Category Archives: Editorial

Chairman’s message

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Dear Member,
I’d like to wish you a very happy 2018, and to pass on a few personal – and private – thoughts from the Football Writers’ Association chair.

We promised to increase the FWA’s size and diversity and, while the latter was always going to be the greater challenge, the growing influence of women is reflected in Vikki Orvice’s election as vice-chair and the lively committee presence of Carrie Brown. I would still like to improve the racial balance of the committee and hope that before the AGM in May we will do that.

Numerically we are up 50 per cent over three years but, having sailed past the 300 mark, are now set on 400. In addition the new category of student member has seen around 40 of the next generation of football writers sign up. One of their number, Luke Coulson, has already qualified as a journalist, but let’s hope his career stays on hold for many years, as he is currently starring for Ebbsfleet United in the Vanarama National League.

Luke, along with Glenn Moore, contributes a column to our website, which Gerry Cox and his team have revamped. All shares, likes and retweets are appreciated. Your committee are grateful to Gerry, and to John Ley for dealing with the extremely welcome influx of new members. But you can help to make John even busier by encouraging non-members to join; all they need to do is go to the MEMBERSHIP section of the website. The more there are of us, the more we can do for all football writers.

Speaking of which, what do we achieve? More than put on our two gala dinners – even though the work Paul McCarthy has put into this month’s Tribute Night in honour of Pele has been phenomenal. Probably our most important function is the largely unseen negotiation with the football authorities and clubs over facilities and access to players. Too often it is an uphill task – but it must be done.

We also, with the extremely generous assistance of our main sponsors William Hill, held a sell-out event after the Grenfell Tower fire which raised £10,000 for the victims of the disaster and I’d like to thank everybody who helped make that event such a success.

Finally to one of our most enjoyable duties; may I remind all members to make their recommendations for Football Book of The Year? Our selection committee is chaired by Mike Collett and he wants to hear from you at mikecol99@gmail.com.

All the best,

Patrick Barclay

Vanarama National League column – January 18

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The Vanarama National League column – stars of the future?

BY Glenn Moore, FWA member and former Independent football editor

Will it be Joe Ward? Will it be Joe Pigott? Will it be Bernard Mensah? Since Jamie Vardy proved potential England forwards could still be found in non-League football, not just back in the days when Ian Wright, Les Ferdinand and Alan Smith were in the part-time game, scouts have been flocking to the Vanarama National League.

This window, a cluster of promising players have moved into the Football League with that trio of attacking players to the fore. Winger Ward so impressed Peterborough when playing against them for Woking in the FA Cup the Posh signed the 22-year-old. Pigott, 24, was snapped up this week by AFC Wimbledon having scored 12 goals for Maidstone United this season. Mensah also went to a League One club in Bristol Rovers after shining for Aldershot.

Like Vardy, who began at Sheffield Wednesday but was released, all three players had been at league clubs earlier in their careers but had struggled to make the grade. Regular football in the Vanarama National League has enabled them to rebuild their confidence, match themselves against seasoned professionals, and gain experience in an environment where results matter far more than in age-group football. 

Peterborough have long scoured non-League for players, a reflection of Barry Fry’s influence at the club. Ward follows the likes of Craig Mackail-Smith and George Boyd, both of whom went on to play for Scotland, Aaron McLean, now back in the Vanarama National League with Ebbsfleet after a decade in the full-time ranks, and current London Road winger Marcus Maddison.

It is Ward’s second attempt at cracking the Football League after joining Brighton & Hove Albion from Chelmsford City at 19. That did not work out but he is now more experienced and is making a smaller step up. “He wanted to play regular football and he took the opportunity in the National League and credit to him for that,” said Posh boss Grant McCann. “”He brings pace, energy and can go past people.”

Piggott came through the ranks at Charlton, where he made 16 appearances, then had a series of loans before joining Cambridge United. One goal in 17 matches led to a further loan, to the Stones, a year ago, but he did well enough at the Gallagher Stadium to win a permanent deal and has continued to prosper. He now joins a club that is no stranger to resurrection stories.

Mensah was a Watford youth product, but only made two appearances for the Hornets. Joining Aldershot in June 2016 he has flourished with regular football.

A pair Vanarama National League South players have also secured moves, Wealdstone defender Ciaron Brown leaping up four levels into the Championship with promotion-chasing Cardiff City. Brown, 20, had only been at Wealdstone 18 months after joining from Combined Counties League side Bedfont Sports. Goalscoring midfielder Dayle Grubb left Weston-Super-Mare for Forest Green. The move means the 26-year-old will have to leave his job as a sports teacher but he feels it is a risk worth taking to follow the dream of a pro career after nine years at Weston.

All these players will be hoping to be the next Vardy, or, if not that, maybe another Glenn Murray or Dwight Gayle, and prove, like those Premier League strikers, there are rough diamonds to be found in the Vanarama League for those that look.

For more on the Vanarama National League, visit:http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/
For great leasing deals on cars and vans, visit:http://www.vanarama.co.uk/

Vanarama National League column – Tranmere Rovers

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THE VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE COLUMN – TRANMERE ROVERS

By Glenn Moore, former football editor, The Independent

The novelty has worn off. It was interesting visiting all those new grounds for a while, and being the Vanarama National League’s big fish, but now all Tranmere Rovers fans want is to get back into the Football League.

The generation brought up on John King’s golden era, when the Wirral club were Wembley regulars and thrice on the brink of the Premier League, have found the adjustment to non-League status especially hard.  Older supporters, remembering the dark days of the early-mid 1980s, are more sanguine, but equally dismayed by results such as the 5-2 New Year’s Day defeat at Fylde.

That loss – to a club making swift progress under former Rovers veteran Dave Challinor – ended a run of five successive victories which had sent Tranmere hurtling up the congested Vanarama National League table. Despite a shocking start – perhaps a hangover from last season’s play-off final defeat to Forest Green – automatic promotion was suddenly back on the agenda. It still is. Though leaders Macclesfield are six points clear at the top they have not escaped the pack as did Rovers and Lincoln last season, and Cheltenham and Forest Green the year before.

Tranmere, though 11 points adrift, are already in the play-off places. With a game in hand another good run could put them in with a chance of overhauling the leaders when Macclesfield visit Prenton Park next month.

It will require courage and composure. Manager Micky Mellon – who took Fleetwood out of the Vanarama National League – has spoken of the character required to play for a club whose former status and current ground often inspires opponents. “It is easier to play against Tranmere than it is to play for Tranmere,” he claimed recently. Mellon, who has also won promotion with Shrewsbury, explained. “It is easy to get up for playing against Tranmere. We’ve got to be at it every week because everyone raises their game against us.”

While goalkeeper Scott Davies will be missed after suffering a groin injury at Fylde, Mellon has Steve McNulty to lead the way in central defence. The cult hero, a National League promotion winner with Fleetwood and Luton Town, is the defensive equivalent of Ade Akinfenwa. He may not look an athlete, but more than makes up in presence, experience and technique what he lacks in mobility.

It should help that with Leyton Orient’s demotion, Tranmere are no longer the new ‘fallen giant’. Now in their third season in the Vanarama National League there is a degree of familiarity and knowledge. Off the pitch, under former FA chief executive Mark Palios and his wife Nicola, the club is on a firm footing. Gates have held up with the 5,000-plus average higher than all but six teams in League Two. The platform is there to prosper if they return to the Football League.  First, however, Mellon and his team have to achieve the most difficult part, and produce the results to get them there.

For more on the Vanarama National League, visit: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/
For great leasing deals on cars and vans, visit: http://www.vanarama.co.uk/

Jeremy Wilson scoops prestigious award

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Jeremy Wilson rewarded for groundbreaking coverage of dementia in football.

FWA member and Telegraph reporter Jeremy Wilson has won a prestigious honour at Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Friendly Awards after spearheading a campaign for research into potential links between playing football and dementia.

The Daily Telegraph’s deputy football correspondent won the National Journalist of the Year Award for a series of hard-hitting stories about former footballers who are living with dementia and their families.

Through a series of interviews and investigative news reports, Jeremy has championed change since reporting how half the surviving outfield 1966 England World Cup-winning team had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or memory loss.

The Telegraph immediately called on the authorities to commission independent research into the prevalence of dementia in football and Jeremy personally met with families of former players, reporting with great care and diligence the different symptoms and the full devastating impact on their lives.

Jeremy’s work culminated in a major breakthrough with the announcement last week of a major study assessing whether footballers are at greater risk of degenerative brain disease, jointly commissioned by the Football Association and Professional Footballers’ Association.

Jeremy said: “I am thrilled. Like many families I have been affected by dementia as both my grandmothers had this condition and therefore it feels extra special and a little bit more personal.

“Above all, I am delighted for the families of the footballers as they have trusted us to tell their stories. They have driven the campaign to get answers from football and I am really pleased their stories are being heard.”

Jeremy was accompanied by Dawn Astle, the daughter of former England international Jeff Astle. Dawn and family have been campaigning on what they call ‘sport’s silent scandal’ since an inquest found that Jeff died in 2002 from head injuries caused by playing football.

Dawn said: “I had to fight back the tears when it was announced that Jeremy had won. He really is a fabulous journalist but he has got a heart of gold as well.

“I feel so lucky that he has got stuck into this issue – and the work that he has done has meant that families in the world of football who are affected by dementia will get answers to their questions on the links between the two.”

Alzheimer’s Society Chief Executive Jeremy Hughes said: “With skill and sensitivity, Jeremy has done the newspaper industry proud by uniting with many retired footballers and their families to tell the moving stories of how dementia has affected them.

“His tenacious journalism prompted other families to tell their stories and was featured across other national media, including the BBC and Sky News, to tackle once and for all the taboo that has forced many people to keep dementia a secret.

 

“Jeremy has also led a successful Telegraph campaign for new research. It has been followed by our national game’s governing body, the Football Association, and Professional Footballers’ Association funding research into potential links between dementia and playing football.”

Alzheimer’s Society ambassador Angela Rippon hosted the Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Friendly Awards 2017 which have been sponsored by British Gas and are now in their fourth year.

“Dementia devastates lives and, by 2021, one million people will be living with dementia across the UK,” added Mr Hughes.

    • Alzheimer’s Society relies on voluntary donations to continue its vital work. You can donate now by calling 0330 333 0804 or visiting alzheimers.org.uk. 

Jeremy Wilson scoops award

Vanarama National League column – Wrexham

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Vanarama National League column – by Glenn Moore

Wales reaching the European Championship semi-finals, Swansea City becoming a Premier League regular, Cardiff City briefly joining them – and threatening to do so again, phoenix club Newport County returning to the Football League. It has been a golden era for the Principality.

Correction. It has been a golden era for South Wales football. In the north there has been less to cheer. The national team’s exploits under Chris Coleman were joyously received, but Wales do not play in the north these days. As for the club game… Wrexham, the oldest club in Wales, are now in their 154th season, but also their tenth successive outside the Football League.

Welsh sport is traditionally associated with rugby but the north is predominantly football territory. This has made Wrexham’s exile all the harder to bear given the better fortunes being enjoyed by southern clubs. Now, however, the Red Dragons are breathing fire again. Tuesday night’s victory over Solihull Moors lifted them to the summit of the Vanarama National League with the season’s mid-point fast approaching.

Wrexham have lost just lost just once in their last 16 Vanarama National League games, a run that includes 1-0 victories at rivals Chester and Tranmere. Those scorelines underline a rise that has been based on a tight defence with only 12 goals conceded in 21 Vanarama National League games. Manager Dean Keates puts a premium on graft. A former Wrexham player he talks of “a working-class town with honest people who want to see their team performing and working hard.”

Relegated in 2008 following a financial crisis that sent them tumbling from League One to National League in four seasons, Wrexham at one stage wondered if they would survive at all. Fan ownership in 2011 stabilised the club and, having survived a winding up order, they reached the promotion play-offs in three successive seasons. However, they only once made the final, in 2013, and lost to Newport.

Having never previously been to Wembley Wrexham went there twice that season, winning the FA Trophy before the play-off loss. The board, all-too well aware of the consequences of financial problems, used the proceeds to clear debt. Sensible in the long-term, but the team suffered, coming 17th the following season, Wrexham’s lowest ever position. The Red Dragons subsequently pottered in mid-table, becoming the Vanarama National League’s longest established members.

Until now, that is. Keates, who is in his first management role, brought in 12 players this summer and few expected them to gel so quickly. There is progress behind the scenes too with the club bidding to site the proposed Museum of Welsh Football at the Racecourse as part of a development to include rebuilding the currently closed Kop end. That would help bring back the national team, which last played in Wrexham in 2008, and further swell an average gate that, at more than 4,300, already exceeds 19 Football League clubs. On and off the pitch everyone is aware there is a long way to go, but the Red Dragons are finally moving in the right direction.

For more on the Vanarama National League, visit: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/

For great leasing deals on cars and vans, visit: http://www.vanarama.co.uk/

Vanarama National League Column

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Glenn Moore looks at Kent’s place in the Vanarama National League 

Kent, the home of hops, apples, and the Channel Tunnel, has never been regarded as a hotbed of football. The Royal Engineers, the first FA Cup runners-up, came from the Chatham Dockyard; Chris Smalling, Tony Cascarino and Jon Harley grew up in the Garden of England; but in sporting terms the white horse county is best known for cricket. Excluding Charlton Athletic, never officially part of Kent since the club’s formation, Gillingham are the county’s only representatives in the Football League. They always have been, aside from three seasons a quarter-century ago when Maidstone United joined them before going bankrupt.

In non-League football, however, it is a different story. Kent has long had a busy non-League scene, perhaps because of the lack of Football League clubs. In 1979 the original Alliance Premier League, the forerunner of today’s Vanamara National League, included Maidstone United and Gravesend & Northfleet, and within two seasons they were joined by Dartford. 

These days the Vanarama National League has a strong Kentish flavour. Dover Athletic, thriving since the return of Chris Kinnear despite a huge turnover of players, are the surprise leaders. A trio of local rivals are in close pursuit. Re-formed Maidstone United are fifth, two places ahead of Bromley (now a London borough, but part of Kent until 1965). Ebbsfleet, as Gravesend & Northfleet are now known, are three points further back. Hoping to join them are Dartford and Welling United, respectively first and third in Vanarama National League South.

What is notable about these clubs is the sense of progress and ambition with most playing at new, or refurbished stadia in front of rising crowds. Dover last year opened a new £1.3m stand at their historic Crabble home. Ebbsfleet’s own £5m stand at Stonebridge Road is nearing conclusion. Bromley, prospering in only their third season at this level, put down a 3G pitch in the summer and a new stand is to be erected next year. 

Dartford, meanwhile, have one of the most ecologically-advanced grounds in the country at 12-year-old Princes’ Park, with features including a sedum roof, floodlights powered by solar panels and water recycling. Welling are the smallest of the sextet, but with Mark Goldberg, once Crystal Palace owner, more recently Bromley manager, chairman, do not lack for ambition.

The most extraordinary tale is that of Maidstone. The Stones had to start again in the Kent County League’s fourth division, step 12 of the pyramid, after going bust in 1992. Playing on their former reserve team pitch they climbed into the Kent League (step 5) by 2001, but then had to ground-share in Sittingbourne and Ashford before returning to the county town, at a new ground, in 2012. At this stage they were in the Isthmian League (South) but inspired by having their own home, one which has become a community hub built around the 3G pitch, they won three further promotions in four seasons. Their 4-2 FA Cup win at League Two Cheltenham on Saturday confirmed the Stones are rolling again, as are their rivals in Kent’s fertile non-League garden. The Gills’ proud boast of being ‘Kent’s only Football League club’ is at risk again.

For more on the Vanarama National League visit: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/

Find out about Vanarama’s leasing deals for cars and vans here: http://www.vanarama.co.uk/

Vanarama National League column November 1

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Luke Coulson, journalist and footballer for Ebbsfleet United, looks at the precarious life of a manager in the Vanarama National League.

A week ago, Ronald Koeman felt the harsh sting of football management as he became the second managerial casualty of the Premier League season.

Koeman joins Frank De Boer and five other managers from the top four tiers of English football that have felt the axe from their clubs this season. However, the National League is a different level of cut-throat business entirely, with six managers already losing their jobs.

With the promise and reward of League Football, the stakes are high and a slow start in the National League can cost a manager his position. The five clubs currently lying at the bottom of the table have all sacked their managers this season and with the recent announcement of their new manager, Ady Pennock, Barrow are now on to their third manager of the campaign.

After beating East Thurrock in a replay two weeks ago, we will host Doncaster at home in the first round of the FA Cup this weekend. Yet, before we could even begin to think about the League One side, we had to re-focus our minds on the league and the three upcoming fixtures. Of those games, we hosted Barrow and Torquay United, two of the teams that have welcomed new gaffers to the dugouts during the season.

In late August, after only five games of the season, Barrow sacked their manager Paul Cox. Ten games later and four days before we played them, Micky Moore, their second manager of the season departed the football club.

When a manager of a football club is sacked, it can have an adverse effect on the team. The squad may have respected the gaffer and therefore there may be players that are disappointed and unhappy with the changes to the coaching staff. On the other hand, with a new manager to impress and positions up for grabs, the sacking of a manager can have a positive effect on the team. Therefore, as we welcomed Barrow to Stonebridge Road, we were very aware not to underestimate our opposition.

Having experienced similar circumstances, I know what the current Barrow squad have been going through. Chris Todd signed me for Eastleigh in the January of 2016, yet after four games of the following season, he was dismissed from his duties. Chris was the first manager to have ever bought me and subsequently gave me a chance in the National League, so I was personally disappointed to see him leave. Ronnie Moore was brought in to replace him but after three months, we were once more without a manager. In early December, Martin Allen left Barnet to become our third manager of the season but was sacked 14 games later to continue the rollercoaster of managerial changes.

It is difficult to mentally prepare knowing that a new manager is about to take over. You hear constant rumours about who may take the job and it’s an unsettling period for the team. It is a worrying time for each player because a new manager may not like their individual style, or not play a formation that brings out their full potential.

Each manager has his own way of playing, training and managing the team and consequently it can be difficult to become used to a new manager especially if you don’t agree with his philosophy.  In that case you keep your head down, work hard and don’t complain if you want to play.

Before the announcement of Ady Pennock, we were able to claim all three points against Barrow and their interim manager Neil Hornby with a 3-2 victory. However, that win was followed by a defeat three days later against Torquay United. Similarly to Barrow, Torquay United decided to have a change of management early in the season, sacking Kevin Nicholson after four games and replacing him with Gary Owers.

Following the loss against Torquay, we came away with a hard fought and well deserved point at Sutton United. The draw means we now sit 13th in the table, still only three points adrift of the playoffs as we take a break from league duty this weekend to prove ourselves against Doncaster in the first round of the FA Cup. A challenge we are more than ready to overcome.

Vanarama National League Column Oct 25th

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VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE COLUMN – Craig Harrison, by Glenn Moore

Some coaches begin preparing for life on the training pitch while they are still players, making notes about sessions put on by their managers, mentally filing behaviours, and taking their qualifications. Others fall into the job by accident. The strange thing is that sometimes it is the latter who are more successful.

Among them is Craig Harrison, coach of Vanarama National League side Hartlepool United. Harrison had quit football after suffering a career-ending broken leg while playing for Crystal Palace reserves in his mid-20s. He struggled with depression, came through that, but remained disenchanted with the game opting instead for a career in property development.

Then, for his 30th birthday party, wife Danielle booked a band. The guitarist looked familiar. He was Gareth Owen, formerly of Wrexham, whom Harrison had played against when on loan at Preston. Owen was player-manager at Welsh Premier League club Airbus UK and seeking an assistant. He asked if Harrison was interested.

“I said, ‘No, I’m not interested. I’ve moved on from that’,” Harrison, 40 this month, told the Non-League Paper earlier this season. He added: “A couple of weeks later I saw in the local paper they still hadn’t filled the post. My other half persuaded me to give Gareth a text to see what was going on. He said he was still looking so we had a chat and he offered it to me. I took it. That was in December. By the end of the season Gareth had moved on and they gave me the manager’s job.”

By then Harrison was smitten. His biggest problem was persuading part-time players to be as committed as he was. He rapidly acquired his badges and now holds the highest qualification, Uefa Pro Licence. In late 2011 The New Saints, after a rare season failing to win the Welsh League, moved in. With them Harrison won six successive league titles, four Welsh Cups, and played clubs such as Slovan Bratislava and Legia Warsaw in Champions League qualifiers.

Despite this success the chance to join Hartlepool was irresistible for Harrison, Gateshead-born and a former Middlesbrough player. It is not an easy job. Harrison is Pools’ sixth manager in four years, which underlines the instability at the club. Yet though relegated from the Football League last season they still attracted more than 50 applicants for manager.

The opening rounds of the Vanarama National League were a shock. Having lost their opening match at home to Dover Athletic, Hartlepool had two points after six matches. A 13-point haul from the next five games dispelled fears of back-to-back relegation and rekindled hopes of an instant Football League return. They are now in 14th place, only five points behind second-placed Wrexham in a tightly-contested promotion race.

“Looking back with a clear head, what’s probably happened is the four-five weeks at the start of the season has been vital,” Harrison said last week. “When it hasn’t gone for us you either go your separate way and the group fragments or you come together. What went on early season is probably one of the best things to happen for team spirit. It has come together over the opening weeks of the season.”

Harrison, who knows better than most how unpredictable football be, added: “Maybe the start was a blessing in disguise.”

For more on the Vanarama National League visit: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/

For more about Vanarama visit: http://www.vanarama.co.uk/

FWA review – our new show

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FWA Chairman Patrick Barclay and Carrie Brown review the big stories of the week. You can see the video on Facebook or our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/bR6hBHciAlA

The FWA review highlights and signposts you to a selection of articles here:

Jeremy Wilson,  Daily Telegraph: FA told of dementia links 22 years ago:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/10/07/exclusive-fa-told-dementia-links-22-years-ago/

David Hytner  The Guardian: Former Liverpool, Wigan and England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland speaks honestly on depression bringing an end to his career: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/11/chris-kirkland-depression-interview

Guillem Balague / Mauricio Pochettino reveals how he turned Kane into a warrior and his desire to manage England: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4981082/Tottenham-boss-Pochettino-Kane-warrior.html?ito=email_share_article-top

Andy Dunn  The Mirror: Manchester City should forget Messi: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manchester-city-should-forget-lionel-11345212

Martin Lipton   The Sun: Sir Alex Ferguson agreed to managerTottenham: https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=martin+lipton+alex+ferguson+tottenham&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&dcr=0&ei=NsHkWaDlK9Tc8AeGnarwDg

Gerry Cox   Daily Telegraph: Troy Deeney says Arsenal lack ‘cojones’:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2…

Vanarama National League column – Awaydays

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The Long Away Trip – by Luke Coulson of Ebbsfleet United 

In July, when the fixtures are announced for the upcoming season, players in every team immediately scan the matches. The dates of the heated, local derby, the league favourites and when a player will return to their former club are all quickly noted down. However, everyone in the squad keeps an eye out for the dates of the long, dreaded away trips.

Fortunately for us, the 400 mile round trip for our game against Macclesfield fell on a Saturday, not a Tuesday night.

After a short, sharp training session on the Friday morning, the bus was loaded up and the journey north started as usual. Staff sat at the front with the players behind in their usual, season long seats, which were simply pre-empted on the very first away trip. Coffee from the local Costa wafted down the aisle, the slow RnB music began, newspapers rustled, sweets emerged and laptops were switched on.

During a long, mundane journey, some aspects will never change. Some players will fall asleep; a few will intently watch the latest TV shows such as Power and Game of Thrones and the youngest player will have to make the hot drinks. An added constant occurrence is when I win the UNO tournament at the back of the bus, which is when I have the time between watching films and writing blogs.

The journey to Macclesfield took five hours and upon arrival at the hotel, room keys were handed out and every player arrived early for dinner due to hunger and the fear of a fine for being late. Towards the end of the meal, the sound of a glass being hit brought laughter to the room as it signalled an initiation song. Due to the tradition of every football club, our new signing, Antonio German, had to stand on a chair and sing to us. Antonio sang ‘Burn’ by Usher and it wasn’t a bad attempt. However, after my rendition of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by Rick Astley, he was never going to sound amazing.

Similar to our previous away trips, the rest of the evening and the following morning is then free time that our manager entrusts us to use wisely, to make sure that we are prepared for the game. On the day of the match, a team meeting is always held prior to our pre match meal before we depart for the stadium and the three o’clock kick off creeps ever closer.

Each football club is different to their approach of a long distance away game. It is not uncommon for teams to set off early on a Saturday morning or travel down via train. However, our gaffer, Daryl McMahon and his backroom staff want to give us every advantage of winning, which is why no expense is spared and every need is catered for.

Although our preparation was faultless, we suffered our second loss of the season and our first away defeat. The result kept Macclesfield top of the table as we now sit in 14th, only three points off a playoff spot. 

The journey home after a defeat is always miserable initially. Yet, as with a pre-match routine, every player deals with a defeat in their own way. Personally, I separate myself for a while, listen to music and self reflect on my own performance. However, it is important to make sure the journey home doesn’t remain a sombre affair as another game could be just days away.

The tedious journeys away from home make you appreciate playing in front of the home crowd that much more. Which is why, we might only be in October but I simply can’t wait for March 17th, Gateshead away.

See more on the Vanarama National League here: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/

For great leasing deals visit Vanarama: http://www.vanarama.co.uk/