WE’VE NO TIME TO TAKE STOCK
HOW do you top Wembley? That’s the question Stockton Town boss Michael Dunwell has been asking.
“I keep saying to the players we could have all packed in last year because we got to Wembley,” he tells The NLP.
“But you want to win there or finish higher in the league or win some cups. The ultimate aim is not just Wembley; it’s promotion and getting through the leagues.”
Dunwell admits their adventure to the home of football where they lost to Thatcham Town in the FA Vase final last May seems an age ago, as they re-entered the competition this week in the second round.
Stockton have been drawn against their league rivals Ashington as they eye a Wembley return.
“Once you’ve been there and had a taste of it you want that every day!” he says. “We were proud of what we achieved but we can’t just rest on that. We’ll never forgot those memories.” Coupled with success in the Vase, it’s in the ultra-competitive Northern League where Dunwell and ambitious chairman Martin Hillerby also want to excel this season. They’ve started well, with 21 points from 13 games and bidding to push for Evo-Stik football. “The club’s aim, the chairman’s aim and my aim is to get promoted out of the Northern League,” says Dunwell, who has been manager for four years. “With the Vase run we’ve had the experience of playing in big games, we have a lot of players who know what it’s about and we can use it to our advantage
“At the start of the season, August is a funny month for us because we have some teachers playing for us and we don’t have our full squad until the middle of September, really. We seem to have settled now. I think we have a stronger squad than what we had last year.
Nitty gritty
“The league is going to be tight. There’s a lot of teams in the top 10 that are very similar. It’s difficult too with only one team being promoted.”
Back-to-back promotions and then a trip to Wembley has boosted the Step 5 club’s profile and the legacy of their success under Dunwell has been evident. “You just have to look at our attendances,” he adds. “We were averaging
220 last year, I think only once this season we’ve had less than 300. We’ve got more sponsors, there’s a buzz about the town. People come up to you and say, ‘see you Saturday’ and ask how you’re getting on. There’s a lot more people who realise there’s a football club in Stockton now.
“I think once they come and watch they realise what a good club it is. We have a lot of junior teams as well where about half of our squad have come through.
“We were in the Wearside League, three below this, when I came here. Then we got promoted two years ago, and then we’re playing at Wembley. It is a bit of a fairytale, sometimes you have to pinch yourself that this did actually happen, but in reality you have to realise that’s not going to happen every year and you have to get back to the nitty gritty, which is the league. We just want to keep climbing.”