2010-2011 WHAT ELSE...

Step 1 and Step 2 goalscoring charts all saw their respective Golden Boot winners surpass the 30goal milestone. Crawley’s Matt Tubbs came close to going one step further and hitting 40 with 37 goals; Conference North champions Alfreton Town were fired by 30-goal striker Liam Hearn; diminuitive striker Adam Birchall found the back of the net 34 times for Conference South side Dover Athletic, who finished seventh. Ray Mathias’ brief 41-day spell in charge of Stockport County came to an end come July 2011 following the club’s relegation from League Two. German international Dietmar Hamann took the reins promising a return to the Football League, but after winning just three games out of 19, resigned in November citing frustrations over Tony Evans’ attempted takeover of the club. He was replaced by Jim Gannon, who returned to the club as Director of Football. Rushden & Diamonds’ decline reached new lows as they were thrown out of the Blue Square Premier despite finishing 13th in the table, facing a winding up petition with reported debts of £750,000. They were then evicted from their home at Nene Park for arch-rivals Kettering Town to move in. Unable to fulfil their fixtures the next season and in administration, the Diamonds were dissolved with AFC Rushden & Diamonds later established in United Counties League Division One. Too many matches that ended all-square proved costly for Kidderminster Harriers who missed out on the play-offs despite only losing nine league matches in 46. Manager Steve Burr’s attempts to take the club up were also dealt a setback by the five points they were deducted for submitting misleading financial information. In international football, five Mexico players were banned from the CONCACAF Gold Cup after testing positive for banned anabolic agent clenbuterol. The Mexican FA claimed the players had been accidentally exposed to tainted chicken meat. A major embarrassment for the country was made easier by beating the USA 4-2 in the competition’s final.