Well its the end of July which can only mean one thing – the start of the new football season is just around the corner! Doesn’t time fly? It really only seems like a couple of weeks since the last season ended, with both Poole Town & Weymouth missing out on promotion and the play-offs respectively.
Both sides will be looking to go one better this season. But who will their main challengers be? Well that’s the aim of this write up really – to give you a run down of the runners and riders in the 2015-16 Southern Premier league.
The bookies have Poole Town and St Neots Town as the two early favourites, and in truth it is difficult to see past either of them.
Poole looked as if they had the title in the bag towards the end of last season, only to lose it in dramatic fashion in the final ten minutes of the season, before losing to the Saints in the play-offs.
The Dolphins have managed to keep most of last year’s side, but they have boosted their attacking options with the signing of the experienced striker Alan Connell from Havant & Waterlooville. The 32 year old forward has a wealth of experience having racked up over 350 appearances in the Football League, including spells with Bradford City, Swindon Town and AFC Bournemouth.
Jamie Gleeson has also arrived from Dorset neighbours Dorchester Town, but they have lost influential loanees Joe Quigley and Mason Walsh back to AFC Bournemouth. No doubt Poole will look to use their good relationship with their premiership neighbours to bring in a few more talented loanees as the season goes on.
As for the side who broke their hearts in the play-offs last season – St Neots Town have strengthened further over the summer, which is a frightening thought considering they only suffered one league defeat post New Year.
They may have lost their experienced goalkeeper Paul Bastock as well as Lorenzo Ferrari, Lewis Haldane and Matt Spring, but they have won the race for prolific striker Tom Meechan, who netted a remarkable 53 goals for Godmanchester last term. Him and the already proven Drew Roberts could prove a formidable front pairing. Add to that the signings of Ryan Hawkins (Dereham Town), Jamie Anton (Corby Town), Remy Gordon (Wroxham), Connor Hall (Bury Town) and Brett Longden on loan from Luton and you have to say they’ll take some beating.
The Saints have been dubbed this season’s “moneybags”, but in fairness to them they also have a very impressive youth set up which has seen the likes of Luis Veira and Ebey Marango step up to first team level, which proves they also have a good coaching set up and an eye for a young player.
If you want to talk about “moneybags”, Dunstable Town are probably a better example.
They have managed to lure both Paul Bastock and Lorenzo Ferrari from St Neots, along with Zac Reynolds from Hemel Hempstead and Dan Walker from Luton Town.
Last season their manager was quoted as “guaranteeing” that they would win the title, only to find himself out of a job a few months down the line as they finished in a disappointing mid-table position. But they look in good shape this time around, and with a chairman willing to put his hand in his pocket – you would expect them to be in the mix this season.
Weymouth looked to be in a commanding position halfway through last season, having been top of the table with games in hand. But they suffered a horrendous loss of form over the second half of the season which eventually saw them miss out on the play-offs altogether.
Their defence was their major achilles heel, but they have looked to strengthen in that area with the signing of the vastly experienced Pat Baldwin from Exeter City and the highly rated Mark Cooper from Frome Town. They’ve also added to their midfield options with the signing of Mark Molesley from Aldershot Town, and highly rated Poole youngster Billy Lowes.
With Stewart Yetton up front and the likes of Chris McPhee, Chris Shephard and Adam Kelly chipping in, they will always be good for a goal or two. But if their new look defence proves to be as strong as it looks on paper, expect the Terras to at least go one better than last season and establish themselves in the top five.
But it’ll be even tougher this season, with Merthyr and Kettering Town both coming up.
Both clubs have big fan bases, both walked their respective divisions last season, both have kept their title winning squads together, and both have genuine aspirations of achieving back-to-back promotions.
Merthyr are one of two sides in the division who play on a 3G pitch, and it has given a whole new meaning to the term “home advantage” for the Welshmen, with them suffering just one defeat on their own ground in two seasons.
Another side to look out for are Hungerford Town.
The Crusaders made the play-offs last season before losing out to winners Truro City. They have managed to keep most of last season’s squad – including their two front men Charlie Mpi and Mark Draycott. In fact they’ve gone and strengthened their attacking options by signing Stefan Brown on a permanent basis after a successful loan spell last season.
He was part of the strike force that took Leamington to the title two seasons ago, but after two season’s in the Conference North his old club are back, and nobody really knows what to expect from them this season.
They have seen a real turnover of players over the summer, with five players leaving and so far seven coming in including Ben Mackey – another very prolific striker at this level who netted 40 goals for Hemel Hempstead two seasons ago.
They’ve also brought in Tony Breeden (Solihull), Ben George (Rugby), Jamie Hood (Barwell), Jake Jones (Kings Lynn), Rob Ogleby (Nuneaton) and Ross Oulton (Bedford).
With all these new players it may take them time to gel, but if they get going then you certainly wouldn’t rule them out of the play-off picture.
After years of struggle, Redditch United took everybody by surprise last season by challenging for the top 5, only to fall short in the end. But they were never really out of the mix, and with their young squad gaining valuable experience last season they will hope to go one better this season. But they don’t have as much room for manoeuvre in terms of their finances as most of the other sides who will be chasing the play-offs, so it could be difficult for them to replicate last season’s form.
Likewse with Cirencester Town, Hitchin Town and Paulton Rovers – all of whom did extremely well to finish in the top ten last season, but you’d be surprised if they managed that again this season.
If any of them was going to, you would probably back Cirencester, having kept their side together and signed striker Charlie Griffin.
Hitchin Town have kept their young side together, whilst Paulton Rovers have had a busy summer.
They lost their manager Nick Buynard, along with their top scorer Scott Wilson and skipper Jon Davies. All in all they have kept ten players from last season and have strengthened with the likes of Darren Mullings (Oxford City) and Aaron Brown as player-coach (Weston Super-Mare).
Their new manager Richard Fey had an impressive season in the league below with Bridgwater last season, but he hasn’t yet managed to bring in a replacement striker, so unless the rest of them can start chipping in with a few goals, they may well struggle this season.
Dorchester Town had a turbulent time of it last season, sacking two managers in the first half of the season before old fans favourite Mark Jermyn came in and turned their fortunes around. They eventually finished 17th which was way below what they would’ve hoped for this time last year, but considering where they were at the halfway point, they would’ve taken it.
They will be hoping for a far less turbulent time of it this season, but they have lost a few key players in Jamie Gleeson and Sam Lanahan. Most worryingly of all – captain and top scorer last season Nathan Walker has refused to sign a new deal, and looks set to be leaving for pastures new.
They have brought in Ashley Nicholls (Maidenhead), Charlie Davis (Poole), Mark Irvine (Southampton), Jonah Ayunga (Bridport), and re-signed defender Neil Martin following spells with Poole and Weymouth.
They certainly shouldn’t be expected to pull up any trees this season – they simply don’t have the financial backing to make a promotion push, but their form over the second half of last season was top half form, and they picked up some impressive results against the likes of Corby, Poole, and Hungerford.
They shouldn’t be in any relegation trouble, they should be a comfortable mid-table side. But after a difficult couple of years on and off the pitch, they might just take a comfortable season without any relegation fears.
Their opening day opponents Histon recovered from a terrible start to finish one place below the Magpies last season, but they appear to have had a very quiet summer. They relied on a few loanees to get them over the line last season, but if they don’t manage to bring anyone in it could prove to be another difficult season for them. And with little money to spend, it’s difficult to see them doing anything.
Their tenants last season – Cambridge City, have also had a quiet summer. They were about as mid-table as it was possible to be last season, and it’s difficult to see them doing anything other than that again this term. They continue to play outside of Cambridge, ground sharing with St Ives this season, while their own new ground is built. You would imagine they’ll wait until they move in to make a serious push.
Kings Lynn Town have been moved into the Southern Premier League for this season, and they haven’t really given their fans much cause for optimism by re-signing eight of the side that almost got relegated from the Isthmian league last season.
The Southern league is generally considered to be the stronger league, so Kings Lynn might just be in for a season of struggle. But not as much of a struggle as most teams will have actually getting there to play them!
As for the other two new sides, Bedworth United have managed to keep most of last season’s play-off winning side together, and they even boast the vastly experienced Mark Albrighton in their ranks.
Something else in their favour is their 3G pitch, which most sides in the Central division struggled to get to grips with last season. If they can continue to use that to their advantage they should be able to do enough to keep their place in the division, but it’ll be tough for them.
Stratford Town will also be hoping to simply stay up, and they have kept most of last season’s squad. Whether or not they can adapt to the higher standard remains to be seen, but it’s a big ask for them.
Biggleswade Town just did enough to survive last term, but they lost their skipper to St Ives Town over the summer, and with one of the league’s smallest budgets to work with, the Waders might well be up to their necks in it this season.
Frome Town stayed up on the final day of last season, but it looks set to be another long and hard season for them, having lost some long serving and influential players and Mark Cooper, Matt Smith, Brandon Mundy and Dylan Bonella.
They have brought in a few players from local lower league sides but it’s a big ask for them to make the step up this season. The Robins have done well to hold their own in this league for the last few years, but this season will be tougher than ever for them.
Bideford had a summer of uncertainty, with the club having to stave off a winding up order before they could start planning properly for another season. Now they can, and they’ve strengthened with the signings of three Matts – Hockley, Bye and Andrew. But most importantly they’ve kept the highly rated Sean Downing despite plenty of interest elsewhere – including from Weymouth.
But if he does go he’ll leave a massive void in their side, and they’ll find it tougher than ever to survive this season. They’ll need to make their home ground a difficult place to get a result just like they have done for the last few seasons if they are to stay up.
The only other three team to mention are Chesham, Chippenham and Slough.
It’d be a surprise to see any of them battling against the drop, but it would be equally as surprising if they were to make a fist of it at the opposite end of the table. Solid mid-table finishes should await all three of them.
Of course, these predictions might look pretty silly in a few months time, but one things for sure – it promises to be the strongest Southern league in many years, and if Weymouth and Poole are to go one better than last season, they must shake off any lingering hangovers from last season and hit the ground running. They can’t afford to be playing catch up.
There will be plenty of twists and turns, drama, ecstasy, despair, heroes, villains, and horrific refereeing, but that’s what makes this the best game on earth. Roll on 3pm on Saturday August 8th!
James Spring
