It's A Long Way To The Top....

Welcome readers to my attempt at steering my local non-league side, Gresley FC from the doldrums on the Evo-Stik leagues and up the towering structure of the English pyramid, Some of you will have seen I recently attempted to play even further down the ladder with Leicestershire league side Ashby Ivanhoe, however that editor data was so detailed my computer wasn't handeling it well, taking 5-10 minutes just to go from one day to the next which I just don't have the patience to endure. You will be glad to know that I already know that the data I'm using on this save (EEE) is thoroughly tried and trusted so I don't anticipate any trouble this time.



The club was founded in 1882 as Gresley Rovers FC, They initially played at the wonderfully named Mushroom Lane in nearby Albert Village which served as the base for their first campaign in the Burton-upon-Trent district league. The club enjoyed success in it's formative years and acquired a new ground on Church street in Swadlincote, Rovers eventually moved across the road in 1907 to construct the Moat ground which they still call home today, over a century later.

Rovers's proudest moment came in 1991 when they stepped out beneath the twin towers of Wembley stadium for the FA Vase final against Guiseley in what is still regarded as one of the most exciting games to be played at the home of English football; After 31 minutes the score was Guiseley 3–0 Gresley, but Gresley came back and grabbed a dramatic equaliser in injury time at the end of the ninety minutes. Then in extra time gresley went 4–3 in front but this time it was Guiseley's turn to score a late equaliser as they leveled things in injury time at the end of the second half of extra time. Unfortunately the moatmen went down 3-1 in a replay at Bramall lane but this is still a performance the club can be justly proud of.


The lowest moment in the club's history came in 1997 when the club won the Dr.Martin's Premier League but was denied promotion to the National Conference due to financial restrictions preventing them from upgrading the Moat Ground to the required standard, Derby County kindly offered Gresley use of the Baseball ground which they had just vacated to move to Pride Park, however this move was blocked by the FA. This disappointment proved the beginning of the end for Rovers, a drop in attendances owing to the lack of opportunity to progress followed and just a year after winning the league the club was relegated. For a decade the club battled on through financial difficulties but was eventually liquidated in 2007.

The modern incarnation of the club- Gresley FC reformed in the East Midlands counties league where, under the management of club legend Gary Norton they finished runners up in 2009/10 and won promotion to the Midlands Alliance the following year, where they surprised many by securing back to back promotions on final day of the season. Gresley finished their first season in Evo-Stick Division one with a respectable 11th place finish. Norton decided to step down as joint manager of the first team at the end of the campaign in order to take up a directors position, leaving Martin Rowe in sole charge of the team.



Which brings us nicely back to the present; Our first league fixture for 2013/14 see's Derbyshire rivals Mickleover Sports make the short eleven mile journey to Swadlincote before we head of to Newcastle Town. However before the league season kicks off we have the Don Hill Memorial trophy to compete for as we take on another of our South Derbyshire neighbours Rochester in this tradional game.
In fact we have a fatigue inducing seven fronts to compete on;

Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Division One South - 22 teams play each other twice, Champion is promoted to the Northern Premier league, next four play-off for promotion. Bottom two are relegated.

FA Cup - We will enter at the preliminary round, we will have to go through five qualifying rounds to reach the first round proper.
FA Trophy - As with the FA cup it's a long way just to reach the first round, four rounds of qualifiers await against teams up to Conference level.
Doodson Sports Cup - A.K.A the Northern League cup, available to all clubs in the Northern Premiership and the two divisions feeding it.
Derbyshire Senior Cup - Available to all clubs in the County, we enter in the third round.
Coalville Charity Cup - A traditional charity tournament with eight local clubs.
Don Hill Memorial Shield - An annual one off game, hosted by Rocester to honour their former chairman, although they have only won once in eleven years.

The club already has quite an impressive silverware haul, most of which was earned under the Rovers guise;


For those unfamiliar with this level of the game, here is a diagram (click to enlarge)

The arrow denotes our current position.

Gresley's finances are of course of paramount importance to supporters who learned the hard way how mismanagement of the money can ruin a club when Rovers were liquidated five years ago. I will not allow the same mistakes to be made again and have come up with some rules for myself;
*Keep down appearance fee's and bonuses, nothing will wreck the club faster.
*Anyone is for sale, no matter how important they are to the team. at least until we have a healthy nest egg.
*I will hire no scouts for now, the club has none in real life, it recruits it's new players after pre-season trials, by en large they are youngsters released from local clubs, as such, in the interest of realism I am setting myself a restriction of signing players who's most recent club is within 50 miles of Swadlincote, giving me the following catchment area;


Guess I better get going then...

Goalkeepers

Ross Atkins is a fantastic keeper for this level, he spent the last couple of seasons on loan at our league neighbours Burton Albion from Derby where he was a part of the Brewers's play-off team, it's hard not to see his move to us as a massive step down for the 23 year old.
Tom Turner is another new boy, having begun his career with Bolton, he has since played for Buxton and Stafford in the Northern Prem.
Local lad Alex Townsend provides back up.

Defenders

Whilst we have a couple of good defenders in Aston Villa and Derby trainees Matt Roome and Mitch Hanson, this area of the team needs some serious improvement or we are in danger of being overwhelmed at the back.

Midfielders

We have an abundance of midfielders of varying quality, Danny Holmes has league experience with Port Vale and Burton and should be the rock on which I build around (In real life he splits his time between playing for Gresley and coaching the Derby youth team) Captain Jamie Barrett is a good ball winner, as is hardworking local kid Sam Grice, I will perhaps utilise a 4-5-1 in order to include all three.
On the flanks Luke Edwards, another Burton graduate who has played all other the Midlands at conference level is undoubtedly running the show, the others don't look good enough.

Forwards

Like defence this area needs some new blood, O'Connall is a proven goalscorer at this level and above after time spent with Stafford Rangers and Ilkeston as well as rivals Mickleover, however I don't hold much hope for the other two.

excited for this!!!

Our league campaign opened in the most desirable way possible as we maintain a 100% record in Evo-Stick D1S, unfortunately our ambitions of a run in the FA Cup were dashed at the first hurdle by ninth tier Norton United.

We opened with a solid win over neighbours Mickleover in front of our own supporters, Danny Quinn continued his fine pre-season form with the opening goal of the campaign, he has followed up with another two in the subsequent fixtures as we perched ourselves upon the summit of the division;

I was particularly pleased with the 2-0 win over Bedworth who were one of the sides relegated from the Premier League last season, the Greenbacks are odds on with the bookies to make an instant return, so it was satisfying to see my team contain them and hit them with both barrels on the counter.

Our impressive start earned me some personal recognition;


It wasn't all good news this month however as we crashed out of the FA Cup in the preliminary round, I fielded a heavily rotated team in order to rest my tired first team, East Midlands Counties League side Norton United took advantage of this as they took a 47th minute goal, a red card for youth team product Brad Metcalf didn't help matters much as we bowed out with barely a whimper. The loss of potential prize money from a good cup run is the most frustrating aspect of this defeat as every penny counts at this level.

Our league campaign opened in the most desirable way possible as we maintain a 100% record in Evo-Stick D1S, unfortunately our ambitions of a run in the FA Cup were dashed at the first hurdle by ninth tier Norton United.

We opened with a solid win over neighbours Mickleover in front of our own supporters, Danny Quinn continued his fine pre-season form with the opening goal of the campaign, he has followed up with another two in the subsequent fixtures as we perched ourselves upon the summit of the division;

I was particularly pleased with the 2-0 win over Bedworth who were one of the sides relegated from the Premier League last season, the Greenbacks are odds on with the bookies to make an instant return, so it was satisfying to see my team contain them and hit them with both barrels on the counter.

Our impressive start earned me some personal recognition;


It wasn't all good news this month however as we crashed out of the FA Cup in the preliminary round, I fielded a heavily rotated team in order to rest my tired first team, East Midlands Counties League side Norton United took advantage of this as they took a 47th minute goal, a red card for youth team product Brad Metcalf didn't help matters much as we bowed out with barely a whimper. The loss of potential prize money from a good cup run is the most frustrating aspect of this defeat as every penny counts at this level.

Very good start. I see we are doing similar challenges...although I am still 2 divisions down from you

GL!