“Small Town Club Gives Everybody Hope”,
by John Mead.
With the dust scarcely settled after our epic Promotion Final, after a good nights sleep I caught up with our victorious Gaffer Ian Allinson to learn his views about what we have achieved.
JM: Congratulations Ian, I have spoken to some of the fans and board who are still waiting for this to all sink in!”
IA: We are a small town club and what we have achieved will give hope to everybody involved in football. It did not just happen, it came about due to the hard work and commitment from everybody at the club. It came about thanks to the Chairman’s foresight and investment and belief and it came about because collectively we realised at the start of this season that we had a squad of players that were something special. We knew that we had to make it happen this season as some of the squad may not be around next year.
JM: It was a fantastic day that will live long in the memory. How did you spend your evening?”
IA: We stayed at the club until around 10.30 pm and together with the players we spent time with the fans who were still partying when we left! It was fantastic to see so many Boreham Wood people at the game and celebrating promotion, but of course it was extra special for the regular fans who turn up week in week out. I know we have given them something to cherish and remember.
JM: It was a tough game yesterday. Can you talk me through how you saw it pan out?”
IA: Obviously we knew that Whitehawk are a talented side. We set up to nullify their threat and in the first half we did that but came up short in our passing and some of our clearances were not the best. At half time we settled them down and at 1-0 up I thought we looked comfortable. The penalty was a kick in the teeth. It looked clumsy from where I was was, but the players assured me it was a good challenge and a harsh decision. If Osei Sankofa had have hit the target in stoppage time this would be a completely different occasion, but we came out in extra time and gained the advantage which we held onto to see us over the line.”
JM: How would you describe the overall achievement and the occasion yesterday?
IA: If you look around the ground and see what a fantastic job the Chairman has done in upgrading the stadium both in front of house and behind the scenes and in his foresight to allow me to assemble this group of players it was fantastic to see so many people turn out. From the players point of view so many of them are still young and have never experienced a play off Final before. For them it will be a springboard to go on and achieve more in their careers.
JM: Obviously you now need to prepare for life in the National League!
IA: A lot of the squad have already been signed up for next season. There are one or two more we want to sit down with, but being in the National League should make their decisions a little easier. It is a massive thing for non league players to be given the opportunity to play at the highest level .
It means we can attract a different type of player now and we will turn our attentions to building a squad over the coming weeks.
JM: Ian on behalf of everybody, well done and thank you so much for last season!
