Dreams of Wembley – by Luke Coulson, Of Ebbsfleet United and the FWA

It was a cold September morning and my manager pulled me to one side after the training session to talk about our upcoming fixture. The meaning of the conversation was simple; my gaffer wanted to ask if I was ready to play against my former club, Eastleigh FC.

Of course, my answer was yes.

Despite the fact that I have fond memories from my time at the club, I only played for the Spitfires for a single season, hardly a Ryan Giggs length of service. Nonetheless, the question from my manager needed to be asked as facing up against your former team mates for the first time can be a difficult challenge.

That particular Vanarama National League encounter earlier in the season ended in 2 -2 draw, but what I remember most about that game was my disappointing performance and the fact that I clearly didn’t handle the pressure very well. I remember striding out on to the pitch that day to demonstrate my ability, but I walked off that day thinking that my former employers must have returned to Hampshire with the opinion that selling me in January to Barnet was a great decision.

This weekend, however, I have the opportunity to give a better account of myself as we once more welcome Eastleigh FC to Stonebridge Road for the first round of the FA Trophy.

The BuildBase FA Trophy not only gives us a chance to have a break from the Vanarama National League but gives us an opportunity to try and repeat the feat of the Ebbsfleet United squad from 2007/08 that lifted the famous trophy for the first time in the club’s history.

In addition to trying to emulate the past, as a team we also want to continue our excellent recent home form which will lead us into the busy Christmas schedule. After beating Leyton Orient and Hartlepool before enjoying a rare weekend off, last Saturday we won our third home game on the bounce by outclassing Guiseley, which was evident in the 4-0 score line.

In the opening game of the season, Guiseley held us to a 2-2 draw and therefore we knew what to expect from our opponents and knew that if our mindset was right, we would win the game comfortably. The win has lifted us to tenth in the table and has added to our ever growing confidence as we head into the first round of the FA Trophy.

This weekend, not only am I focused on putting on a performance that my former club won’t forget but I want to help the team move one step closer to every young footballer’s dream, playing at Wembley.

Glenn Moore of the FWA, provides his mid-season assessment of the National League’s new boys.

As December bites so reality sinks in for those teams relegated into the Vanarama National League. Hartlepool and Leyton Orient have now played 23 league matches, half the campaign, and there is no avoiding the fact that non-League is proving very tough. 

At the weekend Leyton Orient, under new manager Justin Edinburgh, lost at bottom club Solihull Borough. They are now 20^th, one place above the relegation zone. Hartlepool, having conceded twice late on to lose at home to Macclesfield, are 13^th; which means Jeff Stelling has to wait for the bottom half of the Vanarama table to flash up on Soccer Saturday to see where his team are.

This difficult baptism should come as no surprise. It is often said that relegation can enable struggling clubs to take stock, reform, and come back stronger, but that rarely applies to dropping out of the Football League. Of the 19 clubs relegated from League Two in the last decade (Torquay went down twice) only two bounced back immediately, Bristol Rovers in 2015 and Cheltenham the following year. More worrying for Hartlepool and Orient is that only seven of the 19 have climbed back into the Football League while five fell further, often due to financial problems. Boston, re-formed Darlington, Stockport County and York City are now in Vanarama National League North. A finally resurgent (and re-formed) Hereford are pushing to join them from the Evo-Stik South Premier.

“This is the biggest club in the Vanarama National League,” said Edinburgh after Saturday’s defeat.  Therein lies one of the problems. Opposition players are inspired by playing a club with such a long Football League pedigree, and by visiting Brisbane Road. “We have to embrace that and not fear it,” added Edinburgh, who said Orient was the “only job I would have taken in the National League [because of] the pull of the size of the club, the history.”

But if history helps attract fans, players and managers it counts for nothing on the pitch. Stockport are averaging 3,209 at the gate this season, the fifth highest attendance outside the Football League, but are mid-table in the Vanarama National League North. They lost at second-place Brackley Town in front of 585 on Saturday. That was one of the Saints’ best gates of the season – swelled by travelling Hatters fans.

In many respects the Vanarama National League is like the Championship: full of clubs with (relatively) storied histories, big followings, decent stadia – but fiercely competitive and no respecter of reputations. Orient are the Sunderland of non-League. Like the Wearsiders the O’s have put their faith in a new manager, one with a solid pedigree, hoping that unlike a succession of recent bosses this is the one who stops the rot. The current season may be gone with regard to promotion but, as with Chris Coleman at Sunderland, if Edinburgh can turn things around the club will develop momentum, and could take some stopping next season. However, as the likes of Wrexham, Tranmere and Stockport know, with hungry upwardly mobile clubs like Sutton United, Bromley and Brackley around there are no guarantees.

Luke Coulson of the FWA, and Ebbsfleet United, gives an insight into post-match analysis.

Patrick Vieira’s long legs took him through the Leicester City defence, around the keeper and allowed him to pass the ball into an open net and cement Arsenal’s place in history.

The Frenchman’s winning goal at Highbury meant the Arsenal team of 2003/04 went undefeated throughout the whole Premier League season. Yet, in the game of football, losing is inevitable. Even the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ of 2003/04 lost in domestic cup competitions along the way, suffering defeats in the FA Cup, Football League Cup and Champions League. As a player, you have to accept that there will be times when the team underperforms or the opposition execute the perfect tactical game plan to get the win. However, the important aspect about a loss isn’t the result itself but the reaction that comes afterwards.

The professionalism of Ebbsfleet United means each fixture is recorded and analysed which gives us the opportunity to watch the match from a different perspective. For me, it is an important element in my development as it allows me to understand what areas of my game need improvement, but also what areas of my game are strengths.

After our breakfast on a Monday morning, which usually consists of bagels, boiled eggs, fruit, cereals and a copious amount of coffee, a team meeting gives the squad a chance to discuss the positives and negatives of the previous game. In these meetings, the manager creates an open and positive environment in which he is keen to hear our opinions and encourages us to give constructive criticism to each other.

Nevertheless, despite being able to learn from previous mistakes, defeats will happen. A poor team performance, fatigue from the previous fixture or a misjudged refereeing decision can cost you a game.

Last week, we suffered our first back-to-back league defeats of the season. A gruelling six hour journey to Wrexham resulted in a 2-0 loss and was followed three days later by another away defeat to Woking. However, as the saying goes: ‘you learn more from losing than winning’, which is why we worked even harder on the training pitch to correct our mistakes and on Saturday, Hartlepool felt the full force of our frustration. We dominated the game from start to finish and moved ahead of them in the league after our 3-0 victory.

Reading and listening to comments since the match, it seems that most people agree that Saturday was our best performance of the season so far. However, with the quality of teams in the National League, we have to accept that defeats will happen moving forward. Yet, if we were able to recover and improve like we did this past weekend, we have a great platform to build upon moving into the tough Christmas period and our ambitions will certainly remain in reach.

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

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