The NLP team give their verdicts on a thrilling 2019 and the decade as a whole
MATT BADCOCK, JON COUCH AND DAVID RICHARDSON LOOK BACK ON 2019
SO MANY HIGHS... BUT ONE BIG LOW
WHAT WERE YOUR HIGHS AND LOWS OF 2019?
MB: Chertsey Town winning the FA Vase at Wembley was the perfect way for Dave Anderson to sign off his managerial career. You could see how much it meant to him when he addressed the media in the mixed zone after the game. It was a decent final as well with Cray Valley PM more than playing their part.
There was a nice moment during Dave’s interview where Justin Edinburgh arrived with his Leyton Orient ahead of the FA Trophy final. He passed on his congratulations and joked he should touch Dave for good luck.
Little did we know that would be Justin’s last game on the sideline. His sudden death stunned all of us. His family are now doing great charitable work in his name with the JE3 Foundation.
JC: Turning the clock back almost 12 months, I’m going to go for an FA Cup moment and Barnet’s victory at Sheffield United to keep Non-League interest alive in round four. Caretaker Darren Currie took over the side, 15th in the National League, from the departed John Still and led a famous victory against the Blades who were third in the Championship at the time, thanks to Shaq Coulthirst’s 21st minute winner.
In terms of lows, there can only be one…the sad and sudden death of Justin Edinburgh just three weeks after leading Leyton Orient back to the Football League. I still can’t take it in now.
DR: Tonbridge Angels and King’s Lynn Town winning their respective finals in the much maligned Super Play-Offs at Step 3 will go down in NonLeague history. The one-season initiative saw the two clubs win their respective divisional playoffs, along with Met Police and Warrington Town, before securing promotion in two thrilling finals which both finished 3-2 after extra-time.
Justin Edinburgh’s tragic passing just weeks after lifting the National League title with Leyton Orient rocked the football world. The rise in racism incidents and North Ferriby United’s liquidation over a £7,645 debt were also severe lows. The Step 4 play-off structure with only five of the seven winners going up was farcical.
WHICH TEAM ACROSS THE PYRAMID CAUGHT YOUR EYE?
MB: King’s Lynn Town have really impressed. From their play-off disappointment two seasons ago to winning last year’s Super Play-offs and now leading the way in the National League North.
Also can’t look past Stockport County. Big crowds remained through some tough years and now that loyalty is being rewarded. Play-off spot this season?
JC: Tough one, but I’m going to go with King’s Lynn Town. Edged out of the Southern League play-offs by Slough Town in 2017-18, they were placed in the new Premier Central division and finally secured promotion to Step 2 in May after beating Warrington Town 3-2 in the inaugural Super Play-offs. Since then, Ian Culverhouse’s Linnets haven’t looked back and before the weekend sat proudly on top of National League North with an 11-match unbeaten home record intact. Taking them the top-flight would be some achievement.
DR: Plenty have had standout years with Woking bouncing back from relegation by winning the National League South play-offs, while also reaching the third round of the
FA Cup, and are now in the promotion mix again.
But I think Stockport County have just pipped them this year after winning the National North title, reaching the FA Cup second round and the FA Trophy semi-finals – and now flying high in the top tier. It appears it’s finally started to turn for their long-suffering fans.
WHICH PLAYER AND MANAGER HAVE YOU BEEN MOST IMPRESSED WITH?
MB: It’s great to see Michael Gash is showing his NonLeague know-how with Adam Marriott knocking in the goals alongside him at King’s Lynn. Marriott is a player I always liked at Cambridge United and it’s good to see him showing his goalscoring class again.
A bad injury to Darlington right-back
Luke Trotman curtailed the last part of his
2019 but he was outstanding the times I saw him and believe he will make the Football League when he recovers.
Ian Evatt is doing a fantastic job as Barrow manager. The stereotype of the Bluebirds is they play ugly football but that is not the case these days. I fancied them as a dark horse but, like most people, didn’t expect them to be leading the way at the top of the table. JC: Player-wise, I’m going to go with Kabongo Tshimanga, who has made the step up from National League South to the top-flight with some ease. Kabby scored 37 goals in all competitions last season for Oxford City before turning down Football League interest to join Boreham
Wood. The 21-year-old hasn’t stopped there, either with 13 National League goals taking Wood into playoff contention. As for manager, it’s got to be Ian Evatt, who has taken Barrow from tricky-tobeat perennial National League strugglers to the top of the table and in sight of a famous return to the Football League after 48 years in the wilderness.
DR: As mentioned above, Woking’s Alan Dowson and Jim Gannon at Stockport have enjoyed superb years. Slough duo Neil Baker and Jon Underwood and King’s Lynn’s Ian Culverhouse are also going from strength to strength. Simon Weaver at Harrogate Town has also enjoyed success getting the club into the National League play-offs and has them challenging once again during their first two topflight seasons.
Striker Jamie Reid has been excellent for Torquay. The 25-year-old is the joint top scorer in the National League with 15 having ripped up National South last season scoring 32 as the Gulls won the title. He’s more than good enough to make a return to the Football League, where he started his career with Exeter City, in the near future.
LOOKING AT THE DECADE AS A WHOLE, WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT?
MB: I can’t look past Lincoln City reaching the FA Cup quarter-final. Even now it just seems crazy to think a Non-League team made it that far, beating two Championship sides in Ipswich and Brighton before toppling Premier League Burnley to set-up that famous day at Arsenal.
The romantic in me also goes for AFC Wimbledon. To reach the Football League nine years after their formation – and the circumstances around it – is one of football’s greatest stories. I regularly drive past the site of their new stadium on the way to work and you have to be impressed by everything they’re achieving as a fan-owned club.
JC: So many to choose from here but I’m going to go with Dorking Wanderers, who incredibly started the decade in the Sussex County League Division Three and ended it in National League South play-off contention. Manager Marc White founded the club with a group of mates in 1999 and, in total, has led them to 11 promotions. Last season, they won the Isthmian Premier Di
vision by 22 clear points and now lie at the hub of their community with a brand new 3G facility at Meadowbank. It’s a fairytale story that grassroots clubs can only dream of.
DR: Macclesfield Town’s National League title triumph against all odds in 2018 was something we may never see the like of again, similarly Lincoln City’s extraordinary run to the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Despite the heavy investment, the way Salford City have been able to power through Non League, winning four promotions in five seasons, has been impressive. Money doesn’t always guarantee success and the Class of ’92 were ruthlessly clinical in achieving their Football League dream in record time.
PLAYER AND MANAGER OF THE DECADE?
MB: Steve McNulty for player is an easy one. League titles at Fleetwood and Luton as well as promotion with Tranmere Rovers through the play-offs.
Impossible to look past Danny and Nicky Cowley when it comes to the managers. Alan Dowson and Jason Ainsley dethe
serve mentions but the Cowleys took Concord Rangers up the leagues, Braintree to third in the National League before transforming Lincoln City. It was a quite remarkable period of sustained success.
JC: Currently standing at the top of the Premier League scoring charts, Jamie Vardy is the obvious candidate, but York City’s veteran defender Steve McNulty would also be a popular choice having won the National League with Fleetwood Town, Luton Town and Tranmere Rovers. Macclesfield’s Danny Whitaker is another that comes to mind having won the NGA Player of Year at the age of 37. As for manager, an almost impossible choice as our NLP feature last week proved but while acknowledging the achievements of the Cowleys, I’m going to give my vote to Neil Cugley, currently in his 23rd season in charge of Folkestone Invicta – the longest serving manager in the top seven tiers of English football.
DR: Danny and Nicky Cowley are obvious calls for Manager of the Decade. Their rise through Non-League, and subsequently the Football League, gives every aspiring manager or coach hope of what is possible.
Steve McNulty is another easy answer for his role in securing Conference titles at Fleetwood and Luton plus Tranmere Rovers’ success through the play-offs in 2018. I expect him to win another promotion with York City this season.
HOPES FOR THE 2020s?
MB: If the stats continue to show dissent is declining then sin bins across the whole of Non-League football would be good. Football is always resistant to change and there will always be teething issues but I imagine in ten years’ time they will be the norm. How the game deals with head injuries should also change with the introduction of temporary substitutes allowing the medical professionals to do their job and assess a player for potential concussion.
On a more light-hearted note, pitch invasions for clubs celebrating avoiding relegation should result in just that. Relegation.
JC: Calls for a three-up, threedown system from League Two to the National League are forever getting louder but continually appear to be falling on deaf ears. The likes of Stevenage, Burton Albion, Crawley Town and Luton Town are proof, is ever it was needed, that the National League pace-setters can mix it with the level above, while big clubs as Leyton Orient, Chesterfield and even Notts County have all come unstuck following relegation. We get many letters from readers suggesting a return to the old Division Three North and South system and, to be honest, I can’t think of a valid argument against it.
DR: A curb in the number of incidents of racism across football. Tighter regulations on prospective football club owners to avoid situations as seen at Bury.
Ian Evatt has taken Barrow from tricky-to-beat perennial National League strugglers to top of the table and in sight of history Jon Couch Pitch invasions clubs for celebrating avoiding should relegation result in just that... relegation Matt Badcock