PERSONAL REVIEW OF THE 2006/07 SEASON

This season started early and in chaos. Liam Watson left the club  on 23rd May 2006 and from then on it was downhill. It depends who you listen to and which version you believe as to what actually happened. Some say he was sacked, some say he resigned, whatever went on it left us in a mess and with the appointment of his replacement being left until 13 June we effectively lost 6 weeks of the close season. To this day I still don't know the exact truth as there are that many versions of events in circulation.

His replacement was Paul Cook, no managerial pedigree but lots of experience and with lots of contacts in the game, or so we thought. It started to go horribly wrong as player after player left and the ones coming in didn't really inspire or enthuse the fans and by the time kick off came around we didn't know what to expect as a virtually new team took to the field against Woking. We could and should have won that game as Mark Boyd missed a penalty and we spurned several good chances. Next up was Halifax (late goals guaranteed) Town and they didn't let us down scoring with the last kick of the game for the second season running to deny us 3 points. Instead of 6 points we had 2. The late goals were going to be a major feature of the season with 18 coming in the last 10 minutes and we dropped 11 points and suffered an FA Trophy exit between the 89th and 97th minutes of matches, they would have made a big difference in the final reckoning.

A bad home defeat against Rushden & Diamonds was followed by a fortunate but very welcome win at Burton Albion with the goal of the season being scored by Mark Boyd, it was a screamer!.

In between we had travelled in numbers to Stafford and that game told me we had problems. We lost 1-0 and hardly created a chance against a very poor team but if they were poor we were dreadful. I watched in amazement as Mr Cook berated Carl Baker and it became clear that Mr Cook was full of hot air with little clue as to how to motivate his players. Carl was being pulled here there and everywhere, told to defend, attack, get right, get left get centre. It was no surprise when Carl turned to us and said I wish he'd make up his ******* mind!!!! Our best player who Mr Cook had said he "ain't seen nothing from" was being made to look average by his managerial incompetence..

Having said that we kept getting some good results, 2-2 draws at (runaway leaders at the time) Oxford, York and Aldershot were interspersed with poor home performances. An FA Cup defeat at home to Conference North Kettering was we thought the result that would possibly see the end of Mr Cook. It was not to be. Results continued to be mixed but a disastrous spell over the Christmas period culminating in a 3-1 defeat at Northwich which saw us go bottom saw Mr Cook sacked. Dino Maamria and Steve Whitehall were put in charge for the home game against Grays which we won 3-1. A very unlucky 94th minute defeat at Salisbury in the FA Trophy saw us exit that competition, we could now concentrate on the League!

Peter Davenport took up the reins at Crawley where we lost 2-1 with, you guessed it, a goal in added time. A highly creditable point at Morecambe was followed by a home defeat to Forest Green. However we now embarked on a decent run which saw us climb up to 21st. We then came up against the top two with the new runaway leaders Dagenham & Redbridge hammering us 4-1 and Oxford just scraping home 1-0 a defeat which put us bottom of the table. The crunch game at St Albans saw us draw 2-2 with another late goal going against us and most of us starting getting out the maps to Workington and Redditch. There was a great moment at St Albans when the local "chavs" decided to greet us as we were leaving the ground. There were only about 20 aged between 12 and 20 but several were armed, one with a bicycle chain. However they hadn't realised that St Albans was crazy shirt day and we had a good following. I didn't actually see the moment but I believe the minute the chavs saw 20 burly, well oiled Sandgrounders heading towards them in crazy shirts they parted like the Red Sea and resorted to hurling abuse from a safe distance.

Defeats at Stevenage (2 late goals again) and at home to Weymouth when the goalkeeper scored with a wind assisted clearance in the 89th minute saw us way behind with no hope, or so it seemed.

A good point at Woking followed up with a point at home to Halifax who gain scored in added time was not enough and most of us had given up. Some hope with a 5-1 win against Stafford followed by an excellent 3-2 victory at Rushden & Diamonds followed by a super home showing against Burton and we were back in the mix. This was followed by a 4-0 win at play off contenders Gravesend & Northfleet a game I missed due to waking up with a rather nasty stomach ailment and we were still in with a chance. Unlikely but possible. The downside was we had to play York and Exeter who both needed wins to confirm their play off places. Excellent marketing of the home game saw our home NL home attendance record shattered as 3206 turned up at Haig Avenue, the highest home league gate for 33 years. It was not to be though and the 1-0 defeat virtually condemned us to relegation. It was confirmed the following Tuesday when results went the wrong way and we were down. I suppose it had been inevitable since December in honesty but the late flurry of good results had given us hope.

We travelled to Exeter out of loyalty for what turned out to be a big game for The Grecians who needed a win to qualify for the play offs. We gave them a mighty scare and lead up until the 65th minute but two goals in two minutes saw Exeter take command and make the play offs. The atmosphere once they scored was probably the best I have ever heard at a Southport NL game, they were noisy! This was the highest away NL gate (6670) we had ever played in front of so in two weeks we had beaten the home and away records.

So the season ended and we face a return to what will be called Blue Square Northern, less travel but much lower profile. It ended with hope for the future having had 4 wins in succession but for a lot of the season we just weren't good enough. Only the acquisition of the superb Chris Holland gave us the strength and experience we needed and his impact rubbed off on the others and the improvement in performances was great to see.

We have to build to bounce back stronger than last time. We have struggled for the two season we have spent in The Conference National and when we come back again we must be better prepared

The positives, Haydn Preece, whose appointment as Chief Executive was a masterstroke, Haydn loves the club and the energy and enthusiasm he showed during the season was unbelievable. Some great off field activity which considering the poor season on the field saw even the most perennial of moaners admit he was doing a good job in that area.

Trust In Yellow continue to flourish with 345 members in place, We ran coaches to 18 of the 24 first class games, a superb effort. The idea had been to run the coaches at break even and this was achieved. Considering some of the fare on offer at times it was a remarkable achievement. A regular group of followers took to the roads and our 45 minute stops at Norton Canes Services on the M6 Toll Road became legendary, they will be missed next season, maybe not! The Trust also worked closely with the club in a number of other areas and relationships between fans and officials improved. Still work to do but a lot of progress was made. The Trust remain independent and are looking at more initiatives to help develop links in the community and within the Club. The acquisition of a minibus to help Reserve Team football return to Haig Avenue is project number one and as I type we are well on target to achieving this target.

Personally missing the games at Dagenham and at Gravesend was a blow as once again I didn't manage to complete a full season but maybe next time I will. If we get Gainsborough on a Tuesday night as we usually do, it could be a tester!

The new book The NL history of Southport Football Club is now underway. This book is being produced to coincide with our 30 years in NL football and will be produced for August 08 and is being co-written by myself and Dan Hayes. We already have an exclusive interview with Paul Cook that was never made public because two days after the interview he was sacked. We also hope to get to the bottom of a few other myths and speculations from our time in NL football. It promises to be a good read!

My Player Of The Year-Carl Baker

My Goal Of The Season-Mark Boyd at Burton Albion

My Best Away Trip-Rushden & Diamonds

My Best Home Game-Burton Albion

Best Moments Of The Season-The players turning up at Norton Canes and mixing with the fans was great to see and went down well with us all. On the field, the signing of Chris Holland gave us hope and a bit of respect back.

Worst Moments-The 6 1/2 hour coach trip,(18 hour day) back from Weymouth after a 2-0 defeat when your manger ignores you. When you are still at Michaelwood Services at 8.45pm at night you know you have problems!

Webmaster Rob Urwin Contact rob@southportfcstats.co.uk