Post by bluecamel on Apr 22, 2015 15:50:38 GMT
Tiny grounds, part-time teams and qualifying for the FA Cup. It’s non-league football, and for everyone involved in the lower reaches of the Football League, it’s their worst nightmare.
Although for Bristol Rovers and their supporters, that nightmare is a reality.
Relegated at the end of the 2013-14 season, Rovers’ failure to pick up a point in their final game at home to Mansfield saw them drop – despite spending only 70 minutes of the entire campaign in the drop zone.
With two teams falling out of the coveted 92 each season, the pressure to make non-league a short-lived experience is growing with every passing year.
However, Rovers are bidding to be the first team since Carlisle United a decade ago to bounce back at the first attempt.
And sitting a point off top spot with one game remaining, all eyes are on Rovers as they look to re-write last season’s miserable campaign.
“Probably up until the very last game of the season (against Mansfield), we felt it would be close but we’d be okay,” explains Toni Watola, Bristol Rovers’ financial director of 19 years.
“All we needed was a 0-0 draw to keep us up and I think we felt that was well within our capability. Then going a goal down took the puff out of the team and the fans, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
And history it was. Never before since their initial admission into the Football League in 1920 had they dropped out, and getting back in is harder than ever.
Promotion at the first attempt was Rovers’ expectation, but with 11 ex-Football League sides in the division, it would always be a tall order.
Of all the clubs to get back into the fourth tier following relegation, few have battled as hard as Luton Town. Giants compared to some of their rivals, it took them five seasons to get back to League Two last season.
“It’s difficult to put a finger on why it’s so hard to get out,” says Luton chairman Nick Owen.
“It’s a cliché that the Conference is a tough division to get out of but it’s so true. We never went into it thinking we’d get straight out because we knew there were a lot of Football League sides with a long history.
“In our time in the division we played the likes of Grimsby, Wrexham, Cambridge and Lincoln, and these are clubs with a long Football League tradition. They’re all as desperate to get out and with only one automatic place it’s extremely difficult,” he said.
Watola spoke in his office at the Memorial Stadium ahead of the 2-0 home win over Southport, which then kept them a point behind Barnet at the top.
Whilst he appears relaxed, there’s a confidence – and more importantly a belief – that promotion will be secured at the first time of asking. After a difficult summer following relegation, the financial implications of a long stay in non-league are potentially crippling.
“The first three or four months was probably the most difficult period after relegation. When we went down we looked very closely at our cost base and sadly, there were a number of people who had been with us for 10 or so years that had to be let go as we trimmed our overheads to match our reduced income streams.
“It’s been difficult task but the fans have stuck with us and the performances by the team have encouraged the fans and you can see with some away games that we’re travelling well.
“There’s a structure to any supporter base with the core support who will turn up as long as we’re putting the effort in; supporters who want to see us play well and those who want to see us winning games.
“We’re now including all sections and there are people coming to games who openly say they haven’t been in five years and want to be a part of our journey, and we’re grateful for their support,” said Watola.
Owen and Luton also felt the pinch after going down, but like Watola, he believes the club’s supporters deserve a lot of credit for their backing.
“The funding plummets. Television money almost disappears, sponsors aren’t so keen if you aren’t in the Football League and money you can charge for sponsorship goes down. Away crowds diminish and our own fans were stunning in how they stuck with the club.
Luton Town v Forest Green
“In particular, last season we averaged almost 8,000 at home which is astonishing for the Conference. We averaged over 1,000 on the road and it was breathtaking,” said Owen.
The Hatters’ five-year stay in the Conference saw as many managers take the reins. After club legend Mick Harford left within two months of the first Conference campaign in what Owen described as “terribly disappointing”. Richard Money, Gary Brabin and Paul Buckle then all led Luton to unsuccessful play-off campaigns.
In February 2013, they turned to John Still who, the following season, got Luton promoted, scoring 100 goals and amassing 100 points in the process.
“John (Still) has been wonderful in getting the fans onside and getting them to support the team. He’s changed the negativity around the club for a very positive ethos.
“I’ve said it before but he’s a hugely unifying and energising factor for everyone at the club,” Owen says.
Luton Town v AFC Wimbledon
It may have taken Luton four years to ultimately find the right person to lead them back to the Football League, but Rovers have so far stuck with their man.
An abiding image of Rovers’ relegation was manager Darrell Clarke in tears at full-time against Mansfield, and as Watola explains, he’s been given the chance to rectify the events of last season.
“In Darrell Clarke, he always gave us hope and we stuck with him as a good young manager who had experience of the Conference.
“The phone calls our chairman received from other chairmen that had been in our position basically said ‘don’t go down with League Two players thinking it will automatically make us the best team in the Conference, because that won’t be the case. You need to get Conference players and people with the mental ability to adjust to Conference football’.
“Everybody took a bit of time to adjust and the first eight weeks of the season were difficult. Darrell steadied the ship and from that point onwards we’ve done nothing but move up the league, and been there or thereabouts since Christmas,” said Watola.
Clarke’s non-league expertise has been invaluable to Rovers who, according to Watola, weren’t quite sure of what to expect heading into non-league for the first time.
“It was daunting because you don’t know what to expect.
“You hear stories about how basic some facilities are, and clearly that’s the case because some clubs don’t have the support that we’ve got and maybe they’re living on the edge.
“You’ve got to give him (Clarke) the credit. We all recognised there had to be an adjustment, and for the first two months Darrell found it tough as the fans expected us to hit the ground running,” Watola said.
Rovers struggled in the early weeks of the season, but have more than made up for it since with an imperious run of form that has seen them lose only once since November.
The result is being a point off leaders Barnet in what is a two-way battle for the one automatic promotion spot. One of them will have to make do with the play-offs.
Ex-League clubs’ difficulty in returning from non-league, combined with the largely positive fortunes of those promoted have led to calls for an extra promotion place to be awarded – something Owen firmly supports.
“I feel very strongly that three teams should be promoted. The strength of the teams that come up and the success have shown that the quality is very good and it says a lot about how strong the Conference is.”
Despite Owen’s and others’ support of the idea, only one automatic place remains available, and Watola is determined to see his side get it.
“Our priority was always to make the play-offs with a chance of automatic promotion so the target was always to be somewhere around where we are now.
“In the past, as the finance man, I might have said I’d prefer the play-offs for the extra income, but on this occasion I’ll forego the income for the certainty of getting back into the League.”
Watola speaks openly and passionately and retains a smile throughout, possibly the smile of a man who expects his club to be celebrating promotion in the coming weeks.
Whether that’s automatically or via the play-offs is unlikely to bother anyone with a Rovers connection – as long as they break the decade-long hoodoo and end their non-league nightmare at the first attempt.
Although for Bristol Rovers and their supporters, that nightmare is a reality.
Relegated at the end of the 2013-14 season, Rovers’ failure to pick up a point in their final game at home to Mansfield saw them drop – despite spending only 70 minutes of the entire campaign in the drop zone.
With two teams falling out of the coveted 92 each season, the pressure to make non-league a short-lived experience is growing with every passing year.
However, Rovers are bidding to be the first team since Carlisle United a decade ago to bounce back at the first attempt.
And sitting a point off top spot with one game remaining, all eyes are on Rovers as they look to re-write last season’s miserable campaign.
“Probably up until the very last game of the season (against Mansfield), we felt it would be close but we’d be okay,” explains Toni Watola, Bristol Rovers’ financial director of 19 years.
“All we needed was a 0-0 draw to keep us up and I think we felt that was well within our capability. Then going a goal down took the puff out of the team and the fans, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
And history it was. Never before since their initial admission into the Football League in 1920 had they dropped out, and getting back in is harder than ever.
Promotion at the first attempt was Rovers’ expectation, but with 11 ex-Football League sides in the division, it would always be a tall order.
Of all the clubs to get back into the fourth tier following relegation, few have battled as hard as Luton Town. Giants compared to some of their rivals, it took them five seasons to get back to League Two last season.
“It’s difficult to put a finger on why it’s so hard to get out,” says Luton chairman Nick Owen.
“It’s a cliché that the Conference is a tough division to get out of but it’s so true. We never went into it thinking we’d get straight out because we knew there were a lot of Football League sides with a long history.
“In our time in the division we played the likes of Grimsby, Wrexham, Cambridge and Lincoln, and these are clubs with a long Football League tradition. They’re all as desperate to get out and with only one automatic place it’s extremely difficult,” he said.
Watola spoke in his office at the Memorial Stadium ahead of the 2-0 home win over Southport, which then kept them a point behind Barnet at the top.
Whilst he appears relaxed, there’s a confidence – and more importantly a belief – that promotion will be secured at the first time of asking. After a difficult summer following relegation, the financial implications of a long stay in non-league are potentially crippling.
“The first three or four months was probably the most difficult period after relegation. When we went down we looked very closely at our cost base and sadly, there were a number of people who had been with us for 10 or so years that had to be let go as we trimmed our overheads to match our reduced income streams.
“It’s been difficult task but the fans have stuck with us and the performances by the team have encouraged the fans and you can see with some away games that we’re travelling well.
“There’s a structure to any supporter base with the core support who will turn up as long as we’re putting the effort in; supporters who want to see us play well and those who want to see us winning games.
“We’re now including all sections and there are people coming to games who openly say they haven’t been in five years and want to be a part of our journey, and we’re grateful for their support,” said Watola.
Owen and Luton also felt the pinch after going down, but like Watola, he believes the club’s supporters deserve a lot of credit for their backing.
“The funding plummets. Television money almost disappears, sponsors aren’t so keen if you aren’t in the Football League and money you can charge for sponsorship goes down. Away crowds diminish and our own fans were stunning in how they stuck with the club.
Luton Town v Forest Green
“In particular, last season we averaged almost 8,000 at home which is astonishing for the Conference. We averaged over 1,000 on the road and it was breathtaking,” said Owen.
The Hatters’ five-year stay in the Conference saw as many managers take the reins. After club legend Mick Harford left within two months of the first Conference campaign in what Owen described as “terribly disappointing”. Richard Money, Gary Brabin and Paul Buckle then all led Luton to unsuccessful play-off campaigns.
In February 2013, they turned to John Still who, the following season, got Luton promoted, scoring 100 goals and amassing 100 points in the process.
“John (Still) has been wonderful in getting the fans onside and getting them to support the team. He’s changed the negativity around the club for a very positive ethos.
“I’ve said it before but he’s a hugely unifying and energising factor for everyone at the club,” Owen says.
Luton Town v AFC Wimbledon
It may have taken Luton four years to ultimately find the right person to lead them back to the Football League, but Rovers have so far stuck with their man.
An abiding image of Rovers’ relegation was manager Darrell Clarke in tears at full-time against Mansfield, and as Watola explains, he’s been given the chance to rectify the events of last season.
“In Darrell Clarke, he always gave us hope and we stuck with him as a good young manager who had experience of the Conference.
“The phone calls our chairman received from other chairmen that had been in our position basically said ‘don’t go down with League Two players thinking it will automatically make us the best team in the Conference, because that won’t be the case. You need to get Conference players and people with the mental ability to adjust to Conference football’.
“Everybody took a bit of time to adjust and the first eight weeks of the season were difficult. Darrell steadied the ship and from that point onwards we’ve done nothing but move up the league, and been there or thereabouts since Christmas,” said Watola.
Clarke’s non-league expertise has been invaluable to Rovers who, according to Watola, weren’t quite sure of what to expect heading into non-league for the first time.
“It was daunting because you don’t know what to expect.
“You hear stories about how basic some facilities are, and clearly that’s the case because some clubs don’t have the support that we’ve got and maybe they’re living on the edge.
“You’ve got to give him (Clarke) the credit. We all recognised there had to be an adjustment, and for the first two months Darrell found it tough as the fans expected us to hit the ground running,” Watola said.
Rovers struggled in the early weeks of the season, but have more than made up for it since with an imperious run of form that has seen them lose only once since November.
The result is being a point off leaders Barnet in what is a two-way battle for the one automatic promotion spot. One of them will have to make do with the play-offs.
Ex-League clubs’ difficulty in returning from non-league, combined with the largely positive fortunes of those promoted have led to calls for an extra promotion place to be awarded – something Owen firmly supports.
“I feel very strongly that three teams should be promoted. The strength of the teams that come up and the success have shown that the quality is very good and it says a lot about how strong the Conference is.”
Despite Owen’s and others’ support of the idea, only one automatic place remains available, and Watola is determined to see his side get it.
“Our priority was always to make the play-offs with a chance of automatic promotion so the target was always to be somewhere around where we are now.
“In the past, as the finance man, I might have said I’d prefer the play-offs for the extra income, but on this occasion I’ll forego the income for the certainty of getting back into the League.”
Watola speaks openly and passionately and retains a smile throughout, possibly the smile of a man who expects his club to be celebrating promotion in the coming weeks.
Whether that’s automatically or via the play-offs is unlikely to bother anyone with a Rovers connection – as long as they break the decade-long hoodoo and end their non-league nightmare at the first attempt.
