ALTINTOP: LET’S KEEP THIS SQUAD TOGETHER
BRAINTREE Town skipper Baris Altintop has urged the club to act quickly to keep their promotion-winning heroes on board for next season’s crack at the National League.
The unfancied Iron, who finished fifth in National League South, pulled off a remarkable hat-trick of playoff extra-time victories to reach the top flight, culminating in their sensational 4-3 success at Worthing on bank holiday Monday. Defender Altintop praised his teammates for sticking together in the run-in and is hoping they will all get the chance to show what they can do against the cream of Non-League next term. However, it remains to be seen what course of action the Essex club, currently part-time, will take as they head back to the top flight after a five-year absence. “Promotion is still very fresh and we don’t know what will happen, but I’m sure the club will be talking about full-time, part-time or even training on three mornings,” Altintop told The NLP. “If the club go full-time, great. If not, we will still give it our best efforts. The club will be having their meetings and I’m sure they’ll have that conversation with us when they’ve decided what they want to do.
“The club will have to get their skates on, though. Some players are out of contract and other teams will be sniffing about.” Altintop also believes the Iron will have to be wary of approaches for boss Angelo Harrop, who has masterminded Braintree’s unexpected promotion. “Angelo doesn’t get enough credit,” insisted the 23-year-old, who has also featured for AFC Sudbury, Bury Town, King’s Lynn, Leiston and Dartford. “I’d like to thank him on behalf of everyone because he’s done an excellent job.
“The tactics each week, different game-plans for different teams, have been spoton.
“Last season he got us into the play-offs with a new team. He then lost a few players, but has done it again – and we’ve got promoted. He’s done a hell of a job and there will be teams looking at him as well.”
Altintop owes a special debt of gratitude to Harrop. Having left for Dartford last summer, he returned to the club just before Christmas and finished the promotion-winning campaign as skipper.
“Things just didn’t work out for me at Dartford and when Angelo got in touch, it was a no-brainer to come back,” he explained. “I think I was the youngest captain in the league and Angelo has shown faith in me. It’s a big privilege to captain a side to promotion.”
Altintop previously had a glimpse of what the National League is like in an injury-hit spell with King’s Lynn and reckons Braintree will have to prepare themselves for a searching examination. “Conference South and the National League are completely different,” he explained. “You have to be strong, aggressive, quick. You’re coming up against athletes all over the pitch and big clubs like Oldham, Rochdale and Hartlepool.
“It’s a great league to be playing in and hopefully I get plenty of games under my belt next season.” Braintree fans will be heavily outnumbered at times next season, but Altintop is confident they will make themselves heard. “They have backed us home and away, through thick and thin, and they’ve been excellent,” he said. “Promotion is for them as much as us.”