Non-league to premier league in eight easy steps

Welcome esteemed 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.



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 several years 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 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.

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

The arrow denotes our current position.

Always love the bottom to top challenges, tempted to try this with my beloved Taunton Town! Good luck!

Gruelling challenge for you here Ricky, good luck dude! Will follow.

I was going to try taunton as im from chard and chard isn't playable! Be good to see you take it on!

Used to play football in Chard back in the day! Im from Taunton so its always a dream to make Wordsworth Drive a football league venue haha

Good Luck mate!

Good luck Rick i actually enjoy the managing the lower teams more

OK, here we go then, my attempt to scale the vertical cliff face of English football with a motley crew of painters and decorators, supermarket workers and accountants. In the immortal words of AC/DC....


I inherit a very youthful squad from outgoing manager Martin Rowe, only three players have hit thirty, quite unusual at this level of the game;

Mats Morch - The Norwegian keeper is on loan from nearby Derby County, a shot stopper of undoubted quality who will hopefully return to the Rams at the end of the season having gained much from his experience with us as he will take our number one shirt.
Matthew Roome - Local lad who began his career as an Aston Villa trainee before being released, he then signed for rivals Mickleover before joining Gresley last season.
Marc Strzyzewski - Commanding centre half who forms the base of the Gresley defence, Marc has played all over the East Midlands non-league scene, appearing for the likes of Belper, Mickleover and Long Eaton amongst others.
Richie Butler -My assistant manager as well as an experienced wingback, it is likely I will favour the younger Lucas Harrison for the most part, but Richie still provides reliable backup should the need arise.
Mickey Lyons - Hardworking box-to-box type midfielder, can sit deep and defend when asked or maraud forward when we need a goal.
Danny Holmes - In real life Danny splits his time between playing for Gresley and coaching the Derby County under-18's, in FM there is no way to have someone working for two clubs at the same time so he is with us full time which is definitely to our advantage as he is a great ball winner who has played league football for Port Vale and neighbours Burton Albion.
Jamie Barrett - Now in his fifth spell at the club, Jamie is Gresley through and through, another hardworking and combative midfielder who began his career in the Sheffield Wednesday academy before moving to Burton and later Gresley Rovers as we were called then.

In terms of transfer targets I think we may struggle for goals with our current options, Royce Turville is a decent poacher but needs a target man to play off of which we currently lack. We are well stocked in midfield, however the defence could do with bolstering as games will come thick and fast with the numerous competitions we are competing in;
Evo-Stik Northern League Division One South - 22 teams, playing two rounds, the champions are automatically promoted to the Northern Premier League whereas 2nd-5th play-off to join them. The bottom two sides are relegated to level nine. The non-league paper predicts a respectable 11th placed finish for us which I would be happy with in my first season.

We have several local rivals in the division, Coalville Town, Mickleover Sports and Loughborough Dynamo will all be spicy affairs on match day.
FA Cup - If you don't know what this competition is you are clearly not a football fan. The worlds oldest competition, we will enter in the Preliminary round, the board would like to see us reach the second qualifying round at least.
FA Trophy - A national competition just for teams from steps five to eight, like the FA cup there are several qualifying rounds before we can reach the tournament 'proper'
Doodson Sports Cup - Open to all clubs in the Northern Premier league as well as it's two feeder leagues, The board doesn't regard this as important and doesn't care if we should go out early so I shall probably only field a reserve team in these games to preserve my first team players fitness.
Derbyshire Senior Cup - A regional tournament open only to clubs based in the county of Derbyshire, before liquidation Gresley Rovers had lifted this prize eight times and been runners up a further three times, but the modern club has yet to reach the final which is something I would like to do.

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;


So thats how my squad shapes up on day one. the season will open with a home clash with Mickleover making the short trip from Derby to Swadlincote before we head to the Potteries to take on Newcastle Town three days later.

Leek Town, now there's a Championship Manager blast from the past. I once told my school mates my parents were on the verge of buying the club for £50,000 after I had a short stint as their boss on CM.

The first month of my Gresley career has been difficult to gage, four points from as many games isn't exactly what most would call a dream start to life at a new club, however neither is it a terrible one.

Before I get into the business of discussing results I should first inform you, the reader that my activity on the transfer market has been mostly a subdued affair with just two new players donning the red shirts and one other choosing to set his aside in favour of another;

Northampton born Ed joins us from United Counties league side S&L Corby, he is a solid left back for this division and will provide me with a rotation option for Lucas Harrison.

Born just down the road in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Danny has played all over the midlands with spells at Hednesford, Stafford, Chasetown and Coalville. a proven goalscorer who should bang in double figures for us.

Out going is right back Matthew Roome who has joined Southern Premier League Chesham.

OK, lets get into on field matters;

Pre-season went reasonably well, aside from a sluggish start against Market Harborough and a small slip up against local side Stapenhill.

An opening day draw with rivals Mickleover was a decent enough result even if supporters would of course have been hoping for victory, however a narrow defeat at Newcastle Town seemed somewhat harsh as we had dominated the possession and chances but were unable to put the ball away. a point away at title favourites Scarborough was a good result as was my first win of the season Danny Quinn and John Guy fired us to a 2-0 win over Bedworth at the Moat.

I can't say what happened against Leek, other than it was a heavily rotated side for our FA cup game, either way we just never got going and were heavily beaten.

The first month of my Gresley career has been difficult to gage, four points from as many games isn't exactly what most would call a dream start to life at a new club, however neither is it a terrible one.

Before I get into the business of discussing results I should first inform you, the reader that my activity on the transfer market has been mostly a subdued affair with just two new players donning the red shirts and one other choosing to set his aside in favour of another;

Northampton born Ed joins us from United Counties league side S&L Corby, he is a solid left back for this division and will provide me with a rotation option for Lucas Harrison.

Born just down the road in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Danny has played all over the midlands with spells at Hednesford, Stafford, Chasetown and Coalville. a proven goalscorer who should bang in double figures for us.

Out going is right back Matthew Roome who has joined Southern Premier League Chesham.

OK, lets get into on field matters;

Pre-season went reasonably well, aside from a sluggish start against Market Harborough and a small slip up against local side Stapenhill.

An opening day draw with rivals Mickleover was a decent enough result even if supporters would of course have been hoping for victory, however a narrow defeat at Newcastle Town seemed somewhat harsh as we had dominated the possession and chances but were unable to put the ball away. a point away at title favourites Scarborough was a good result as was my first win of the season Danny Quinn and John Guy fired us to a 2-0 win over Bedworth at the Moat.

I can't say what happened against Leek, other than it was a heavily rotated side for our FA cup game, either way we just never got going and were heavily beaten.

Tough start Rick, sure it will pick up though