2016/17 National League North

[Luke Imp]

Ian Miller as back-up IIRC? Ravenhill, Joachim, Blundell, Keltie, Abbott etc etc. There was a left winger as well, quite a small, skinny lad but in his late 20's.

That squad was probably just before everything went pear shaped?

 

[Darlofan97]

Ian Miller as back-up IIRC? Ravenhill, Joachim, Blundell, Keltie, Abbott etc etc. There was a left winger as well, quite a small, skinny lad but in his late 20's.

That squad was probably just before everything went pear shaped?

To be totally honest I don't know much of that squad back then.

But yes, we had all of those players mentioned above. The skinny lad would have been Neil Wainwright.

I first started to support Darlo in our 09/10 season, when we were relegated from League 2.

I could remember most of our players that season, but probably couldn't list them all as we used 54 (!) different players across the full season.

The ironic thing is, is from those 54 players, I could probably name you a side that would have certainly done a lot better. They just didn't all play together at the same time.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

Think I've seen we've booked 2 coaches, an unofficial mini bus plus cars and trains. Can't make the game due to work unfortunately but hoping it'll be a good game. Probably somewhere between 100-150 going. I think if we'd have started at home first we'd have got more fans going to the away fixtures early on.

That is good, a small but very welcoming club is Curzon your fans wont mind it.

Ground is not going to shock your team/fans, looks more football league than afew actual fl grounds.

I am hoping Curzon can use their stability here to gain a shock. Try to use your 'adjusting to this level' period and team rebuilding to their advantage

 

[Harrier94]

That is good, a small but very welcoming club is Curzon your fans wont mind it.

Ground is not going to shock your team/fans, looks more football league than afew actual fl grounds.

I am hoping Curzon can use their stability here to gain a shock. Try to use your 'adjusting to this level' period and team rebuilding to their advantage

You'd be surprised by our "team rebuild" as it took place in January mostly. In my predicted starting 11 I'd say theres 7/8 that played last season together. But adjusting could well be a disadvantage, hopefully having Matt Gardiner's experience at this level will help.

 

[Railway Blue]

Looking forward to this next season. Not too sure what to expect from any of the sides barring Salford. This season should prove a greater step-up than the Northern Premier League with some full-time teams.

We've recruited relatively well so far. In has came Mark Bell (33), who won promotion from the Northern League and Northern Premier League Division One North with us, as back-up goalkeeper to Peter Jameson.

Right-back Liam Marrs (23) has signed from Boston United. Just over 90 games experience in the Conference North, and nearly won promotion to the Conference Premier last season. I'm unsure as to whether it will be him or Chris Hunter that will be first choice right-back this season.

Another new signing is left-back Jordan Watson (23) from Blyth Spartans. Played 50 times for Blyth last season as they nearly beat us to the title. He will probably be back-up to Terry Galbraith.

Lewis Nightingale (25) is another new signing having arrived from Farsley Celtic. He can play right midfield, left midfield or behind the forward. Finished in the Northern Premier League Division One North Team of the Season last year and scored 21 goals for Farsley last season.

Arran Wearmouth (24), signed from Blyth Spartans like Jordan Watson. However a slight knee injury whilst playing for Blyth has developed into an ACL Tear. He's had this operated on but may miss all of next season. He did actually play for Blyth after he twisted his knee, giving the impression that everything was OK. Can play on either the right or left wing.

As a replacement for Wearmouth, we have signed Josh Gillies (26) after he failed to agree terms with Gateshead. Josh was offered a new contract at Gateshead, but decided to chase up an offer with Inverness in the SPL which subsequently fell through. He's spent this summer primarily on trial at Northampton, but once released has signed for Darlo. He has experience playing in the Football League and Conference Premier with Carlisle, Cambridge and Gateshead. Seems like a bit of a coup but time will tell.

We've also brought in former Carlisle and Wrexham forward Mark Beck (22) following his release from Yeovil. We've needed to bring in a target-man as Graeme Armstrong departed in the summer, so hopefully, standing at 6ft 5in, he can do the business for us. Hardly's received glowing reports from Wrexham fans so we shall see how he gets on in a division lower.

Outgoings:

There have been a few leaving us this summer, former Hartlepool Goalkeeper Jim Provett (33) has departed. He was back-up for Jameson last season.

Alan White (40) has left and took up an opportunity to be a player/coach at Spennymoor Town. He barely featured towards the back-end of last season and had a bit of a questionable disciplinary record having being sent-off at home to Marine and away to Barwell.

Paul Weldon (24) has been released. He came in for us towards the end of last season and filled-in at left-back whilst we had 9 games in 22 days.

Graeme Armstrong (33) was offered a contract but has departed and signed for Spennymoor Town. Remarkably came back for the beginning of last season after splitting his pancreas in 2 following a clash with Bamber Bridge's goalkeeper in the 2014/2015 Play-Off Final. Scored some important goals for us last season including a hat-trick against Whitby to clinch the title and the winner against Halesowen. He would have been one of the four departed that I would have kept.

As a side-note, Spennymoor have now signed 11 players directly from Darlington since 2012. Another 3 left us but then ended up at Spennymoor indirectly. They've splashed some serious cash this summer having signed former-Gateshead trio James Curtis, Rob Ramshaw & Jamie Chandler. They've also signed Tom Craddock from Guiseley and goalkeeper Andrew Rafferty from Dover. A good bet for the Northern Premier League title if you ask me.

Predictions:

To be totally honest, although some have ear-marked us for a push of the play-offs, I would take an 8th/9th place finish and a return to Darlington at the end of 2016. Let's get to know the league, the grounds, the teams and the managers and then get, most importantly, the club safely back to Darlington.

Then push on with an average attendance of 2,000+, back in town, with our proper name of Darlington FC back, and have a right good crack at achieving promotion to the Conference Premier in the 2017/2018 season.

Good luck this season, especially getting back to Darlington.

As regards teams getting back to their home ... what's the situation with Worcester City and Gloucester City?

 

[Clem Fandango]

Kyle Perry has been released from Worcester, 3 days before the start of the season and only a few months after signing for them (same as Geddes).

 

[Clem Fandango]

Good luck this season, especially getting back to Darlington.

As regards teams getting back to their home ... what's the situation with Worcester City and Gloucester City?

Think Worcester's situation is pretty bleak. Lots of boardroom wrangles, fans want a community owned club but the chairman won't have any of it. They don't have much cash left from the sale of St.Georges Lane and thats used for both the stadium and playing budget I believe.

As for us, we're just waiting to get infront of the council planning committee and get the thing approved. Everyone expected us to be on August's planning agenda but the council lawyers haven't completed the paperwork for a deed. It was signed last year...Yep this is what we're dealing with here.

Hopefully get on September's, plan is to return home next season and build the stadium up as we go on like FC Utd's model. If it get's delayed anymore I can see us putting the begging bowl out to Evesham to groundshare. Nightmare situation.

 

[Harrier94]

Kyle Perry has been released from Worcester, 3 days before the start of the season and only a few months after signing for them (same as Geddes).

He's hit out at Worcester as well, claimed he was "bombed out"
http://www.thenonleaguefootballpape...d-out-by-worcester-city-on-eve-of-new-season/

 

[Harrier94]

We've signed ex Birmingham youngster Liam Truslove on a 1 yr deal. Looked very good in pre-season http://www.harriers.co.uk/news/arti...love-signs-contract-for-harriers-3222643.aspx

Worcester have now signed 3 new players http://www.worcestercityfc.com/news/three-players-join-worcester-city-fc-ahead-of-new--1655423.html

Nathan Olukanmi a winger
Colby Bishop a striker, probably replacing Perry
And Cieron Keane a LB

 

[DarkSithLord]

We've signed ex Birmingham youngster Liam Truslove on a 1 yr deal. Looked very good in pre-season http://www.harriers.co.uk/news/arti...love-signs-contract-for-harriers-3222643.aspx

Worcester have now signed 3 new players http://www.worcestercityfc.com/news/three-players-join-worcester-city-fc-ahead-of-new--1655423.html

Nathan Olukanmi a winger
Colby Bishop a striker, probably replacing Perry
And Cieron Keane a LB

Cieron Keane had been on trial for us. Looked quite average.

 

[Clem Fandango]

Colby Bishop played a few games on loan for us last season. He tended to come off the bench, looked alright but nothing special.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Former Kidderminster keeper Dean Snedker has signed for Nuneaton

 

[Harrier94]

Former Kidderminster keeper Dean Snedker has signed for Nuneaton

Great signing for them. His kicking needs working on but we'd have conceded a load more if it weren't for him last year.

 

[StanLee]

Very much looking forward to the start of the new season.

It's been a summer of reasonable change at Edgeley Park over the summer with a large number of players being allowed to leave in the summer to give Jim Gannon the chance to bring in the kind of players he has targeted from the moment he stepped back into the hot seat.

Players Released:
Danny Morton (Colne)
Joe Garvin (Colne)
Gareth Roberts (Retired)
Sean O’Hanlon (unattached)
Paul Connolly (unattached)
Wade Joyce (Barrow)
Jamie Menagh (Altrincham)
Tom Field (Bangor City)
Micah Evans (AFC Telford)
Richard Brodie (York)
Sam Grimshaw (unattached)
Kevin Holsgrove (unattached)
Obi Anouro (unattached)

Players Retained:
Kayode Odejayi
Glen Rule
Lewis Montrose
John Marsden
Ian Ormson
Chris Smalley
Ryan Ellison
George West (1st year pro)
Adam Etches (1st year pro)

New Players:

First signing Jim made was to bring vastly experienced and highly thought of defender Mark Ross in from Chorley. Mark who can play right back or centre back played every minute of every game last season for Chorley has racked up over 200 appearances whilst at Victory Park and was voted the best right back in the division in 2014. He has been handed the captains armband ahead of the new season and is likely to be a mainstay in the County XI week on week.

In addition to Mark Ross, Jim went back to Chorley to recruit another player, giant defensive midfielder Courtney Meppen-Walter. Courtney started his footballing career at Manchester City's academy before a move to Carlisle United saw him make 34 appearances, scoring twice in the Football League over a 2 year spell. After being released by Carlisle, he joined Ashton United for a short while before being picked up by Chorley in March 2016. Courtney can only really be described as a ‘man mountain’ who’s primary task is to break up play. His range of passing has been impressive in pre-season and he possesses at thunderous shot.

Jim is well known at Stockport from his previous tenure’s of trusting players whom he believes in and proof of that philosophy has been shown this summer by the recruitment of left back Scott Duxbury, central defender Michael Clarke and striker Josh Amis from his former club Northwich Victoria. Northwich operate two division below County, but such is Jim’s trust in his former players, he is confident all three will make the step up to the Conference North with relative ease.

Duxbury is no stranger to Edgeley Park having originally signed for County in the summer of 2014 after a successful trial. He was released last summer by former manager Neil Young before Jim Gannon took him to Northwich.

To bolster County’s defensive options, Jim wasted no time in snapping up tireless defender Sam Minihan from Worcester as soon as his availability become known. Sam started his career at Rochdale and went on to make a couple of appearances for the first team in his time at Spotland. Minihan linked up with Worcester at the start of last season and went on to represent Worcester 34 times last season. He picked up the Young Player of the Year and Players Player of the Year awards at the end of season.

They say a defence is only as good as its goalkeeper, and Jim made no apologies for going out and capturing one of the league’s most highly rated glovesman. Ben Hinchliffe from AFC Fylde. Ben started his career at Preston, and was taken by Billy Davies to Derby before spells with Oxford, Bamber Bridge and Northwich Victoria took him to AFC Fylde at the start of the 2012/13 season. A hugely successful time at AFC Fylde gave Ben many plaudits being named the best goalkeeper in his division four years in a row! Astonishingly, Ben won his AFC Fydle’s Goal of the Season award in 2013 for a sensational 60 yard goal in the play off semi final!

In midfield and to complement the incoming Meppen-Walter and to add to fans favourite Lewis Montrose and Glenn Rule, Jim snapped up experienced non league battler Gary Stopforth from league rivals Salford City. Stopforth has experiencedpromotion in the past3 consecutive seasons with Ramsbottom, and Salford (twice). Gary’s stay atEdgeleyPark will be a short one as he has plans to emigrate to Australia in January 2017, and despite an offer of a contract at Salford, Gary opted to switch his attention to representing Stockport for the final few months of his English football career. Gary is a combative an energetic midfielder with a real battling spirit who will no doubt be an important player for Stockport during his brief spell.

One position which Stockport seem to have struggled to fill in recent season’s is that of wingers. One’s capable of providing that little bit of magic when the team needs it. To address this, Jim has brought in free scoring wide man Danny Lloyd from AFC Fylde and highly sought after winger Adam Thomas from Hednesford.

Danny Lloyd has racked up over 60 goals in his last three season’s for AFC Fylde including 15 in the 2015/16 season during which he spent a reasonable amount of time out of the side. Danny has incredible pace and a terrier like approach to his game. He will certainly become a fans favourite this season at Edgeley Park.

Not much was known about Adam Thomas before he became Jim Gannon’s 2nd signing of the summer. Having been unfortunate enough to suffer relegation with Hednesford last term, Adam scooped no less than 5 out of the available 7 end of season awards and was rewarded with a move to Edgeley Park in the summer. Described as a tall, direct winger, Adam likes to isolate his full back and ‘get at him with pace and trickery’. He will be expected to provide the service to the forwards from wide positions.

Final signing (to date) is young midfielder Craig Carney who has been impressive during pre-season with 2 goals, joining on non-contract terms. A graduate of Myerscough College, Craig has represented a number of team in Lancashire area most recently Lancaster City where he was despite his young age (22) made captain at the by manager Phil Brown (not THE Phil Brown). He joins to provide back up across the midfield.

Stockport will more than likely look to set up an attacking formation of either 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 with last season’s players such as Chris Smalley, Kayode Odejayi and John Marsden expected to heavily in the starting XI

The weight of expectation placed on the club last season under Neil Young proved to be the downfall with the pressure becoming too much for Neil who walked away after a run of 2 wins in 12 games. Unlike last season’s approach, The County faithful are realistic in knowing the season is even more competitive as it has ever been especially now with AFC Fylde committing to full time status. I think many of the County faithful will tell you another season of stability this time under the right leadership will be acceptable, however many will have an inkling in the back of their minds that if anyone can put together a team capable of promotion, it is Jim Gannon.

 

[Harrier94]

Our squad photo for next season.

Really looking forward to the season now, we seem to have a good squad, losing Fane on Tuesday didn't help but think we'll do alright this season. Hopefully we'll be around the playoffs.

 

[Andy Harrier]

Our squad photo for next season.

Really looking forward to the season now, we seem to have a good squad, losing Fane on Tuesday didn't help but think we'll do alright this season. Hopefully we'll be around the playoffs.

Erm, why are there two trialists in that photo who haven't actually signed for us (yet)?

 

[StanLee]

Kiddie have got a very big squad!

You guys stayed full time?

 

[Harrier94]

Kiddie have got a very big squad!

You guys stayed full time?

Yep, but at least 5 or 6 of those are promoted academy players who wont play and will probably go out on loan.

 

[Harrier94]

Worcester have add 3 more players http://www.worcestercityfc.com/news/a-further-three-players-join-the-ranks-1656676.html

Jordan Murphy - Striker who was on trial here all summer and every fan wanted us to sign...we didn't and he's gone to Worcester.
Samuel Oji - Defender signed from Galway
Steve Craig - Striker signed from Forfar.

 

[Harrier94]

And we've added a player. A 25 year old Aussie winger Robert Stambolsiev has signed from Sydney FC after being released by them.
http://www.harriers.co.uk/news/arti...bolziev-signs-deal-with-harriers-3227030.aspx

 

[DarkSithLord]

Great article here detailing who has brought in in the North - http://nonleague.pitchero.com/news/vanarama-national-league-north-signings-48922/

 

[Harrier94]

DarkSithLord Only 4 players on the bench for you? Is your squad that small?

 

[Harrier94]

Nuneaton 1-1 Halifax already

 

[Harrier94]

We've gone 1-0 Elton Ngwatala with the goal.

 

[Harrier94]

Worcester 1-0 Harrogate Hughes (pen)

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

Curzon 0-3 kiddy so far after only 23 mins

MASSIVE difference in quality worryingly, no strength in this Curzon team. Gonna be massive game weds to get a quick bounce back.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

0-4

Welcome to the new season!

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

5 blooming 0 40 mins into new season.

Crikey where's the bar

 

[Harrier94]

I must be in dreamland. Seems like we're just very prolific at the moment.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

Curzon 0-5 Kidderminster

Room for improvement I suppose.

We just playing into their hands with a tippy tap game lacking any power and strength. They have miles better control, first touch and strength.

Still our bread and butter will be other games