On The Road
CLASS OF 92’S SALFORD CITY BROUGHT DOWN TO EARTH WITH A BIG BUMP
INSIDe the dressing room, Salford City’s kitman is scurrying around with tape to fix a loose captain’s armband.
Mark Shelton’s No 8 shirt has gone missing and the dressing room is turned upside down in search of it. A music system sits in the corner and blares out grime music.
Co-manager Anthony Johnson rolls his eyes: ‘We insisted on Neil Diamond and Deacon Blue last season but the players’ modern tastes have won out.’
It is moments before kick-off and the room falls silent. Johnson runs through one final reminder of the team’s defensive set-piece positions. Then he begins. ‘We are 10 unbeaten on the road. Let’s not f****** lose that f****** unbeaten run today. Don’t let yourself down, don’t let us down, don’t let the people down who have travelled three and a half hours to see you play.’
This is the true face of non-League football, away from the fly-onthe-wall documentaries and partnerships with former Manchester United captains and Singaporean business magnates such as Peter Lim.
Salford City may be on a long journey from chip fat to champagne but, for now, a visit to Brackley Town and a crowd of 426 is their existence.
Brackley is a town without a railway station, so you have to get a train to Banbury 12 miles away and then a cab or bus. The stadium has two small seating areas and the travelling supporters are in an area behind the goal that is more akin to a bus stop. For the visiting fans, it is a haunting day.
Towards the end, a chant breaks out among some of the pensioners in the Brackley pen: ‘Four-nil... to the part-timers!’ It is followed by cheeky giggles and broad smiles.
Brackley may be third in the National League North, nine points behind leaders Salford, but the visitors remained favourites. Yet a decision to make six changes to the starting line-up for an FA Trophy tie has rebounded spectacularly on Salford’s managerial pair of Johnson and Bernard Morley.
Brackley remain part-timers. They fulfil the non- League cliches. volunteers heat pies and flip burgers. Striker Steve Diggin is a road-digger. By contrast, Salford’s managerial pair went full-time in March and the players in the summer. Salford now train nearly every day as a professional outfit. videos of opponents are studied through the Scout7 tactics system. ‘This was our heaviest defeat as Salford City managers,’ Morley frowns. ‘Gary Neville will be looking at that on Twitter. OK, it’s the FA Trophy and our main focus is the league but to be beaten 4-0, it kills morale and momentum. If we were playing Manchester United at home in the FA Cup and lost 4-0 we would be disappointed.’ Before turning professional, Johnson and Morley combined their coaching duties with jobs as a wagon driver and builder. Johnson, a former squaddie, smiles: ‘After that performance, we might be driving wagons again on Monday.’ Under Johnson and Morley’s guidance, Salford have twice been promoted and reached an FA Cup second-round replay.
In a league that includes Stockport County, York City and FC United, it is a significant achievement to be leading the pack. The stadium has been renamed — from Moor Lane to the Peninsula Stadium — and has been redeveloped to fit in 5,000. Home attendances are regularly in the thousands.
The Neville brothers, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt trust the duo to propel Salford to the Football League. The days of Scholes and Neville running training sessions are consigned to the past.
Morley is firm: ‘It is our squad and we don’t want anybody else coming down or trying to give mixed messages. It is down to us. They are big on promotion this season. It puts them closer to their goal of being in the Football League by 2022.’
For that to happen, there can be no repeat of this aberration.