want us scuppering their agreement.
Anyway, I digress haha, let’s get back to our Easter monologue…. The Notts County play-off loss and subsequent relegation had seriously affected my confidence and belief in what I was doing. Even now I remember very emotionally deliberating retirement with my partner, but still felt I owed my family, staff, my town, our supporters, and this amazing community football club a bit more than giving them an emotional loser’s farewell and showing the non-league football world my personal weakness.
So, I took myself off for a few weeks and after returning for another heart to heart with my partner, decided I would try again only this time I would spend my money where I felt it would best serve our football club. Firstly though we needed to give you promotion back to the National League and secondly we needed to get on with building the South Stand and complete my dream of giving our supporters and town a four stand Stadium that would be EFL compliant and we’re very nearly there!!!
There was though one huge problem as I was still completely exhausted, I was still doubting myself and I honestly doubted if I had the energy and drive anymore to lead our fantastic football club and staff back from the National South into the National League.
That hurtful play-off defeat and painful relegation had made me blame myself like you wouldn’t believe, and In truth I just didn’t recognise the game anymore. I’d stopped enjoying the buzz of being an underdog club and bloodying the nose of the bigger clubs, and I’m no good to anyone if I don’t believe in myself or believe in what I’m doing.
This club though has been in my family’s blood for 70 years and I knew it was still the love of my life, so I wiped my mouth and after another heart to heart this time with family members it was almost all systems go. Luke though was also drained after that play-off defeat and I knew he would have to break up that team as he needed legs, needed good young players who could run, and players who would for a few years at least be more loyal and supportive to him and this football club.
Luke knew the risks of letting good club players like Mark Ricketts and Josh Rees go, and we both knew early on that our attempts to sign one or two very good players like Zak Brunt and George Broadbent had hit the buffers. Over that spring and summer, we didn’t adapt quickly enough and perhaps our relationship had become strained. We’ve since quietly addressed all of those things, including our failings, our strengths, our weaknesses and in truth both myself and Luke have acknowledged that we did not quite do enough in that off season.
We had not been active enough by our high standards and both know if you don’t do the hard yards in May, June and July in modern day football you’ll play catch up and get found out and boy did we get found out. When looking back I genuinely think that Luke and myself were working as hard as ever but we were just exhausted and had somehow lost our mentor/father figure/young manager mojo?
Perhaps we were in denial, but I know we both felt with our experience and past relationship and success, that we would find a way to keep us up and then deal with any fall out at the season’s end. As history showed we got it hopelessly wrong and I know we both felt we had let you all down.
When looking back I also let one or two well-meaning voices within my inner circle have too much of a voice which is very unlike me. As my mother would often tell me “youth is wasted on the young” but that applies equally to “the old” haha….
Of course, as an owner you must always accept total blame, but football lessons were most certainly learnt by me and my young maverick manager that season and I genuinely believe that both myself and Luke now use the hurt and pain that we both felt back then to now really enjoy each other and any success or magic moments that come our way and we both cherish the memories we’re creating with our family, staff and our dressing room once again.
Hurt and pain if you are big enough to accept them, can liberate you and allow you to create new horizons and new ambitions. They allow you to create a new vision with realistic expectations. I’ve tried to learn heavily not only from my recent mistakes but from past mistakes and trust me there have been so many lessons learned over my 27 years here.
My dark days and sleepless nights after our play-off defeat and relegation do now seem a million miles away and as I often say, “god loves a trier.” That experience though taught me that if complacency ever sets in again, those dark days and sleepless nights would return in an instant.
Only through past mistakes have I learnt that in every dressing room up and down the country, there are always issues to solve and dramas to overcome, but I now try to deal with ours a bit more intelligently and know we have to if we ever want to get to the EFL.
To get to the EFL this season we will need our entire squad on board, but we’ll also
need lady luck on our side regarding injuries and suspensions. When you have a squad of our size and you enter the run in, you will always need a balanced squad, but you also need to understand a squad’s frustration if they are not playing regularly or getting the game time they feel their talent deserves.
Having said that our players also need to be brutally honest with themselves, because if their performances don’t warrant a starting place or if they’re in denial about their performances and what they need to do to start within the framework Luke creates, it can and will cause them a problem.
My philosophy regarding team selection is perhaps more ‘old school’ and very simple, “If you have the shirt then keep it. If you lose it due to poor performances, ill-discipline, international call ups or because of injury then you take your medicine like a man and work harder to regain your place.”
In my day you learned very quickly when you got your chance, you knew you best take it with both hands, but whatever happens you knew never to bring negativity, whinging or poor body language to the dressing room, as the senior players would not tolerate it….
That said, I’m now a grandad, a dad and a realist, so I try to understand a player’s frustration a little more, as all our players are very talented and I realise I cannot make their frustration of not playing every week disappear simply because I write a few paragraphs within my programme notes.
At my age you become more mellow but I can say both on and off the park, that we are a great club for many of our very talented young people to learn their trade and I know this club is often seen as a stepping stone in the careers of some of our players, media staff, analysts, medical team, strength and conditioning personnel, coaching staff and I accept that….
If I may I would like to end my longwinded Easter monologue by taking this opportunity to thank our amazingly loyal supporters once again for their positivity this season. You have supported us throughout pre-season, you supported us during our FA Cup run in growing numbers and you got rewarded with another trip to the third round.
You then thankfully came out and supported us throughout our National League Cup run all the way to the final and were again rewarded with us winning the tournament in such dramatic fashion on penalties. That night alone allowed us to enjoy more magic moments, more wonderful memories and yet another special night together.
However, it’s within the National League where your support has grown the most and has in fact increased by around 40% from last season. Support wise that is the biggest percentage rise within National League attendances this season.
So, I simply want to say a very big thank you to one and all, as I know Luke and
the players do notice and hugely appreciate your efforts. Having said that your loyalty and support is going to be tested more than ever if we’re to achieve the impossible dream this season.
Trust me we’re going to need your noise, need your flags, need the drum, need the support and we’re going to need all of those things both home and away if we want to dream about walking our Club, Town and Community up Wembley Way once again.
Let’s give ourselves an underdog’s chance as it’s who we are. Let’s try and create another incredible memory, let’s believe that another magic moment is just around the corner, as I genuinely believe we’ve got a shot at achieving our EFL dream this season and I believe with each passing week that we are getting closer.
We’ve come a long, long way together and god willing I plan on seeing our EFL dream through however long it takes. We all know what loss feels like, we all know what relegation feels like, we all know what winning a title feels like, we all know what play-off wins and promotions feel like, but we still don’t know what winning at Wembley in a play-off final and being an EFL club would feel like and it’s about time we found out.
Finally, whoever you support on Friday, let’s hope for an open, attacking game and may the best team win.
Take care,
Danny.
