THERE’S SCOPES TO BRING IT ON
DANNY SCOPES says not getting the shot at reaching an FA Trophy final would be worse than losing the semi.
Scopes’ Concord Rangers were due to play Step 4 Halesowen Town in the semi-final before lockdown brought a halt to football.
The Football Association have maintained their hope they can reschedule the final games – Harrogate Town and Notts County make up the last four – when football is allowed to return.
Beachboys boss Scopes, who returned to their dug-out last summer, accepts squeezing it into next season’s schedule may not be ideal, but says the National League South club would love their chance at creating club history.
“For the integrity of the competition the FA seem like they want to do it,” Scopes said. “I can’t see how they can’t fit it in. It’s not going to be ideal and it’s going to put a bit of pressure on the teams within their schedule.
“Obviously, on the other side, Harrogate or Notts County could be promoted because they’re in the play-offs so they could be Football League clubs by then.
“For us and Halesowen being at a lower level it’s a big occasion for us. The money could be beneficial and it would go down in history as something that is major for us.
“It would be history for Notts County and Harrogate too. So I think for it to be said, ‘No, we’re going to null and void it’ would be harsh on all of us.
“It’s understandable no one really wants to commit to anything because we don’t really know. We’re a bit in the lap of the gods, which I understand.
“I’m trying to be optimistic. I’ll openly say I’ll be devastated if we don’t – not personally but for the football club. Even if you play Halesowen as one leg or behind closed doors, I just think it’s the opportunity to play the game. At least you can go away with no regrets then. The never knowing would be even worse than losing.”
The Beachboys have been aiming for squad continuity this summer, while there have been returns for defenders Frazer Shaw and Tyrone Sterling along with striker Alex Wall, who all had previous spells at the club.
And Scopes says giving the fans what they know has been a big part of their summer business.
“For us continuity was key and trying to retain as many as we felt we wanted to retain from last season’s squad because we felt that would be better for the club and they would be better. Some of them only played their first season at the level – and then it’s a case of trying to add to help them and improve us.
Characters
“We were fortunate enough some of the boys who played for us the season before last under Sammy Moore, me as a coach and Lee Minshull, now my assistant, as a player as well as Danny Green, who is also now a coach, and Adam Drew, our head of recruitment, really enjoyed it. They showed an interest to us to want to come back.
“We feel for good characters and good players who want to come back, it would be silly to wait and not take that option. We feel they know what the club is about, what we do well, what we don’t, and there is no hidden agenda. They can come back because they want to play for the football club.”
Scopes believes it’s worth staying patient on a return to pre-season training but they’ve set their players home plans – and they can keep a close eye on the work being put in.
“We’ve use a company called Titan, who have the vests with the monitor in the back and you can see all the distances, workloads and speeds,” Scopes said.
Workout
“They’ve developed an app this year so rather than give each boy a tracker they download the app on their phone.
“So when they start their workout they press ‘Start’. When they stop they press ‘Stop’. That automatically sends the data to the site and gives us all the breakdown.
“We can keep an eye on them and see where their levels are at. It gives you a heat map so you can track their run and where they’re going.
“We had one lad who did quite a big exercise but he was just going backwards and forwards in his garden – it was the goalkeeper! I’ve given him slightly different routines!
“We’re building it up because we feel when we come back we’re going to have to hit the ground running. We want to come back and focus on the technical and tactical side.
“That’s another benefit of having your squad set in. You can wait for some gems to come out but it can sometimes take a month for them to get up to speed. We feel the start of the season could be quite pivotal.”