Welcome to Romford

[CFuller]

I always smile if I see you've updated your story. You've done a great job of creating a thread that makes me want to root for your side!

You said this very well might be your last season at Ship Lane if you don't manage to get Romford promoted. That's another reason why I'm pulling for your lads this year. But, whether or not you're at Romford, I'll be following the story wherever it leads.

KUTGW.

It always cheers me up to see comments like yours, Bobby.

Yes, it's pretty much all or nothing this season. If we go up, I'll obviously be staying on, but if we don't, then I'll look for a new challenge elsewhere.

If I do leave Romford, though, I'll be wrapping up this story and starting a new one for when I move to my next club.

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2021 (continued)

21 August 2021: Romford vs Havant & Waterlooville

Just 18 seconds into the game, Havant's on-loan Portsmouth goalkeeper Max MacVicar had to block a close-range strike from Romford midfielder Ollie Whitbread. Our lively start would get better in the fourth minute, when Kevin Holt's cross was headed into the net by Big Duncan Greenwood. With our first goal already on the board, we looked to pull clear. Whitbread's long-range strike in the 9th minute was turned away by MacVicar, and Ollie put another ambitious attempt high and wide six minutes later. When MacVicar caught a 17th-minute header from Greenwood, it looked for all the world that we would run riot. We had the lion's share of possession and were dominating Havant in the air, but we didn't make our many early chances count. Our next shot at goal came in the 35th minute, when MacVicar got his fingers to Warren Cooke's drive. Nine minutes later, our tendency to commit needless fouls came back to haunt us. Brett Reid was penalised for pushing Hawks striker Stewart Lavery on the edge of our 'D', and Lavery flighted the resulting free-kick into the top corner of our goal. Havant & Waterlooville had equalised with their first shot of the game - in the last minute of the first period.

 

Havant's second attempt on goal came in the 52nd minute. Thomas Bryan's inswinging corner found Hawks captain Merrick James-Lewis, who cut the ball back to Lavery. Havant's main attacking threat then hit a 25-yarder that hit the post and deflected over the line off Moses Millen's shin! Much to my horror, we were trailing 2-1 at home to a team who weren't even in contention for the first half-hour! We went even more direct in a bid to get back level, but Greenwood failed to trouble the target with a poor header from Tim Crossley's 58th-minute corner. As we continued to toil midway through the period, I took off Garry Morath-Gibbs and brought on The Tank - Muamer Tankovic. One of Mujo's first meaningful acts was to create an opportunity after 75 minutes for Duncan, whose long-ranger was pushed away by MacVicar. The new strike partners linked up again two minutes later, only for MacVicar to keep Greenwood at bay once more. Tankovic had his first shot in the 80th minute, but the Swede missed by inches after Duncan found him in space. A minute later, Lavery lined up to take a free-kick that would potentially put the Hawks 3-1 up and seal a smash-and-grab win. Millen could only parry it against his crossbar, and Macaully Smith fouled Reid while trying to knock the rebound home for Havant. Three minutes later, with just six remaining, we launched a desperate late assault on the visitors' goal. Havant blocked a shot from Whitbread, but they couldn't stop Tankovic from firing Bernard Brun's cross into the net moments later! Muamer's first competitive Romford goal gave us a draw in a match that we should've won, and very nearly lost! Somehow, we had stretchered our unbeaten record against Havant & Waterlooville to nine games.

 

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 4, Tankovic 84)

Havant & Waterlooville - 2 (Lavery 45,52)

Conference South, Attendance 580 - POSITIONS: Romford 9th, Havant 12th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Gray, Connolly (Goulding), Reid, Crossley, Brun, Cooke, Whitbread, Holt (Appleyard), Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs (Tankovic). BOOKED: Cooke.

 

We rode our luck yet again - for the third match in succession, we had scored a crucial goal in the last 15 minutes. Those late goals saved us a total of five points, and without them, we would've been down in 19th place instead of 9th. I hoped, though, that we wouldn't leave things late again in our next two away games.

 

The following weekend saw me hit a career milestone. What was officially my 500th match as Romford manager came at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium against Salisbury City. The Whites had lost their first three matches of this season before winning their fourth.

 

28 August 2021: Salisbury City vs Romford

Game number 500 could not have started off any worse than it did. Moments after kick-off, Salisbury winger Daniel Perrin shot past Danny Rafferty and floated in a cross that Kieron Gray could only head into his own net! With just 15 seconds gone, it was 1-0 to the hosts! Kieron was very apologetic, and he tried to make amends for his howler after 13 minutes. Sadly, Gray's header from Muamer Tankovic's corner was not as deadly as his earlier one at the wrong end, and Dan Hanford caught it easily. Duncan Greenwood then wasted a better scoring opportunity for Romford about half a minute later. As our confidence slumped, Salisbury's grew, and Jacob Stones was unlucky not to score a second goal for the Whites on 18 minutes. Four minutes later, French winger Bernard Brun had our best chance to equalise in the first half... and he put it into the side netting. Mark Briggs had been booked moments earlier for tripping Salisbury midfielder Jason Murphy, and our tackling got worse as we became more flustered. Big Dunc also got his name into the referee's book in the 42nd minute. Another poor tackle from Brett Reid two minutes later almost cost us dear, but ex-Fulham defender Alex Smith's free-kick for City was caught by Moses Millen.

 

Two minutes into the second half, Tankovic saw his effort superbly blocked by Salisbury centre-back Paul Connolly. Six minutes later, Duncan got the better of City's other centre-half Jordan Willis to reach Mujo's cross, but his header went out off the bar. I knew by then that it was going to be one of those days. Our young left-back Danny Rafferty was lucky not to be booked in the 67th minute for pushing Salisbury midfielder Danny Racchi. A minute later, Racchi made Rafferty's life even more miserable by slipping past him to reach Brian O'Boyle's excellent ball into the area. Racchi crossed to left-winger Jonathan Montgomery, who created a second Salisbury goal that Ryan Higgins fired in at the near post. I very quickly took Rafferty away from his nightmare, but the damage to our defence had already been done. Our worst moment from an attacking perspective would come in the 75th minute. Daniel Formaston, Kendall Appleyard and then Brun all sent the ball across Salisbury's six-yard box before Bernie finally found Tankovic, whose header went the wrong side of the post. With such poor finishing, and a grand total of 20 fouls on our record, we did not deserve to take anything home to Essex.

 

Salisbury City - 2 (Gray og1, Higgins 69)

Romford - 0

Conference South, Attendance 1,173 - POSITIONS: Salisbury 13th, Romford 11th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Reid, Rafferty (Appleyard), Brun, Cooke, Briggs (Crossley), Holt, Greenwood (Formaston), Tankovic. BOOKED: Briggs, Greenwood.

 

My first league defeat to Salisbury City still felt raw when we travelled to Eastbourne Borough three days later. The other Boro had made a much brighter start than us, winning four out of their first five games.

 

31 August 2021: Eastbourne Borough vs Romford

Jason Byrne was made to work just four minutes into his competitive debut for Romford. The goalie tipped away a couple of quickfire efforts from Harry Hooman and Johnny Cosgrove. Byrne denied Cosgrove again a minute later, but just seconds after that, Cosgrove was carelessly tripped up by Kendall Appleyard. The ref awarded Eastbourne a penalty, and Jason was powerless to stop Willie Mathieson's effort. The Sports led 1-0 after six minutes, but that goal ended their period of dominance. We once again found ourselves chasing a game, and it wasn't until midway through the first half that we started to worry Eastbourne. After failing to make the most of two corners in the 23rd minute, we registered our first shot in the 30th, when Warren Cooke missed from long range. That would be our last effort of the opening period, which ended on a sour note. Duncan Greenwood's game was cut short by a knock two minutes before half-time, and Daniel Formaston had to take the Romford captain's place.

 

Our attack struggled to get going in the first half, but they went into overdrive after the break. Garry Morath-Gibbs was unlucky to clip the upright in the 50th minute, while Bernard Brun headed just past the opposite post two minutes later. On 55 minutes, Eastbourne keeper Liam Mitchell tipped Formaston's effort to Kevin Holt, whose attempt to fire into a clear target was blocked by Sports defender Cole Evans. Formaston had another shot parried away by Mitchell in the 59th minute. It wasn't going to be a good day for young Daniel, who failed to trouble the Eastbourne target with four further attempts. Another effort that didn't quite go our way came after 64 minutes, when Bernie's bullet was blocked by the impressive Mitchell. We wouldn't get any closer to scoring, and after 15 unsuccessful shots, we came away with nothing. Jason was named man of the match for his heroics very early on, but he could've lost that accolade in added-on time, when he fumbled Chris Shephard's free-kick before picking it up at the second attempt. Later on in injury time, Aaron Connolly came off with a twisted knee that would force the centre-back out for three weeks.

 

Eastbourne Borough - 1 (Mathieson pen6)

Romford - 0

Conference South, Attendance 531 - POSITIONS: Eastbourne Boro 3rd, Romford 13th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Gray, Connolly, Reid, Crossley, Brun, Cooke, Whitbread (Briggs), Appleyard (Holt), Greenwood (Formaston), Morath-Gibbs. BOOKED: Reid.

 

Will we ever learn, for Christ's sake? Yet again, we had paid the price for shooting too weakly and tackling too strongly. Unless we iron out those faults once and for all, this season will be as frustrating as the last - if not more so!

[tenthreeleader]

Best to get the "learning experiences" out of the way early.

[CFuller]

Best to get the "learning experiences" out of the way early.

Perhaps, but I've found during my time at Romford that the first few fixtures usually give a good indication of how the campaign will pan out. In that sense, I'm quite worried.

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2021

Heading into September, we were already five points adrift of the play-off places. We needed to click into gear quickly, otherwise our promotion dream would surely be over before it had even begun.

 

It was paramount that we started our revival with a good result at Ship Lane against newly-promoted Wingate & Finchley. The Isthmian Premier play-off winners had started their first Conference South campaign promisingly, and were two points better off than us.

 

5 September 2021: Romford vs Wingate & Finchley

The first 15 minutes were not too promising from our point of view. Arran Auger fired a half-volley wide for Wingate & Finchley in the third minute, but Boro old boy Fabio Saraiva went closer two minutes later. Fabio's strike was tipped behind by Jason Byrne, who was making his home debut in the Romford goal. Things would only become more nerve-wracking over the next few minutes, as Kieron Gray and Kevin Holt were both booked, and Garry Morath-Gibbs spurned a couple of chances. Then, in the 17th minute, Saraiva curled one of his special free-kicks into the Romford box. Auger outjumped Gray to flick it on to striker Ricky Peacock, who gave Wingate & Finchley a shock opener! Greenwood misdirected a shot moments after the restart as we tried to pull level quickly. On 29 minutes, Duncan and Bernard Brun each had shots blocked by W&F defenders before Greenwood finally found the net for 1-1. Six minutes later, Big Dunc found Warren Cooke hovering just outside the Blues' penalty area. Warren received the skipper's pass, and after avoiding a sliding challenge from Joel Ramsey, he fired a sweet shot over W&F goalkeeper Taurean Treadwell! Cooke's first ever Romford goal had swung the game firmly in our favour, and the visitors needed to do something. Their manager Mark Smith chose to take Saraiva off, bringing his Ship Lane comeback to an early end. On came Eric McLean, whose first shot in the 43rd minute was blocked by Efe Festus. Three minutes later, Ramsey made a more successful tackle on Cooke that gave Warren a knock and prevented him from returning after half-time.

 

The second half started similarly to the first, as Auger's 47th-minute strike from distance was tipped behind by Byrne. Any Wingate & Finchley fans hoping that would start a comeback from them would be bitterly disappointed. They only had one more serious attempt to equalise in a dreadful second half... and that came during injury time. Blues winger Graham Reid knocked the ball past Kevin Holt to give Peacock an opportunity to go through on goal, but Peacock's powerful strike missed the goal by inches. Our 2-1 lead from the first half remained intact, and we claimed three valuable points. Had we lost, we would've been outside the drop zone only on goal difference.

 

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 29, Cooke 35)

Wingate & Finchley - 1 (Peacock 17)

Conference South, Attendance 353 - POSITIONS: Romford 12th, Wingate & Finchley 13th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Goulding, Festus, Gray (Reid), Holt, Brun, Crossley (Tankovic), Cooke (Briggs), Appleyard, Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs. BOOKED: Gray, Holt, Crossley.

 

Young left-back Danny Rafferty suffered a major blow in the build-up to our next home game. Danny was in severe pain following Wednesday evening's training session, and a scan on Thursday morning found a stress fracture in his lower back. He won't be back in action until November at the earliest.

 

That next fixture at Ship Lane was against the Conference South's last unbeaten team - Hampton & Richmond Borough. For this game, we adopted a 4-5-1 formation and a more conservative approach than normal. It was quite hot in Aveley, and the Beavers are a strong counter-attacking side, so sticking with our typical pressing game would've been bonkers!

 

11 September 2021: Romford vs Hampton & Richmond Borough

One of Hampton & Richmond's main attacking outlets was their speedy young winger Martin Palmer. After only five minutes, the 20-year-old's match was ended by a rough challenge from Romford left-back Kevin Holt. Palmer suffered a groin strain and was replaced by another explosive winger - Paul McCall. After 17 minutes, McCall ran onto Aaron Crush's cross and hit a fierce strike that Moses Millen palmed away. That was the Beavers' first scoring chance of the game; our first came about nine minutes later. Duncan Greenwood sliced through the H&R backline with a pinpoint pass to Warren Cooke, who hammered a shot into the net from a tight angle! With his second goal in as many games, Cooke gave us a 1-0 lead that we just about retained at half-time. Ron Readings gave us a minor scare when Millen spilled the forward's cross in the 44th minute. A minute before then, our right-back Kieran Goulding went in hard on McCall, giving the Beavers substitute an injury that would force him off at the break.

 

The first half was very poor, and the second wasn't a great deal better. Ollie Whitbread went close to a second Romford goal in the 59th minute, when Rikki Banks turned his shot over the bar. Just before then, our substitute winger Zak Fitzpatrick fell awkwardly under a challenge from Jake Clark and twisted his ankle. Zak persisted with the injury until the 77th minute, when he came off after hitting a poor shot. Zack Malone had fired two free-kicks wide for Hampton & Richmond by that point, and the Beavers would not get any further chances to retain their unbeaten record. After a forgettable match that bored several spectators almost to tears, we came away with the spoils.

 

Romford - 1 (Cooke 26)

Hampton & Richmond Borough - 0

Conference South, Attendance 426 - POSITIONS: Romford 11th, Hampton & Richmond 8th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Goulding, Festus (Reid), Gray, Holt, Crossley, Cooke, Whitbread, Brun (Fitzpatrick (Morath-Gibbs)), Tankovic, Greenwood.

 

Despite us putting in a performance that didn't quite rank up there with Brazil 1970 in terms of quality, I was still happy with the result. We also kept a clean sheet for once, so that was something else to be pleased about!

 

I didn't expect us to keep a clean sheet when we travelled to Kingsmeadow the following weekend. 2nd-placed Kingstonian's previous three home games ended with them winning 4-0, 4-0, and 6-0. More ominously, their star strikers Wes Fletcher and Caolan Lavery had already scored 13 times between them this season! Not even Hugh Hefner scored as often in his heyday!

 

18 September 2021: Kingstonian vs Romford

After almost exactly two minutes, Brett Reid made an excellent tackle on Kingstonian's dangerous winger Derek Abel. Brett then started off a Boro counter-attack by passing to Bernard Brun, who raced up the right flank before drilling the ball into the hosts' penalty area. Bernie's cross found Duncan Greenwood, but not before Duncan went down under a trip from Tim Whittaker. Kingstonian were stunned by the referee's decision to award a penalty, and when Greenwood tucked that away, the favourites were 1-0 down. There were still 87 minutes remaining, though, and the K's had loads of time to create an equaliser. They only needed four minutes. Romford keeper Moses Millen made a real clanger in allowing Caolan Lavery to take Wes Fletcher's diving header past him and then tap into the net. Within the first seven minutes, we'd built a lead and lost it! Kingstonian dominated the rest of the first half, and had Lavery's team-mates been as clinical as the Canadian, we might have trailed by an ice hockey score. Fletcher put a couple of attempts past Millen's left-hand post in the 10th and 28th minutes, while Abel fired beyond the opposite post in the 31st. Michael Onovwigun perhaps came the closest to giving the K's a 2-1 lead, but Moses made a fine parry to thwart the midfielder on 41 minutes. If Kingstonian continued to persist with their attacking strategy in the second half, they would surely break through again unless we battened down the hatches.

 

The home team did continue attacking, and Fletcher was unlucky not to put them ahead in the 47th minute, when Millen saved at his near post. We tried our best to slow Kingstonian down in the second half, but that strategy only made Alan Dowson's team more dominant. On the few occasions that we sensed an opportunity to counter-attack, Duncan far too often chucked it away with an errant pass. Our attempts to keep the scores level weren't helped in the 65th minute, when substitute left-back Mark Briggs twisted his knee while knocking the ball away from Abel and out for a corner. Mark was himself substituted a minute later, by which point Kingstonian had taken the lead from said set-piece. Efe Festus could only clear Elliott Hodge's corner as far as K's defender Ben Askins, who finished for 2-1. A few minutes later, I made another change of personnel by bringing on Garry Morath-Gibbs for Muamer Tankovic, who saw so little of the ball that I hardly noticed he was playing. Fletcher could've made our afternoon worse in the 70th minute, when his header clipped the bar. Although Fletcher didn't score in this game, his partner Lavery would finish with two goals. After 79 minutes, Lavery evaded Kieron Gray's challenge to stroke the ball past Millen again and secure a 3-1 win for Kingstonian. In truth, we couldn't complain about this defeat. We didn't get a single shot in from open play, and that wouldn't cut it against any team, let alone one of the division's top sides.

 

Kingstonian - 3 (Lavery 7,79, Askins 66)

Romford - 1 (Greenwood pen3)

Conference South, Attendance 598 - POSITIONS: Kingstonian 2nd, Romford 14th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Reid, Gray, Holt (Briggs (Appleyard)), Crossley, Cooke, Whitbread, Brun, Tankovic (Morath-Gibbs), Greenwood.

 

Mark Briggs' twisted knee would rule the versatile left-footer out for at least three weeks. With Danny Rafferty also on the sidelines, we would be very short of left-back options if Kevin Holt got hurt in the near future.

 

I definitely don't plan to use 4-5-1 again any time soon. Our last two matches with the V-shaped midfield yielded a grand total of FOUR shots on goal. I would have to think of something else.

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2021 (continued)

For my first nine seasons as Romford manager, I was happy to get by without the need for a reserve team. That's not the case anymore.

 

I noticed that we had a few players on the fringe of the senior team who weren't seeing much action. They were too old to play for the youth team, and not quite consistent enough to challenge for first-team places. I couldn't see much point in loaning them out or letting them rot, so in the middle of September, I asked the chairman to relaunch Romford's reserve team.

 

Every few weeks or so, a second-string Boro team managed by my assistant Wayne Daniel would play against a local team. The idea was to build up match fitness for those players who needed it. The reserves' first fixture would be at home to a Grays Athletic team on 22 September - the evening after our next league game.

 

The seniors' next outing was at the Crabble Athletic Ground against Dover Athletic, who'd almost completely overhauled their squad following last season's relegation from the Conference Premier. The new Whites team were rock-bottom of the Conference South, and they hadn't won a game until their ninth and most recent attempt against Basingstoke Town.

 

21 September 2021: Dover Athletic vs Romford

Following the failure of our 4-5-1, I switched back to 4-4-f***ing-2 against Dover. We struggled to control the game at first, as our hosts had their first scoring chance within the opening minute. Teenage midfielder Brian Carr was denied by a fine stoppage from Moses Millen. Two minutes later, Boro defender Efe Festus made a crucial headed clearance to stop Jermaine Anderson's deep cross from finding Jack Jeffrey. Our first real attack came in the 8th minute, when Ollie Whitbread miscued a half-volley. On 22 minutes, Dover centre-back Gareth Gannon had to make a great interception from Muamer Tankovic's cross into the Whites area. Kevin Holt lofted the ball back into the box a few seconds later, and when the hosts' other centre-half Oliver Lancashire failed to clear that cross, Bernard Brun punished him with a simple tap-in. We had unsurprisingly opened the scoring, but Dover weren't going to wave the white flags any time soon. In the 37th minute, ten minutes after they had a penalty claim rejected, Athletic came within inches of an equaliser. Northern Irish midfielder Matthew McMahon took an excellent pass from Jeffrey into the six-yard box, and then hit a shot that struck both Millen and his near post! Just as McMahon looked set to tap in the rebound, Ollie heroically hoofed the ball upfield and saved our bacon! His clearance kept us in a 1-0 lead at half-time, though Tankovic and Seidu Asante each missed late chances to make us more comfortable.

 

Dover's first shot after the interval was a wasteful long-ranger from Jeffrey in the 47th minute. Six minutes later, Tankovic was similarly profligate with a 20-yard half-volley that passed the Whites' woodwork. Dover then went on the counter after 55 minutes, with Denham Peake supplying a great through-ball for Andy Appleby. The substitute was thwarted first by a point-blank save from Millen, and then by a perfectly-timed tackle from the excellent Kieron Gray. Warren Cooke also executed a great challenge on Peake in the 68th minute, just as the former Derby County youth midfielder was about to run through on goal. Dover had a few more efforts on goal late in the night, but when Jeffrey and Carr both missed the target, they finally resigned themselves to another defeat. Our defence had done superbly to shut them out, though our attack once again left me feeling rather disappointed. We never looked like scoring a second goal until the third minute of injury time, when Daniel Formaston swung in a cross that Dover keeper David Bevan almost palmed into his own net.

 

Dover Athletic - 0

Romford - 1 (Brun 22)

Conference South, Attendance 1,166 - POSITIONS: Dover 22nd, Romford 7th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Reid, Gray, Holt, Brun, Crossley, Whitbread (Cooke), Tankovic, Greenwood (Formaston), Asante (Appleyard). BOOKED: Formaston.

 

I was back at Ship Lane the following evening to watch Romford's reserves take on their Grays Athletic counterparts. The game started so well for us, with Garry Morath-Gibbs opening the scoring after 10 minutes. Our joy sadly didn't last, and two quickfire Grays goals midway through the second half gave the Gravelmen a 2-1 win.

 

Our reserves' defeat didn't augur well for when we played Grays for real four days later. Michael Wylde's Gravelmen had started indifferently and were 15th after the first ten rounds.

 

This marked Aaron Connolly's return from injury following a four-week lay-off. Our only fit left-back Kevin Holt very nearly missed out after sustaining a chest injury while lifting weights at home, but we gave him some pain-killing injections to get him through.

 

26 September 2021: Romford vs Grays Athletic

Grays' deadly strike duo of Ross Armstrong and Andrew Jenkins struggled to get their shots on target early on. Jenkins hit a wild effort from outside the area in the 7th minute. Over the next six minutes, two counter-attacks from the Gravelmen resulted in Armstrong missing the target each time. On 19 minutes, a string of Boro passes ended with our first shot on target. Efe Festus supplied the final pass to Bernard Brun, whose shot deflected off Grays keeper Neil Rushton and fell perfectly for Duncan Greenwood in front of an empty net. That net wasn't empty for long, as Duncan made it 1-0 to Romford! Grays weren't loving that situation, and Jenkins wasn't liking the rough treatment he was receiving from Kieron Gray. When Jenkins pushed Kieron two minutes after our opening goal, the Welsh striker got his name into the referee's book. At the other end, Rushton kept the Gravelmen in contention by making crucial saves from Warren Cooke and Kendall Appleyard in the 22nd and 25th minutes. Kendall's chance was particularly clear-cut, and the left-winger struggled for the rest of the first half after missing it. Tyler Weir fired a Grays free-kick over our bar two minutes later, while Jenkins missed again four minutes after that. Moses wasn't given a real test until the 35th minute, when he caught from midfielder John McReady. By half-time, we weren't quite ready to seal a morale-boosting win against our great rivals.

 

The first eight minutes of the second half were nervy for us, with Kevin Holt and Tim Crossley both getting booked. Kevin later came off to avoid further aggravating his chest injury, which would put him out for the next three weeks. After 60 minutes, Muamer Tankovic - who replaced the abject Appleyard at half-time - tried to score what would be only his second competitive goal for Romford. Alas, a comfortable save from Rushton kept Mujo stuck on one. With the Tank misfiring again, we really needed Big Dunc to get back on top form. Greenwood hit a low shot in the 79th minute that wasn't powerful enough to beat Rushton. Duncan disappointed again with an 85th-minute header that missed the target by miles. A minute later, Armstrong finally broke free from the shackles that our defenders had placed on him and Jenkins. He defied Gray to play a one-two with Weir before slotting home Grays' equaliser from close range. The likes of Kieron and Efe had done so well to keep the Gravelmen quiet, but it was ultimately only enough for one point. Such is football.

 

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 19)

Grays Athletic - 1 (Armstrong 86)

Conference South, Attendance 524 - POSITIONS: Romford 8th, Grays 15th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Reid, Gray, Holt (Connolly), Crossley (Goulding), Cooke, Brun, Whitbread, Appleyard (Tankovic), Greenwood. BOOKED: Holt, Crossley.

 

Had we held onto the clean sheet, we would've finished September just one point off the top five. The deficit is now at three points, but this was still an encouraging month for us. If we can get our scoring boots back on soon, October may yet be even better.

[CFuller]

Conference South Table (End of September 2021)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Salisbury              11    8     0     3     20    11    +9    24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Kingstonian            11    7     2     2     28    8     +20   23
3.          Oxford City            11    7     2     2     23    15    +8    23
4.          Wingate & Finchley     11    6     3     2     17    10    +7    21
5.          Eastbourne Boro        11    6     2     3     13    11    +2    20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Canvey Island          11    5     2     4     22    22    0     17
7.          Dorchester             11    5     2     4     11    11    0     17
8.          Romford                11    5     2     4     12    13    -1    17
9.          Barnet                 11    5     1     5     21    12    +9    16
10.         Hampton & Richmond     11    3     7     1     10    8     +2    16
11.         Woking                 11    5     1     5     18    18    0     16
12.         Basingstoke            11    4     4     3     15    20    -5    16
13.         Maidstone              11    5     0     6     18    18    0     15
14.         Tiverton               11    4     3     4     12    12    0     15
15.         Grays                  11    4     2     5     14    15    -1    14
16.         Enfield Town           11    3     4     4     17    20    -3    13
17.         Weston-super-Mare      11    3     3     5     20    26    -6    12
18.         Havant                 11    2     4     5     17    19    -2    10
19.         Bromley                11    3     1     7     19    25    -6    10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20.         Slough                 11    2     3     6     16    25    -9    9
21.         Hayes & Yeading        11    2     3     6     13    23    -10   9
22.         Dover                  11    1     1     9     7     21    -14   4

 

[tenthreeleader]

You're lurking. A good place to be. Hoping things come together!

[neilhoskins77]

Surprised to see Dover dropping like a stone there Chris, are they having financial difficulties? Hopefully you can find some consistent form in the coming weeks to challenge for the Playoff spots and get Romford into the fifth tier. Excellent work as always mate.

[CFuller]

You're lurking. A good place to be. Hoping things come together!

Lurking around the play-off zone is about the minimum of where I expected us to be by now. I really hope we can kick on over the coming months.

Surprised to see Dover dropping like a stone there Chris, are they having financial difficulties? Hopefully you can find some consistent form in the coming weeks to challenge for the Playoff spots and get Romford into the fifth tier. Excellent work as always mate.

Dover's financial status is 'Insecure', but I don't think they're any worse off than most teams at this level. Although they've started the season very poorly, they're still some way off emulating Barnet's earlier descent to the Isthmian Premier, which for me was even more surprising.

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2021

If there was one area of our game we really needed to brush up on in October, it was most definitely our shooting. Only three teams found the net less often than us in the first quarter of the Conference South season. Romford were not playing very Romford-like in that respect.

 

Our first match of the new month was a chance to get firing again. The FA Cup Qualifying Round 2 draw handed us a fairly easy tie at Sussex County League outfit Rye United. It would be deeply worrying if we couldn't beat the Quarterboys by more than a couple of goals.

 

2 October 2021: Rye United vs Romford

Rye proved somewhat trickier opponents than I had anticipated. They didn't let us have a shot at goal until the 10th minute, when Daniel Formaston's attempt was kept out by United's goalkeeper and captain Shaquille Machon. Six minutes later, Rye full-back Ross Mowatt almost found striker Lyndon Ham with an excellent deep cross. If Chad Carr hadn't cleared that cross away from Ham, we would've been staring at a 1-0 deficit. Machon kept out another shot from Formaston on 19 minutes, and four minutes after that, the Quarterboys again went close to taking a shock lead. Boro goalkeeper Jason Byrne could only parry Aaron Mangan's shot towards Alfie Ferris, whose follow-up cross to Mangan was cleared in the nick of time by Brett Reid. Then, after 27 minutes, we finally pulled our fingers out of our backside and went ahead. Kendall Appleyard's low ball across Rye's six-yard box was volleyed in by Bernard Brun, and some Romford fans might've expected us to dominate from that point onwards. It didn't quite pan out that way. In the last minute of normal time, Warren Cooke badly lost concentration with a poor back pass that Ham intercepted in our penalty arc. Ham's first-time shot didn't quite find the net, but it was a reminder that we couldn't get away with any complacency in the second period.

 

After 47 minutes, the man who put us 1-0 up kept us in that position, as Brun made a crucial nodded clearance from Mangan's goalward header. Seven minutes later, Cooke snatched at a shot that could have given us a two-goal cushion. Warren's miss would be a big moment. Rye grew in confidence, and when Mowatt's 58th-minute free-kick forced Byrne into a great catch, one could sense that an equaliser was imminent. That leveller for the Quarterboys would come after almost an hour's play. Lucas Hayter dribbled unchallenged up the right flank and then delivered a cross that Adam Powell hammered into the net. With the match level at 1-1, the home support grew louder, and we were under even more pressure. Kendall and Chad both missed opportunities to regain the lead within five minutes of Rye's leveller, as did Seidu Asante and Garry Morath-Gibbs later on. Appleyard fared better in the 75th minute, when Machon stretched to divert his shot away from the top corner. Three minutes later, Reid clattered into Powell just a few yards away from our penalty area. Tim Salt took the free-kick for United... and he curled it past the post by a matter of inches. Following a couple of Boro bookings either side of injury time, we begrudgingly settled for a draw. This FA Cup tie would have to come down to another match.

 

Rye United - 1 (Powell 60)

Romford - 1 (Brun 27)

FA Cup Qualifying Round 2, Attendance 803

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Reid, Connolly, Carr, Brun, Cooke, Wood (Crossley), Whitbread, Appleyard, Morath-Gibbs (Tankovic), Formaston (Asante). BOOKED: Tankovic, Crossley.

 

On the way back home from East Sussex, I felt a mixture of anger and relief. Although we fell well, WELL short of expectations, we were still in the FA Cup.

 

We met Rye again at Ship Lane three days after the original tie to decide who would face either Bishop's Stortford or Merstham in Qualifying Round 3. I wasn't going to take a risk by leaving out my star players again, so the likes of Efe Festus, Duncan Greenwood and Kieron Gray all returned to the side.

 

6 October 2021: Romford vs Rye United

We made it clear right from the start that we weren't going to hold anything back in this replay. With just 12 seconds gone, Garry Morath-Gibbs got his head to Kendall Appleyard's cross, and his effort was kept out only by a firm catch from Shaquille Machon. The Rye keeper denied Morath-Gibbs again in the 6th minute by tipping GMG's edge-of-the-box strike over the bar. Two minutes later, captain Duncan Greenwood failed to trouble Machon with his first attempt. The action then calmed down before we got ready to attack again in the 23rd minute. Another fine cross from Appleyard found Bernard Brun, whose diving header went just the wrong side of the post. Machon's goal kick for Rye was quickly intercepted by Warren Cooke, who laid it forward for Morath-Gibbs. Garry tussled with Quarterboys defender Rob Hockham for the ball, eventually coming out on top before swinging in a byline cross that Greenwood slid across the goal line! Our opening goal was followed four minutes later by a second. Some messy defending from Rye allowed Kieron Gray to head Tim Crossley's corner into the net! We were now 2-0 up, and Warren almost increased that lead to 3-0 within moments of the restart. Machon just about got a hand to Cooke's 25-yarder, and he thwarted Warren again in the 39th minute by pushing his header clear. A minute later, though, Greenwood beat him for a second time after Morath-Gibbs' pass opened up the Rye defence. That put us three goals clear, and we were heading into the next round barring a massive slip-up.

 

Rye's attempts to fight back weren't helped by an injury to Ross Mowatt very early in the second period. The minnows settled down after losing their left-back, and in the 53rd minute, their right-winger gave them fresh hope. Lucas Hayter's cross into the Romford box found striker Lyndon Ham, who didn't make a pig's ear of his header. The Quarterboys had pulled us back to 3-1. Big Dunc hoped to quell any Boro nerves by completing his hat-trick, but a trio of saves from Machon in the 56th, 59th and 68th minutes kept him waiting. Greenwood had one last crack after 77 minutes, when he chested Brun's pass and fired towards goal. Machon made an uncomfortable save that fell to Morath-Gibbs, who tucked away a simple finish for 4-1! The game was near enough won, so I rested Duncan and gave Muamer Tankovic a run-out. Four minutes later, Hockham flew into a challenge on Morath-Gibbs and sent him crashing to the floor. Garry wasn't too badly hurt, but he still had to come off, thereby reducing us to ten men. Tankovic was left as our lone striker, but he wasn't without support. In added-on time, a superb assist from 16-year-old Brandon Crook enabled Mujo to fire a blistering 25-yard shot past Machon! The final score was 5-1 to Romford - it really was men against Quarterboys in this FA Cup replay!

 

Romford - 5 (Greenwood 23,40, Gray 27, Morath-Gibbs 77, Tankovic 90)

Rye United - 1 (Ham 53)

FA Cup Qualifying Round 2 Replay, Attendance 874

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Goulding, Gray, Reid, Festus, Brun, Crossley, Cooke (Whitbread), Appleyard (Crook), Greenwood (Tankovic), Morath-Gibbs. BOOKED: Crossley.

 

At long last, we had finally delivered a performance we were capable of. Our reward was a home game in Qualifying Round 3 against Merstham, who beat Bishop's Stortford with an injury-time goal in their replay.

 

Recording such a comprehensive victory gave us a huge boost ahead of our next league game at Canvey Island. The Gulls are always in or around the play-off spots, and they went into this encounter sitting in 6th position.

 

9 October 2021: Canvey Island vs Romford

Canvey Island had a good recent record against us, and they were quick to put us under pressure. In the fourth minute, Louie Swain got his head to Lee Lynch's cross and couldn't quite direct it towards the target. Three minutes later, Daniel Formaston threatened to put us ahead. Danny ran into the Gulls area to reach Muamer Tankovic's through-ball, but he fired it straight at goalkeeper Simon Coulson. Duncan Greenwood also hit a disappointing strike from long distance after 15 minutes. Thanks to some poor passing, we struggled to create any better opportunities until the 32nd minute. Winger Kendall Appleyard made a tireless counter-attacking run into Canvey territory before finding Greenwood, whose shot was palmed wide by Coulson. Canvey Island finished the half as strongly as they started it, and we were incredibly fortunate not to be trailing by half-time. Swain hit the post with a header from ex-Romford man Dean O'Halloran's corner in the 40th minute. In the 42nd, Moses Millen made a fantastic save to deny Lynch, who curled a free-kick narrowly over two minutes later.

 

Both teams came close to scoring in an exciting very even start to the second period. Romford midfielder Ollie Whitbread was unlucky to miss the post by inches in the 48th minute, while Chike Kandi hit the upright for Canvey Island two minutes later. Following their near-miss, the Gulls got into an attacking rhythm. On 56 minutes, former Merstham and Welling United goalscorer Kandi turned provider for midfielder Cameron Norman, whose low finish finally ended our resistance. At 1-0 down, I chose to move right midfielder Tankovic up front and bring on Bernard Brun as a winger. Four minutes later, Tim Crossley intercepted a wayward pass from Lynch and started a Romford breakaway that ended with Tankovic drawing us level at 1-1. 'The Tank' stormed through the Gulls defence and lofted Brun's incisive pass into the net! We grew even more optimistic following a 63rd-minute injury to the dangerous Kandi, who twisted his knee in a clash with Boro right-back Kieran Goulding. The Welsh striker came off, but the Gulls soon pushed further up to try and break through again. Much of their attacking play now revolved around Norman, who snatched at a half-chance in the 76th minute. With five minutes remaining, Norman curled the ball into the six-yard box, only to see Moses turn it over the bar! About a minute after that, Warren Cooke made an uncharacteristically sloppy pass, and the Gulls sensed an opening. Norman lofted the ball ahead of Jordace Holder-Spooner, who was forced wide before hitting a low shot that Millen pushed behind. We also could've scored a late winner - the best of our chances was a last-minute Tankovic free-kick that Coulson held onto. The Gulls had arguably been the better side in this match, and I was happy to come away from Park Lane with a draw.

 

Canvey Island - 1 (Norman 56)

Romford - 1 (Tankovic 60)

Conference South, Attendance 693 - POSITIONS: Canvey Island 8th, Romford 9th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Goulding, Gray, Connolly, Festus, Tankovic, Crossley (Cooke), Whitbread, Appleyard, Greenwood (Morath-Gibbs), Formaston (Brun).

 

Following our draw in the Essex derby, we travelled slightly further out in midweek to take on mid-table Basingstoke Town. Captain Duncan Greenwood skipped the journey to Hampshire so that he would be fresh for our FA Cup game against Merstham.

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2021 (continued)

13 October 2021: Basingstoke Town vs Romford

A clumsy foul from Warren Cooke just 20 seconds after kick-off gave Basingstoke a free-kick in a promising position. The player he fouled - Sam Comer - curled the set-piece towards goal, and Moses Millen caught it well. In the 8th minute, we tried to score from a free-kick of our own. Muamer Tankovic's delivery found Garry Morath-Gibbs near the six-yard box. Garry played it back to Brett Reid, whose shot deflected off Comer and won us a corner. Mujo also took the corner, but an ineffective delivery from the Swede was headed away by Billy Burton. The next piece of serous attacking action came after 25 minutes. Basingstoke keeper Billy Baker rushed off his line to clear Kendall Appleyard's long pass away from Morath-Gibbs. His clearance was intercepted by Cooke, who tried to fire a long-ranger into the empty net but was denied by a crucial block from Burton. The rest of the first period was fairly mundane, and neither team came particularly close to a breakthrough goal.

 

First blood would be drawn just over a minute after the interval. Dragons defender Curtis Hansford's weak interception from a Cooke header was punished, as Tankovic volleyed us into a 1-0 lead! The Tank's game ended a couple of minutes later after he bruised his rib, but his replacement would also make an impression early on. After 55 minutes, Daniel Formaston ran onto an incisive pass from GMG and smashed it in off the post from 25 yards out! Two minutes after we went 2-0 up, Basingstoke's Glenn Gould almost halved our advantage with a cross that hit the crossbar. The hosts wouldn't threaten our superiority again. Our slick passing game didn't allow the Dragons to breathe at all, let alone breathe fire. Morath-Gibbs' attacking creativity earned him the man of the match award, and he should've capped his display with a goal, Sadly, Garry missed the target with all three shots he had. He did, though, come close to creating a third Romford goal three minutes from time. Morath-Gibbs opened the offside trap for Formaston, and only a last-ditch tackle by Tom Sharpe prevented Danny from scoring again.

 

Basingstoke Town - 0

Romford - 2 (Tankovic 47, Formaston 55)

Conference South, Attendance 418 - POSITIONS: Basingstoke 14th, Romford 8th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Gray, Festus, Reid, Connolly, Brun (Fitzpatrick), Cooke, Whitbread (Briggs), Appleyard, Tankovic (Formaston), Morath-Gibbs.

 

A solid away win put us within two points of the Conference South play-off zone. We had some favourable league fixtures to come over the next few weeks, but before we could continue our top-five challenge, there was the small matter of an FA Cup qualifier to negotiate.

 

We hadn't played against Merstham for over five years until our FA Cup Qualifying Round 3 match at Ship Lane. Since we last crossed paths, the Moatsiders had firmly established themselves as one of the Isthmian League Premier Division's top teams. Merstham were 2nd in their division, and thus were far from pushovers.

 

16 October 2021: Romford vs Merstham

Romford captain Duncan Greenwood had a shot at goal in the first minute. Merstham keeper Tom Coulton tipped the ball away, and ex-Boro trialist Jordan Willmore knocked it behind for a corner. Kendall Appleyard's delivery found Warren Cooke, who headed home to give us the perfect start after just 58 seconds! We couldn't keep up that quick start, and Merstham almost levelled in the 7th minute, when Ollie Kennedy fired inches wide from 30 yards. Our next shot on goal was a 22nd-minute driver from Cooke that Coulton just got enough of his glove to. Willmore then slide-tackled Appleyard to stop Kendall from getting a rebound shot in. After that, Greenwood had a trio of shots around the half-hour mark. Two missed the target, and the other was kept out by Coulton on 32 minutes. Our narrow 1-0 lead remained intact after Moatsiders striker Chan Chi Kin's 37th-minute effort sailed wide.

 

Though we won a few corners shortly after the restart, Merstham had the first real opportunity of the second half. On 54 minutes, Kennedy played a one-two with Ady Gatting before firing past the post. Seidu Asante soon came on for the Boro, and he almost immediately set up a chance for Greenwood in the 57th minute. Alas, Big Dunc still couldn't beat Coulton, who turned his effort behind and conceded a corner. Merstham's goalkeeping captain would frustrate us again with further saves from Seidu in the 71st minute and Duncan in the 75th. The Moatsiders' dogged defending would eventually take their toll on us. After exactly 80 minutes, Appleyard picked up a knock in a challenge from Willmore and had to come off. Eight minutes later, with just two left to go, Merstham had their fourth and final shot of the afternoon. Winger Will Hendry had a crack from 25 yards... and he curled it so far off target that he was perhaps wishing he hadn't bothered. In the end, Warren's very early goal had made the difference for us.

 

Romford - 1 (Cooke 1)

Merstham - 0

FA Cup Qualifying Round 3, Attendance 899

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Gray, Festus, Reid, Connolly (Crossley), Brun, Cooke, Briggs, Appleyard (Formaston), Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs (Asante).

 

We picked up around £8,000 for beating Merstham, and we were yet again within 90 minutes of the First Round proper. Our last three visits to Qualifying Round 4 all ended victoriously, but this time, the odds would be firmly stacked against us.

 

We were handed arguably the worst possible home tie when Forest Green Rovers' ball was drawn straight after ours. Forest Green were 2nd in the Conference Premier, having lost just two of their first 18 league fixtures. They would be the hottest of hot favourites when they travelled to Ship Lane at the end of October.

 

Before then, we received a visit from Hayes & Yeading United, who were 18th and still awaiting their first league win. United's new manager Chic Crawford is so young that the UK Number 1 single on the day he was born was "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams. God, I'm feeling old....

 

23 October 2021: Romford vs Hayes & Yeading United

Noting that we had a clear aerial advantage over Hayes & Yeading, I urged my players to pump the ball into the opposition's penalty area as often as possible. After just three minutes, Duncan Greenwood narrowly headed Kevin Holt's corner over the bar. Another Holt corner in the sixth minute found Ollie Whitbread, who also nodded too high. Two minutes later, a first-time cross from Bernard Brun found Garry Morath-Gibbs, whose header looped past United keeper Arron Bentley and into the net! Our 1-0 lead would be more secure than it looked in the opening half-hour. Hayes & Yeading were poor in possession, and they didn't get their first proper shot at goal until the 30th minute, when winger Mark Richardson pulled the ball wide. Three minutes later, Greenwood had a chance to double our lead, but he couldn't strike the ball cleanly. Ollie also missed a shot for 2-0 in the 42nd minute. We would be rueing those couple of misses a minute later. Aaron Connolly was playing in an unfamiliar position at left-back, and he made a very costly mistake by lunging on Josh Dawkin in our penalty area. Former England youth international John Bostock took the penalty for Hayes & Yeading, and he sent Moses Millen the wrong way to equalise.

 

We tried to assert our aerial authority again two minutes into the second period, but Kieron Gray couldn't keep his header low. At the other end, Hayes & Yeading's lone striker Joe Pigott - who didn't get a single shot in the first half - tried to make an impact. Pigott had chances in the 51st and 62nd minutes, but he struck both of them with his weaker left foot and failed to trouble Moses. After 71 minutes, Bostock effortlessly took the ball off Brun and started off a United counter-attack. Within moments, Pigott fired a shot from the edge of our 'D', and Millen caught it with both hands. Moses passed another test less than a minute later, when he got his fingers to a low attempt from Pigott. The visitors' attacking threat was lessened in the 76th minute, when midfielder Stuart Marrow hurt his groin in a challenge from Boro full-back Efe Festus. Although Hayes & Yeading couldn't quite take the lead, their defenders - particularly their captain Joe Wilkinson - shut us out superbly to claim a draw. While Chic Crawford saw it as one point gained, I felt this was a case of two points lost.

 

Romford - 1 (Morath-Gibbs 8)

Hayes & Yeading United - 1 (Bostock pen44)

Conference South, Attendance 486 - POSITIONS: Romford 8th, Hayes & Yeading 18th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Reid, Connolly (Goulding), Brun, Cooke (Crossley), Whitbread, Holt, Greenwood (Formaston), Morath-Gibbs. BOOKED: Formaston.

 

I hoped for a better result in our midweek trip to Dorchester Town, who'd not beaten us in our previous ten - that's right, TEN - league encounters. The Magpies would be tricky opponents, though, as they were strongly threatening to reach the play-offs for a second consecutive season.

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2021 (continued)

27 October 2021: Dorchester Town vs Romford

Moses Millen made a big save for Romford in the second minute, tipping Dorchester midfielder Nicholas Harris' free-kick over the bar. After that, our defenders began to rough up the Magpies' attackers. Brett Reid firmly challenged Callum Elliot in the 6th minute, leaving the experienced Scot with a nasty bruise to his head. A more serious injury befell his Dorchester team-mate Rhys Ings after 13 minutes, as he broke his wrist after going in hard on Bernard Brun. Duncan Greenwood narrowly missed a chance to score for the Boro shortly before then, but the next few minutes would be dominated by our hosts. Striker Aaron Mitchell went just wide in the 16th and 21st minutes, while midfielder Miles John skimmed our bar in the 25th. Then, after 27 minutes, Greenwood scored the game's opening goal. It was just a shame that Duncan put it into our own net with a panicked clearance after Kiel Robinson's header hit the crossbar! With the score now 1-0 to Dorchester, I changed tack, and switched from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1. That didn't help centre-back Reid, who made a crucial mistake before Duncan's clanger and almost gifted the Magpies a second goal on 33 minutes. John muscled him off the ball, and though Moses saved the resulting shot from Michael Doughty, I couldn't risk keeping Brett on. Efe Festus took Reid's place as we tried to rebuild. After 39 minutes, Brun registered our only shot on target in the first period - a half-volley that Dorchester goalie Paul Farman pushed away. A minute later, Millen kept us in contention by saving a fierce shot from John. Were it not for our number 1, we arguably would've been more than 1-0 down at half-time.

 

We started to push Dorchester's defence somewhat after the break. Duncan rushed into another poor shot in the 49th minute, and Kendall Appleyard failed to threaten the goal seven minutes later, but we were at least getting chances. Substitute Muamer Tankovic was also making a positive impact, even though he blazed the ball over Farman's crossbar on 65 minutes. The Magpies were happy to sit back and defend their slender lead, while we also slowed down for a while to conserve some energy. That made for a dull quarter-hour or so before we started to speed play up again. With nine minutes left, Efe intercepted a poor flick-on from Harris and played the ball ahead of Appleyard. Kendall then sent Tankovic through before the Swede fired one of his trademark edge-of-the-box strikes into the net! Mujo had equalised and almost secured us a point, but the job was not yet done. Dorchester attacked again in added-on time, when Aaron Anyon saw his header caught by the brilliant Millen. Mitchell - now carrying a thigh strain - spurned another Magpies chance moments later as we held on for our third 1-1 draw of this month.

 

Dorchester Town - 1 (Greenwood og27)

Romford - 1 (Tankovic 81)

Conference South, Attendance 298 - POSITIONS: Dorchester 6th, Romford 8th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Goulding, Gray, Reid (Festus), Holt, Brun (Fitzpatrick), Cooke, Briggs, Appleyard, Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs (Tankovic).

 

Muamer Tankovic's late equaliser stretched our unbeaten run in all competitions to nine matches. Whether that streak could go into double figures depended on the result of our FA Cup Qualifying Round 4 match against Forest Green Rovers.

 

Forest Green were themselves unbeaten in six games, and they topped the Conference Premier by two points from Luton Town. The Rovers, and their manager Nigel Reo-Coker, were on a roll.

 

Although we were massive underdogs, we weren't completely without hope. Back in January, we played against the best team in non-league football - and we knocked Hereford United out of the FA Trophy.

 

30 October 2021: Romford vs Forest Green Rovers

Forest Green were without a number of key players through injury, and we lost one of our own after just three minutes. An altercation between winger Bernard Brun and Rovers counterpart David Smith ended with Bernie down on the pitch clutching his groin. The Frenchman came off and was replaced by young Zak Fitzpatrick, who in the 13th minute was penalised for tripping Jeff Hughes just outside our penalty area. Former Manchester United winger Zak Ballard hit the crossbar with his free-kick and Jamille Matt buried the rebound, only to be denied by the offside flag. Forest Green found the net again after 17 minutes - and this time, they did open the scoring. FGR captain David Sinclair exposed our weakness down our right flank with an excellent through-ball to Smith. The Scotsman went to the byline before cutting the ball back to 36-year-old former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Hughes, whose fierce left-footer put us 1-0 down. We crafted a promising attack shortly after the restart, though Garry Morath-Gibbs couldn't quite keep his header on target. Fitzpatrick picked up a knock in the 24th minute, but our positive response to conceding the opening goal continued. Three minutes later, Duncan Greenwood unfortunately rattled the crossbar with an excellent free-kick. Meanwhile, Boro keeper Moses Millen pushed away a threatening shot from Matt on 33 minutes to keep us in the tie. Big Dunc's luck continued to desert him after 44 minutes, when another free-kick hit the woodwork. We could well have gone into the break with a narrow lead over Forest Green, but as it was, we trailed by 1 goal to 0.

 

Sinclair pulled a couple of shots wide for Forest Green early in the second half. After 52 minutes, Ollie Whitbread's edge-of-the-area effort for Romford was kept out by Rovers' 16-year-old goalkeeper George Dunleavey. Forest Green's next attack came in the 65th minute, when Millen pushed away a vicious shot from Ballard. Efe Festus then knocked the loose ball behind to give the visitors a corner. Ex-Wales midfielder Lloyd James took the corner and found centre-back Grant Evans, who headed the Rovers into a two-goal advantage. Our FA Cup challenge and our nine-match unbeaten run were now slowly ebbing away. Despite that, we never gave up hope. Duncan was still determined to score, and he came close from yet another free-kick in the 88th minute. Although we finished the match with a greater quantity of possession than Forest Green, the Conference Premier leaders' quality had won the day. They hammered the final nail into our cup coffin in injury time, when James' cross was tapped home by Matt for 3-0.

 

Romford - 0

Forest Green Rovers - 3 (Hughes 17, Evans 66, Matt 90)

FA Cup Qualifying Round 4, Attendance 1,375

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Connolly (Reid), Gray, Crossley, Brun (Fitzpatrick (Tankovic)), Cooke, Whitbread, Holt, Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs.

 

Further disappointment would come with the news that Bernard Brun had torn his groin muscle. Club physio Gary Ling reckoned that Bernard would be out for two months, so we were unlikely to see him playing again before the New Year.

 

More positively, we made around £22,000 in gate receipts from Forest Green's visit to Ship Lane. That enabled us to make a profit in October and keep the chairman happy. Speaking of which, Leo Jones' attempts to sell the club might finally be getting somewhere...

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2021

Back at the start of this season, Nick Bristow made a takeover bid for Romford, only to pull out at the last minute. Nearly three months had passed since then, and I'd not heard about any other parties trying to buy the club.

 

Then, on the second day of November, chairman Leo Jones informed me that he was speaking to a fans' group about a possible takeover. Mr Jones was very keen to do a deal with the Romford Supporters' Trust - if they could raise enough funds to make their bid feasible.

 

This was very promising news for me. I would rather see Romford FC run by its loyal supporters than an opportunist like Bristow, who apparently took his money to Isthmian League Premier Division side Bury Town instead.

 

A few hours after hearing that news, I led the Boro team out for their opening Essex Senior Cup game at Waltham Abbey. The Isthmian North outfit were unlikely to pose us too many problems in Round 3...

 

2 November 2021: Waltham Abbey vs Romford

...or so I rather arrogantly thought. Waltham Abbey keeper Darty Brogden caught a tame shot from Garry Morath-Gibbs in the 10th minute, and the Abbotts would take a shock lead three minutes later. Our makeshift left-back Mark Briggs gave away a penalty after a foul on winger Sam Deane, and then watched Anthony Jack slot it home for Waltham Abbey. Our Essex Senior Cup campaign could not have started any worse. It didn't really get any better at any point during the first half. We only had one more serious scoring opportunity before the break, and it came after almost half an hour. Morath-Gibbs hit another disappointing strike that Brogden easily picked up. Were we about to whimper out of our county competition at the first hurdle?

 

Not on my watch. I fired the lads up at half-time, and also brought on Danny Rafferty (who was now back from his, er, back injury) and Seidu Asante as substitutes. Seidu made a lightning-quick impact just two minutes after the restart, as he raced onto Garry's flick-on and smashed it into the top corner! The teenager's equaliser was almost rendered meaningless after 50 minutes, as Shaun Burrows launched a Waltham Abbey counter-attack after one of our corners went awry. Thankfully, Kieran Goulding stepped in with a superb tackle on the Abbotts winger. Four minutes later, our young strike duo linked up to give us a 2-1 lead. Morath-Gibbs' lob played in Asante, who scored his second scorcher of the night! Abbey could've equalised quickly, but Chris Collinson's free-kick hit the crossbar and Brett Reid hoofed it clear. 17-year-old Asante then started his attempt to complete his first ever senior hat-trick. Abbotts defender James Hammond almost gifted him a third goal after 62 minutes, but Seidu didn't make the most of Hammond's awful first touch. Eight minutes later, he boldly attempted to chip Brogden, and could not keep the ball on target. In the 74th minute, another Romford teen - Brandon Crook - went down under a challenge from Terry Gradley in Waltham Abbey's area. That meant a penalty... but Seidu wouldn't seal his treble with it. Instead, GMG took the spot-kick, and he lashed it home to build a 3-1 lead! Three minutes later, Brandon narrowly missed a chance that would've made our victory almost certain. It could've been a costly miss, as Aaron Tatham pulled one goal back for Waltham Abbey in the 89th minute. They were unable to get another, though, and we stumbled unconvincingly into Round 4. Make no mistake, it could easily have been much worse.

 

Waltham Abbey - 2 (Jack pen13, Tatham 89)

Romford - 3 (Asante 47,54, Morath-Gibbs 75)

Essex Senior Cup Round 3, Attendance 81

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Goulding, Connolly, Reid, Briggs (Rafferty), Fitzpatrick (Appleyard), Lord, Whitbread, Crook, Morath-Gibbs, Formaston (Asante). BOOKED: Fitzpatrick, Morath-Gibbs, Whitbread.

 

We discovered our Round 4 opponents a couple of days later. We'd be travelling to Heybridge Swifts - another team from the Isthmian North - in December.

 

Our third cup game in a row marked the start of what I hoped would be another long journey in the FA Trophy. Chorley provided the opposition for our Qualifying Round 3 tie at Ship Lane. The Lancashire-based Magpies were struggling at the low end of the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

 

6 November 2021: Romford vs Chorley

Efe Festus tested Chorley keeper Ben Robinson in the opening minute with a swerving cross towards Seidu Asante. Robinson just about managed to tip the ball behind before Seidu could get his head to it. Our goalie Moses Millen had a scare after seven minutes, when he spilled Joe Pepper's piledriver. Fortunately, Kieron Gray was on hand to remove the danger. Although the first quarter-hour was a pretty even affair, we started to become more dominant as the match wore on. Duncan Greenwood saw his shot deflect off Magpies defender Luke Shiels in the 16th minute, and Asante's follow-up ricocheted off Robinson's back before going towards the far touchline. Midfielders Tim Crossley and Warren Cooke each had speculative shots within the next two minutes, while Robinson saved from another Greenwood chance in the 21st. We finally ended the impasse after 39 minutes, when Muamer Tankovic got behind the Chorley defence to place Kendall Appleyard's cross into the net. The Swede's fifth goal in his last six games handed us a 1-0 lead to take into the break.

 

We weren't creating enough opportunities for my liking, so I replaced Cooke with the more attack-minded Ollie Whitbread during the break. It was an inspired switch, as Ollie fired home our second goal exactly three minutes after coming on! Whitbread showcased another key part of his game in the 61st minute. He half-volleyed the ball through Chorley's backline and found Asante, who lashed a stunning 20-yard chip over Robinson's head! We now led 3-0, and with the Magpies' attack being starved of chances, our place in Round 1 of the FA Trophy was all but secure. Another flowing Boro move almost led to Seidu's second goal on 63 minutes, but the teen's header was caught by Robinson. Three minutes later, Asante selflessly spotted Appleyard in space and allowed Kendall to slot in his first goal of the season. That made it 4-0 to Romford, and the few Magpies fans in attendance were wishing they'd stayed in Lancashire! They would be spared the ignominy of seeing their team concede a fifth goal, as Tankovic dragged a low effort wide in the 71st minute. The Chorley faithful would also have one reason to 'celebrate' with four minutes remaining. After Jake Rooney and Ross Stearn each missed out on a consolation goal, Andrew Foster did get one when his header looped over Millen. Moses' failure to keep a clean sheet and a surprisingly low attendance were the only disappointing aspects of what was otherwise a very happy day for us.

 

Romford - 4 (Tankovic 39, Whitbread 49, Asante 61, Appleyard 66)

Chorley - 1 (Foster 86)

FA Trophy Qualifying Round 3, Attendance 60

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Reid, Holt, Tankovic (Fitzpatrick), Crossley, Cooke (Whitbread), Appleyard, Greenwood (Formaston), Asante. BOOKED: Holt.

 

What were our rewards for getting into Round 1? Roughly £4,000, and another home tie against Enfield Town later in the month.

 

We were back at Ship Lane four days later as our league campaign resumed against 5th-placed Tiverton Town.

 

Tivvy's second stint in the Conference South was already proving to be much more successful than their first. In fact, the Devon side would match their 30-point haul from the entire 2019/2020 season if they won here! Such a result would also leave us seven points adrift of the play-off places.

 

10 November 2021: Romford vs Tiverton Town

Tiverton had won their last four league matches, and they started this game very confidently. After two minutes, former Norwich City winger Rossi Jarvis crossed to striker Ed Coombes, who volleyed wide from the edge of our area. Coombes almost got onto another cross from Sean Newton in the 6th minute, but Romford centre-back Kieron Gray headed it away in time. On 14 minutes, Courtney Baker-Richardson put Tivvy's next attempt narrowly wide. We launched our first assault about four minutes later. Duncan Greenwood flicked Brett Reid's long ball into the six-yard box, and Garry Morath-Gibbs volleyed home from point-blank range... but the goal was questionably ruled out for offside. I was annoyed by that, and I got more flustered in the 24th minute. Boro keeper Moses Millen nearly collided with Brett Reid as he fisted a Newton cross away from danger. Over the next 10 minutes or so, we missed a host of opportunities to edge in front. Duncan - who was now on a yellow card - spurned two minor chances, and Ollie Whitbread incredibly wasted a clear-cut one after 34 minutes. Morath-Gibbs did well to find Whitbread with a through-ball, but Ollie slotted past the wrong side of the post. Would that be a key miss from 'Fatima'?

 

Following a goalless first half, the second half began with early salvos at both ends. Tiverton's veteran midfielder Sean McAllister narrowly missed the target after just half a minute, as did Greenwood moments later. Duncan's luck in front of goal seemed to change after 52 minutes, when he headed Muamer Tankovic's lob beyond Tivvy keeper Charlie Burns. However, the linesman quickly raised his offside flag, and another Romford goal was chalked off. Our persistent captain had another go in the 63rd minute, when he was denied by a good stop from Burns. Shortly after that, Coombes ballooned a rare Tiverton shot over our crossbar. Then, after 70 minutes, a centre from Tankovic deflected off Tiverton left-back Rob Martindale and went towards goal. Greenwood ran onto the deflection and headed it past Burns to finally give us first blood... or so it seemed. Incredibly, the referee ruled that Duncan fouled Burns, and we had a THIRD goal disallowed! Big Dunc remonstrated furiously with the officials, and he was fortunate not to receive a second booking. I quickly took my frustrated skipper off, making my final substitution before Greenwood could explode. Eight minutes later, Warren Cooke was forced to come off with a knock, leaving us a man light. Tiverton now had 12 minutes to make their advantage count and steal all three points. Thankfully, for my sanity and Big Dunc's, they did not. Coombes and Baker-Richardson each failed to convert decent efforts during the closing stages, while Gray once again defended admirably. Kieron could've pinched a win for us in injury time, but his header went just over. The match finished as a 0-0 draw, which I felt was very disappointing after 14 shots (just two of which were on target) and three disallowed goals.

 

Romford - 0

Tiverton Town - 0

Conference South, Attendance 407 - POSITIONS: Romford 11th, Tiverton 5th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Reid, Rafferty, Tankovic, Cooke, Whitbread (Briggs), Appleyard, Greenwood (Holt), Morath-Gibbs (Asante). BOOKED: Greenwood, Reid.

 

Although that result extended our unbeaten sequence in the league to seven games, it was also our fifth draw in our last six. We were playing more like a pragmatic mid-table team than a side who could realistically challenge for promotion. I needed to change something to get us firing on all cylinders again.

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2021 (continued)

By the time we travelled to Weston-super-Mare, goalscoring had become a major problem, particularly in the Conference South. Rock-bottom Dover Athletic were now the only team to have scored fewer goals than us.

 

Although we were having plenty of shots at goal, our conversion rate was alarmingly poor to say the least. I felt that we were perhaps playing at too quick a tempo, and often we were shooting only because there weren't any better options. Therefore, I decided to try a slower tempo at the Woodspring Stadium against Weston, who were in 16th place.

 

13 November 2021: Weston-super-Mare vs Romford

Weston-super-Mare were, unsurprisingly, the quicker starters. After 12 minutes, Seagulls midfielder George Colson curled in a free-kick that Ben Gerring headed straight into the safe hands of Moses Millen. Three minutes later, Saul Halpin hit an unclean strike and sent it wide. Another unclean Weston ball came from left-back Stephen Tulloch in the 19th minute. Tulloch came under pressure from his Scottish compatriot Kevin Holt and hit a dreadful long ball that was brilliantly intercepted by Mark Briggs. Mark headed straight on to Duncan Greenwood, who hammered in the opening goal for Romford! Sadly, Briggsy would not be able to create another magic moment. Three minutes after his assist, Mark slid in on Weston's right-back Robbie Healey... and came off much, much worse. The hard-working midfielder had to be stretchered off, and we switched back to our more traditional direct strategy. That worked wonders again after 26 minutes. Morath-Gibbs latched onto Kieron Gray's long ball and played it through to Greenwood, who buried his and our second goal! A great passage of play from our perspective got even better two minutes later. Duncan repaid Garry with an assist for the young frontman, who gave us an improbable 3-0 lead away from home! That was actually the first time we had scored three goals in a league match this season!

 

The Seagulls had been blown out of the water in a stunning opening half, and they only fared slightly better after the break. After 49 minutes, Halpin headed over a shot that could've given them a route back into the match. Instead, Weston-super-Mare found themselves at a dead end. Halpin's next major contribution was a sliding tackle on Zak Fitzpatrick in the 67th minute that left our teenage winger with a nasty knock. On 78 minutes, Seagulls striker Reece Gray beat namesake Kieron to a header, but Millen was equal to it. Two minutes later, a superb performance from Greenwood was cut short by injury after Matt Crutcher took him out on the touchline. Duncan's replacement was Danny Rafferty, who in the 86th minute had a moment he would never forget. Muamer Tankovic's attempted through-ball was inadequately cleared by Gerring, and Danny went clean through for his first competitive goal! That should have secured a 4-0 win... but in added-on time, our clean sheet was ruined by one Seagull's droppings. Joey Butlin's point-blank header was barely even a consolation for the humbled hosts.

 

Weston-super-Mare - 1 (Butlin 90)

Romford - 4 (Greenwood 19,26, Morath-Gibbs 28, Rafferty 86)

Conference South, Attendance 225 - POSITIONS: Weston-super-Mare 17th, Romford 8th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Gray, Festus, Reid, Connolly, Fitzpatrick (Tankovic), Holt, Briggs (Crossley), Appleyard, Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs.

 

Zak Fitzpatrick and Duncan Greenwood both escaped serious injury, but the prognosis for Mark Briggs was a great deal more serious. Mark's reckless lunge on our former loanee Robbie Healey left him with a torn hamstring. We would have to do without the versatile midfielder's services for a minimum of three months. Ouch.

 

With Briggs on the injury list, it was now even more important that we kept hold of attacking midfielder Ollie Whitbread. Margate were very interested in signing Ollie, who turned down a string of contract offers from the Isthmian League Premier Division side.

 

The following weekend saw us play host to Enfield Town in Round 1 of the FA Trophy. We lost our previous five clashes with Enfield, who were 8th in the Conference South. Would our barren run against the Towners end here, or would it be our FA Trophy hopes that bit the dust?

 

20 November 2021: Romford vs Enfield Town

After just five minutes, Warren Cooke found Garry Morath-Gibbs with an excellent long lob towards the Enfield Town box. Garry chested the ball and took it on the bounce, but couldn't fire us into an early lead. Six minutes later, Marlon Jackson had Enfield's first chance to open the scoring. His strike hit the post and then deflected off Boro goalkeeper Jason Byrne's back before appearing to cross the goal line! Jason caught the ball before anyone could be 100% sure, and the officials chose not to award a goal. Cooke then had a 15th-minute effort caught by Towners goalie Jermaine Antrobus. After that, Enfield Town began to dominate play in the middle of the park. On 28 minutes, Tyrell Miller-Rodney put a free-kick into a crowded Romford area, and Enfield right-back Sami Davies hit a low shot that Byrne tipped away. Concerned that the visitors were taking control, I ordered the Boro players to tighten up and play much narrower. That tactical change would shut Town up for the rest of the first half. We could've even taken a half-time lead, but Antrobus denied Morath-Gibbs in the last minute of normal time.

 

Enfield Town couldn't make any real impact early in the second period, as they struggled to find space in the centre. We almost dealt their cup chances a serious blow after 62 minutes, when Duncan Greenwood's free-kick narrowly missed the target. Duncan's strike partner Garry hobbled off hurt moments later and was replaced by Seidu Asante. The speedy teenager would get his chance to make an impact with a quarter of an hour remaining. Enfield Town winger Gary Kelly made a costly backpass that Greenwood cut out and played to Asante. Seidu took on Enfield defender Mike Cestor, and then raced forward before unleashing a fierce drive into the net! Romford's newest star had done it again! His fifth goal of the season put us within touching distance of the next round. Muamer Tankovic could've made sure of our progression in the 82nd minute, but Mujo dragged his shot wide after latching onto Ollie Whitbread's superb through-ball. The Swede's miss would not be disastrous. Brett Reid was in inspired form at the back, and the Romford defence as a whole allowed Enfield Town just four shots on target. None of them beat Byrne, so we advanced to Round 2 at the Towners' expense.

 

Romford - 1 (Asante 75)

Enfield Town - 0

FA Trophy Round 1, Attendance 416

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Gray, Festus, Reid, Crossley, Tankovic, Connolly, Cooke (Whitbread), Appleyard (Holt), Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs (Asante).

 

That win added £5,000 of prize money into our cash pot, and we went into the pot for Round 2. Once again, we were drawn at home... but we would need to beat AFC Wimbledon in December if we were to progress any further.

 

While another long run in the FA Trophy would be nice, the Conference South is our bread and butter. Victories in our next two league matches would go some way towards reinvigorating our play-off charge.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Come on, Romford! I've gotten attached to your side, and I want to see them lift some silverware this year. Always a good read.

[CFuller]

Come on, Romford! I've gotten attached to your side, and I want to see them lift some silverware this year. Always a good read.

Thank you again. We're still in the FA Trophy and Essex Senior Cup, and our league prospects are looking brighter, so I'll see if I can bring some silverware to Ship Lane this year.

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2021 (continued)

In the lead-up to our away meeting with league leaders Oxford City, Kieran Goulding turned down an approach from Concord Rangers while Ollie Whitbread once again said no to Margate.

 

We also brought in another attacking central midfielder to provide cover for Ollie. 19-year-old former Ebbsfleet United and Hythe Town player Ron Lake arrived at the club on non-contract terms. You may remember that I first tried to sign Ron last year, but he opted to spend a season at Hythe instead.

 

Lake started on the Romford bench at Court Place Farm, as did in-form defender Brett Reid and captain Duncan Greenwood. Neither Brett nor Duncan had yet fully recovered from their tireless performances against Enfield Town, but I kept those two stars in reserve in case we needed them.

 

23 November 2021: Oxford City vs Romford

Very early on, it became clear that we wouldn't need Brett Reid or Duncan Greenwood against Oxford City. Instead, we would need a miracle. Ross Etheridge's second-minute goal kick for Oxford found midfielder Josh Robinson, who nodded it on for David McNeil. City's captain then got past Aaron Connolly and Moses Millen to tap the flick-on into the net! Oxford City had burst out of the traps and were already leading 1-0! Our early struggles continued in the sixth minute, as Swedish star Muamer Tankovic wasted a long shot from distance. Warren Cooke also spurned a couple of attempts from outside the penalty area. In the 18th minute, Kevin Holt hit a wonderful cross for young winger Zak Fitzpatrick, who got his header hopelessly wrong. Oxford City would soon be ready to take a firm grip on proceedings. Romanian winger Nicolae Marin could've made it 2-0 with a solo goal after half an hour, but he followed up a mazy run into the area with a poor strike. Two minutes later, Kieron Gray's horrible tackle on McNeil just inside the box led to an Oxford penalty. McNeil caught the hopping Moses Millen out with a confident penalty down the middle, and I was hopping mad. By the 37th minute, I was fuming. Marin's ball across the six-yard box was finished by his opposite winger Steve Dyer, and City's slickers were 3-0 to the good. Although we weren't playing a particularly high defensive line, Oxford's pacey attackers were still breaking through time and time again. They almost had another goal after 41 minutes, when Robert Freeman - on loan from Oxford United - hit a volley that wasn't wildly off target. Unless we tightened up, more City goals in the second period would be inevitable.

 

I made all my substitutions at half-time, as Brett, Duncan and new boy Ron Lake came on for our worst three performers. Reid definitely tightened our backline up, but I'd taken a big risk by playing all my cards so early on. That gamble appeared to backfire in the 63rd minute, when Cooke was hurt in a strong tackle from Dyer. Warren's injury wasn't game-ending, so I told him to play through the pain and carry on. On 66 minutes, Cooke played his part in setting up a chance via Tim Crossley for Greenwood, whose strike went straight at Etheridge. Five minutes later, an excellent cross from Dyer almost led to a hat-trick for his Oxford team-mate and fellow Scot McNeil. Millen caught the header on that occasion, but that save merely delayed the final blow. In the 80th minute, another long-ranger from Greenwood fizzed past the post, ending our hopes of taking anything home. Our horror show was completed in added-on time, with Jamie Bosley getting Oxford City's fourth and final goal.

 

Oxford City - 4 (McNeil 2,pen32, Dyer 37, Bosley 90)

Romford - 0

Conference South, Attendance 437 - POSITIONS: Oxford City 1st, Romford 9th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Connolly (Reid), Holt, Crossley, Cooke, Fitzpatrick, Tankovic (Lake), Appleyard, Morath-Gibbs (Greenwood).

 

Our first league defeat in over two months had been an incredibly chastening experience. When we returned to the dressing room, I controlled my anger about as well as Russell Crowe in a New York hotel. I gave the players a real dressing-down and told them their performance was the worst I'd seen this season.

 

One player was singled out for particularly scathing criticism. This was not the first time Aaron Connolly had disappointed me for his failure to keep up with the opposition. Aaron's contract was due to run out at the end of the season, and he wasn't playing well enough to deserve a new deal. Indeed, if the centre-back's recent slump continued, there was every chance that I would get rid of him in January.

 

I expected significant improvements from everyone when 20th-placed Bromley came to Ship Lane. The Lilywhites had won just three league games so far, and the prospect of back-to-back relegations was looming large.

 

This was the first time we had played against Bromley since 9 May 2020, when we incredibly lost 7-3 in the second leg of our Play-Off Semi Final. Though I wasn't thinking about getting revenge on the Lilywhites, I still wanted to set the record straight.

 

27 November 2021: Romford vs Bromley

Kyel Reid scored against us on the opening day of this season while at Woking. Now at Bromley, the experienced winger caused us further problems in this match, forcing a foul from Kieran Goulding after seven minutes. Reid let his much younger team-mate Allan Mead take the free-kick, and the 18-year-old curled it just past the post. That was significantly closer to the target than Duncan Greenwood managed with our first shot in the 17th minute. Three minutes later, Reid caught our defence out with a sublime lob to Mead on the right-wing. Mead then somehow managed to curl the ball through a gap between Jason Byrne and his left-hand post! It was almost as if Jason had greased both his gloves and the post prior to kick-off! It took us a while to recover from going behind in such bizarre circumstances. On 31 minutes, a mistimed interception from Bromley midfielder Jonathan Wafula knocked the ball on to Ollie Whitbread, who skimmed the woodwork for Romford. Just like earlier on, a missed Boro opportunity was followed three minutes later by one that the Lilywhites took. Former Hayes & Yeading United striker Chris Hunter played a one-two with Drey Hurrell before slipping the ball past the onrushing Byrne. Bromley were 2-0 up! In a moment of pure frustration, I took off Seidu Asante and replaced him with fellow youngster Daniel Formaston. Danny's introduction couldn't bring about a change in fortunes, as he had two poor misses before half-time. Greenwood fared slightly better with a 41st-minute attempt that Aljaz Cotman parried, but Bromley's Slovenian goalie remained unbeaten.

 

Bromley were dominant early in the second half, as the Lilywhites had three shots between the 52nd and 58th minutes. Hunter and Hurrell both narrowly missed Byrne's new ungreased left-hand post, while Wafula forced Jason into a comfortable save. Later on, our gung-ho approach to the final half-hour failed to produce results. Tim Crossley's left-footed half-volley on 66 minutes epitomised the hopelessness of our shooting. While we were profligate, Bromley were prolific. Reid lofted an excellent corner into the Boro box after 75 minutes, and Reece Higgins' header was deflected over the line for 3-0. The contest was now over, but we grabbed a consolation two minutes later, also through a corner. Tim's inswinger was headed past Cotman by Kieron Gray, who was perhaps the only Romford player to put in a decent shift. The other Boro boys were so lacklustre that Bromley always looked likely to score yet another goal. Mead went close in the 80th minute with another free-kick that wasn't quite on target. The Lilywhites did get number 4 on the board with two minutes to go. Hunter sliced through our defence, and 18-year-old Hurrell drilled in his first league goal. Bromley had thrashed us again, and the pain was almost as bad as it had been 18 months earlier.

 

Romford - 1 (Gray 77)

Bromley - 4 (Mead 30, Hunter 34, Higgins 75, Hurrell 88)

Conference South, Attendance 496 - POSITIONS: Romford 10th, Bromley 19th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Goulding (Festus), Gray, Reid, Rafferty, Tankovic, Crossley, Whitbread, Appleyard, Greenwood (Fitzpatrick), Asante (Formaston). BOOKED: Asante, Reid.

 

For the second time in five days, I brought out the 'hairdryer' after a heavy defeat. The lads heard a load of expletives - and, I'm afraid to admit, a few words that would offend handicapped people.

 

Attacking midfielder Ollie Whitbread looked particularly offended at what I had to say. When Ollie failed to turn up for Monday evening's training session, I assumed he'd gone AWOL. The truth was even worse.

 

I discovered that Whitbread had received yet another offer from Margate - one which he decided to take up. After 51 appearances for the Boro, he'd packed his bags and left us in the lurch. I felt disgusted.

 

November had ended in the worst imaginable fashion for us. We had been on an excellent run of just one defeat in 15 competitive matches, but back-to-back losses had unravelled all our good work.

[CFuller]

Conference South Table (End of November 2021)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Oxford City            20    12    4     4     46    32    +14   40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Tiverton               20    12    4     4     33    19    +14   40
3.          Salisbury              18    11    2     5     29    18    +11   35
4.          Kingstonian            17    10    4     3     38    13    +25   34
5.          Wingate & Finchley     18    9     4     5     27    23    +4    31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Eastbourne Boro        18    9     4     5     21    18    +3    31
7.          Maidstone              18    9     3     6     29    22    +7    30
8.          Enfield Town           19    8     6     5     29    25    +4    30
9.          Dorchester             18    8     4     6     22    21    +1    28
10.         Romford                19    7     6     6     22    25    -3    27
11.         Grays                  18    8     2     8     23    22    +1    26
12.         Canvey Island          18    7     4     7     34    32    +2    25
13.         Hampton & Richmond     19    5     9     5     21    18    +3    24
14.         Woking                 19    7     2     10    23    33    -10   23
15.         Weston-super-Mare      19    6     4     9     33    38    -5    22
16.         Barnet                 18    6     3     9     25    25    0     21
17.         Hayes & Yeading        18    4     6     8     25    31    -6    18
18.         Basingstoke            18    4     6     8     19    33    -14   18
19.         Bromley                18    4     5     9     31    38    -7    17
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20.         Havant                 19    3     7     9     26    33    -7    16
21.         Dover                  19    3     4     12    15    32    -17   13
22.         Slough                 18    2     5     11    19    39    -20   11

 

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2021

I started December in a slightly more positive frame of mind than I finished November. The reason for that was because I had an encouraging meeting with Jack MacGregor - the president of the Romford Supporters' Trust, who were hoping to buy the club.

 

Mr MacGregor was Romford through and through - he'd been a season-ticket holder for 25 years since the reformed club first joined the Isthmian League in 1996. If anyone had the passion and the drive needed to make this club succeed, it was Jack.

 

Mr MacGregor and the RST were confident of raising the £60,000 needed to complete a takeover before current Boro chairman Leo Jones' deadline of 6 December. That deadline was just two days after our next away game against 14th-placed Woking.

 

4 December 2021: Woking vs Romford

Romford captain Duncan Greenwood had a disappointing start at the Kingfield Stadium. Greenwood's header from the edge of the area went wide in the 8th minute, as did a long-distance effort four minutes later. Things got worse for us after 20 minutes. Warren Cooke got carried away with a poor tackle on Danny Gardner in the Boro penalty area, and then watched Ian Drayton blast home the resulting spot-kick. 1-0 to Woking. A Romford equaliser before half-time never looked likely - and certainly not one from Big Dunc, who misfired again in the 24th minute. Nine minutes later, his header from Kendall Appleyard's cross led to a simple catch from Cards goalie Tom McNeil. Our other striker Garry Morath-Gibbs also disappointed with a poor shot on the stroke of half-time.

 

Woking right-back Chris Salt hoped to rub it into our wounds after 54 minutes. The teenage loanee from Crewe Alexandra hit a low shot that Moses Millen picked up quite easily. Five minutes later, another rash tackle from Cooke on Salt led to Warren receiving a yellow card. We would concede an alarming 15 fouls in this game, and that was surprisingly the only one to produce a caution. Another major concern to me was, of course, our shooting. Greenwood got another woeful header to Tim Crossley's corner on 65 minutes. He was later joined up front by our youth starlet Seidu Asante. After 72 minutes, Duncan's perfectly-timed pass allowed Seidu to burst through and... have his shot blocked by McNeil. Woking's attacking prospects were reduced when midfielder Mark Randall came off with a gashed leg moments later. The Cards spent much of the last quarter-hour sitting back and defending their lead. In the final minute of normal time, Romford winger Muamer Tankovic burst down the right flank and beat Woking full-back Mickey Demetriou before curling a cross into the box. Asante got his head to it, but he couldn't make a clean connection. Our last real opportunity to equalise had been wasted, and the three points were Woking's.

 

Woking - 1 (Drayton pen20)

Romford - 0

Conference South, Attendance 651 - POSITIONS: Woking 13th, Romford 12th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray (Connolly), Reid, Holt (Rafferty), Tankovic, Crossley, Cooke, Appleyard, Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs (Asante). BOOKED: Cooke.

 

That was our third defeat in a row, and we were now eight points adrift of the play-off places. The storm clouds were looming large over Romford FC.

 

48 hours later, disaster struck again. The Romford fans' takeover collapsed.

 

I was horrified to hear that Leo Jones had cut off negotiations with the RST, who had fallen just a few thousand pounds short of their fundraising target. Mr Jones said that the talks had become protracted and he had decided to look elsewhere for a buyer. I was very close to breaking point.

 

Then came the distraction of the Essex Senior Cup. If a young Boro team could win their Round 4 clash at Heybridge Swifts, we would reach the Quarter Finals for the first time since 2018.

 

7 December 2021: Heybridge Swifts vs Romford

On the way to Heybridge, we heard Greg Lake singing "I Believe In Father Christmas" on the radio. That proved to be a good omen, as full debutant Ron Lake scored the opening goal after nine minutes. Brandon Crook's header deflected off Swifts defender Ross Bryant, and Lake was quick to bury the rebound. Ron would help to double our advantage in the 15th minute. Right-winger Zak Fitzpatrick exchanged passes with Lake and swung in a cross that was finished clinically by Seidu Asante. Three minutes later, as it started to rain on the Scaley Road pitch, another Romford goal poured down. Aaron Connolly had missed a golden opportunity just prior to Lake's opener, but he didn't make the same mistake from Crook's corner. We led 3-0 after only 18 minutes of play! I hoped that we would run riot, but we seemed to take our foot off the gas following the third goal. 16-year-old midfielder Matt Francis pulled a difficult shot wide 20 minutes into his senior debut and was booked four minutes later. Then came a passage of play in which I feared Heybridge would get back into contention. Although Daniel Alabi fired a poor opening shot for the Swifts in the 32nd minutes, Heybridge's next two attempts would be more threatening. After 34 minutes, the experienced Joe Healy had a pop just outside our area, and Jason Byrne caught with ease. Two minutes later, Heybridge striker Arel Amu nicked the ball off a hesitant Connolly, who was grateful that Byrne was on hand to parry Amu's shot.

 

Exactly two minutes after the restart, Asante's attempt to give us a 4-0 lead was blocked by Bradley Flanagan. While Flanagan was doing his best to keep the score respectable, his fellow Swifts defender Tom Kennedy was struggling big time. 36-year-old Kennedy had been booked for fouling Fitzpatrick late in the first half, and another altercation with Zak in the 58th minute led to his second yellow. Heybridge were down to 10 men, but we couldn't make the most of our advantage. The impressive Crook was unlucky not to score our fourth goal in the 71st minute, when his swerving free-kick hit the bar. Another swerver from long range led to Heybridge scoring a freak consolation after 79 minutes. Byrne was caught unawares by Ian Semakula's deep 'cross', which flew over him and into the net! A minute later, our three-goal cushion was restored - by a headed goal on his competitive debut for substitute Dean Stuart! 18-year-old Dean's career so far has been disrupted by injuries, and those particular woes would strike again before time was up. Stuart bruised a rib after colliding with Bryant, and we, like Heybridge, would have to finish with 10 men. Even after losing Dean, we weren't ready to settle for a 4-1 win. Crook could've made it 5-1 in injury time, but the woodwork again denied Brandon what would've been a deserved first senior goal to go with his brace of assists. The final whistle moments later confirmed our place in an Essex Senior Cup Quarter Final at Waltham Forest.

 

Heybridge Swifts - 1 (Semakula 79)

Romford - 4 (Lake 9, Asante 15, Connolly 18, Stuart 80)

Essex Senior Cup Round 4, Attendance 137

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Goulding, Carr, Connolly, Rafferty (Gray), Lord, Francis (Cooke), Fitzpatrick, Lake, Crook, Asante (Stuart). BOOKED: Francis.

 

Our win in the Essex Senior Cup was followed by another cup tie - in Round 2 of the FA Trophy. We were likely to face a real battle at Ship Lane against AFC Wimbledon, who were 3rd in the Conference Premier.

 

11 December 2021: Romford vs AFC Wimbledon

In the second minute, Duncan Greenwood's downward header led to an opportunity for his Romford strike partner Garry Morath-Gibbs. Sadly, Garry could only drag his shot across the muddy Wimbledon penalty area. The Dons first threatened us in the 8th minute, when Bulgarian forward Georg Iliev's header forced Kieron Gray to concede a corner. Adam Wixted lifted the corner into the area... and Greenwood nodded it clear. Iliev then tried his luck with a few speculative shots midway through the half. The first was crashed well wide from 30 yards out in the 19th minute, and a much closer effort ten minutes later was caught by Boro goalkeeper Moses Millen. Moses' Wimbledon counterpart Elvijs Putnins made his first save after 35 minutes, when he easily gathered Aaron Connolly's header. Four minutes later, Morath-Gibbs broke free from Dons centre-back Hassan Fleming and latched onto Greenwood's through-ball. Once again, GMG wasted the chance with a snatched shot. Following late misses from Greenwood and Iliev for their respective sides, the teams went into the break still deadlocked.

 

I felt we were playing a bit too slowly, so I suggested that we increase the tempo in the second half. The early signs were encouraging. On 49 minutes, Morath-Gibbs found Greenwood in space, and Duncan hit a low shot that Putnins blocked with his legs. Nine minutes later, Ron Lake went for a powerful shot that flew over the crossbar. Lake played a key role in our next attack, which began after he tackled Bevis Mugabi in the 67th minute. Moments later, Ron hit a fine low pass to Garry, who advanced into the Wimbledon box and then laid the ball off for Duncan. Greenwood picked his spot in the bottom corner of the net, and we were 1-0 up against our opponents from the Conference Premier! Our mission for the closing moments was now to see that lead through. A couple of mistakes after 81 minutes threatened to blow that apart. Firstly, Kevin Holt gave possession away to Dons midfielder Liam Henderson near the halfway line. Seconds later, Connolly's sliding challenge on Perry Parker knocked the ball into the path of Jacob Mumuni. On-loan Crystal Palace winger Mumuni was all set to equalise... until Millen tipped his strike behind! Henderson swung the corner to Mugabi, who put his header dismally wide. Wimbledon had one last crack in the 89th minute, and Jayden Griffiths powered it inches past the woodwork. We'd recorded a famous win over AFC Wimbledon, and in doing so, we booked our spot in Round 3 of the FA Trophy!

 

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 67)

AFC Wimbledon - 0

FA Trophy Round 2, Attendance 445

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Connolly, Holt, Fitzpatrick (Tankovic), Cooke (Reid), Lake (Crossley), Appleyard, Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs.

 

Although this wasn't quite as heroic as our backs-to-the-wall win over Hereford United last season, it was still an excellent result against more eminent opposition. Yet another former Football League team would be travelling to Ship Lane in January, as we were drawn against Lincoln City for Round 3.

 

Our bid for an unlikely cup double would resume in the New Year. Until then, we had to focus on revitalising our league campaign.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2021 (continued)

If we wanted to get back into play-off contention, we really, REALLY couldn't afford to lose our next home game. Kevin Phillips' Slough Town were bottom of the Conference South with just 11 points, two wins (both at home), and a goalkeeper who'd already conceded 47 goals this season. Duncan Greenwood and Garry Morath-Gibbs were both expected to fill their boots against the abject Chris Riley.

 

This was captain Duncan's first match since he penned a new 18-month contract worth £300 per week. Big Dunc had been stuck on 99 career league goals for Romford since mid-November. Would he finally ton up here?

 

14 December 2021: Romford vs Slough Town

The first half began scrappily, as more tackles flew in than shots. One particularly rough tackle from Slough left-back Steve Booth in the sixth minute left our Swedish winger Muamer Tankovic needing treatment on the sidelines. Mujo was soon back on the pitch, and after 12 minutes, he was pushed by Karlton Watson. Duncan Greenwood played the resulting free-kick long to Garry Morath-Gibbs, whose header was caught by Rebels keeper Chris Riley. Morath-Gibbs had another header at goal in the 23rd minute, but Leon Phillips nodded it clear for the visitors. Six minutes later, we won ourselves another promising free-kick from about 25 yards out... and Greenwood blazed it over. Duncan's next attempt in the 37th minute was a weak header that bounced into Riley's grasp. While we were again struggling up front, Slough's attempts to snatch a shock lead were limited to a couple of wild shots from distance. The best of those efforts came in the 43rd minute, when Phillips grazed the bar from 30 yards.

 

I was unhappy with our goalless first-half performance, and demanded a much stronger display in the second. I wasn't to be disappointed. After just 31 seconds, Big Dunc dinked Morath-Gibbs' through-ball into the net to complete his career century in league football. More importantly, it edged us in front. Duncan tried to repay Garry with an assist in the 50th minute, but GMG's header went straight at Riley. Slough's goalkeeping captain was not as terrible as I thought he'd be, and he saved another header from Brett Reid on 58 minutes. Three minutes after that, Watson nodded wide a rare scoring opportunity for the Rebels. Fearing that Slough would soon come closer to levelling, I urged the Boro boys to get a second goal as soon as possible. After 66 minutes, Greenwood looked to the chip over Riley and into the net... but he struck the bar. Our big target man then turned provider with a flick-on to Tankovic in the 78th minute. The Tank advanced down the right flank and produced the cross that led to Kevin Holt firing in his first league goal for Romford! We were 2-0 up and coasting to victory... until we lost concentration momentarily with nine minutes to go. After Watson made a perfectly-timed tackle on Tankovic in Slough's area, the Rebels launched a blistering counter-attack. The result was that Kieron Carroll buried Joel Symons' cross into the net and brought Slough back to within one goal. That was as good as it got for the Berkshire side. Although Holt wasted a clear-cut chance to finish the Rebels off after 84 minutes, we held firm to take a narrow 2-1 victory. Incredibly, this was our first league win at home in just over three months!

 

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 46, Holt 78)

Slough Town - 1 (Carroll 81)

Conference South, Attendance 284 - POSITIONS: Romford 10th, Slough 22nd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Reid, Rafferty, Tankovic, Crossley, Cooke (Lake), Appleyard (Holt), Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs (Formaston).

 

Duncan Greenwood's 100th league goal for us was the highlight of that win. Our skipper had once again put incredible effort into a performance - so much so that he was too tired to play in our next match.

 

It had been more than three years since we recorded a league victory over Enfield Town. Despite that woeful record, our FA Trophy win against them last month gave us plenty of confidence when we travelled to the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium.

 

18 December 2021: Enfield Town vs Romford

Our young winger Zak Fitzpatrick was struggling after only 20 seconds. Zak hurt himself in a tackle on Enfield Town counterpart Gary Kelly, and we were down to 10 men temporarily while he received treatment. Despite that, Enfield didn't trouble us until the 13th minute, when midfielder Tyrell Miller-Rodney curled a free-kick just over our goal. On 22 minutes, Boro forward Muamer Tankovic's low shot was brilliantly tipped behind by the Towners' Scottish goalkeeper Jamie Wilson. Kelly had a great opportunity for Enfield three minutes later, but he could only find the side netting. Those chances at either end were bookended by bookings for Romford duo Ron Lake and Garry Morath-Gibbs. Worryingly, we were conceding a high number of fouls inside our half. Our rough tackling prevented either team from getting into a rhythm during an opening period that predictably finished 0-0.

 

The second half began with an early shot from Fitzpatrick that was blocked by Enfield defender Harry Worley. The next shot either team had led to the game's first goal after 61 minutes. Town forward Jason Smith skipped past Warren Cooke's 'challenge' and crossed for the far post, where Kelly beat Fitzpatrick to head it into the goal. It would not be the last time that Kelly outsmarted Zak. Three minutes later, Fitzpatrick needlessly stuck his leg out in the Romford area and brought Kelly crashing down. The referee had to award a penalty, which Smith duly slotted home to make it 2-0 Enfield Town. I threw almost everyone forward to try and salvage a point, but to no avail. A well-crafted attacking move in the 70th minute ended with Aaron Connolly applying a defender's finish. Three minutes later, Moses Millen punched a Sullay Cumberbatch header away from Smith and just about kept the deficit down to two goals. Inevitably, though, the Towners would get themselves a third goal six minutes from the end. Miller-Rodney fired a free-kick bang into Moses' top-left corner after Efe Festus had carelessly fouled Smith. That goal completed a miserable 3-0 defeat - and quite possibly our worst half of the season.

 

Enfield Town - 3 (Kelly 61, Smith pen64, Miller-Rodney 84)

Romford - 0

Conference South, Attendance 760 - POSITIONS: Enfield Town 7th, Romford 11th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Gray, Festus, Reid, Crossley, Fitzpatrick, Cooke, Lake (Connolly), Holt (Appleyard), Tankovic, Morath-Gibbs (Formaston). BOOKED: Lake, Morath-Gibbs, Festus.

 

No guts, no passion, no hope. Performances like that make me wonder why I even bother.

 

With 22 matches played, we were firmly in mid-table - seven points adrift of the top five. We were still among the division's lowest scorers with just 24 goals - nowhere near enough to challenge for promotion. Unless we suddenly reverted to the Romford of two or three years ago, we'd almost certainly be staying in the Conference South for yet another season.

 

Our FA Trophy run notwithstanding, I couldn't help but feel that - for the third season in a row - our league form had gone backwards. As the manager, I had to take the blame for our decline and seriously reconsider my future.

 

We had two more matches between Christmas and the New Year. If we didn't show any progress against either Barnet or Maidstone United, I would know that my time was running out.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2021 (continued)

Following our horror show at Enfield Town, I put the players through a week (or rather three evenings) of intense fitness training. I also told them to go easy on the Christmas turkey, because we had a big home game against Barnet on Boxing Day.

 

Pre-season promotion favourites Barnet were surprisingly down in 14th place, thanks to some wildly inconsistent form. The Bees had a fantastic home record, but they'd only beaten one team on the road all season. If we suffered the same fate as Maidstone United, we would drop below Barnet in the standings and fall even further away from the play-offs.

 

Right-back Kieran Goulding took his place on the bench and was hoping to make just his fourth appearance since the start of November. Kieran was attracting strong interest from Burgess Hill Town, and he warned me that he'd be moving to West Sussex in the New Year unless he got more of a look-in here.

 

26 December 2021: Romford vs Barnet

Romford keeper Moses Millen was called into action after just three minutes, when he parried away a close-range shot from Barnet striker Max Lee. Moses made another save moments later to deny the Bees' 19-year-old rising star George Sterling a goal. He then watched Graeme Logan blast over Barnet's third shot in as many minutes. Our first attack came in the 8th minute, when Duncan Greenwood's header was caught by Kristian Morton. Midfielders Tim Crossley and Kendall Appleyard put our next couple of shots wide before we took the lead in stunning fashion on 13 minutes. Muamer Tankovic made a perfectly-timed run to reach Danny Rafferty's cross and volley it into the net! I was pleased with the start that we'd made, and six minutes later, I was delighted! Tankovic again did the damage with a pinpoint pass to Greenwood, who got past Morton and applied a simple finish. This was turning into a magnificent display from our Swedish 'Tank', who was thriving as a trequartista. Mujo should've had his second and our third goal after 36 minutes, but he couldn't meet Warren Cooke's pass with a clean volley. Duncan fired a long-range free-kick wide four minutes later, meaning that we went into the break 'only' leading by two goals.

 

Tankovic went for goal again in the 48th minute, and Morton dived to catch his effort. The Bees goalkeeper would not be seriously tried by our next few attempts, as Cooke seemed to leave his shooting boots in the dressing room. The same was perhaps true of Lee. Barnet's loanee from Queens Park Rangers had a frustrating day that was perhaps summarised by a very wasteful strike from distance in the 67th minute. Three minutes later, Muamer blasted over a great chance to give us a three-goal lead. I later brought on French winger Bernard Brun, who came back after nearly two months out with a groin injury. Bernie had only been on the pitch for about a couple of minutes when we effectively killed the Bees off. Crossley's 74th-minute corner was met by a weak clearance from Sterling, and Greenwood headed the ball back into the six-yard box, where Kieron Gray finished for 3-0. Kieron had enjoyed yet another solid performance at the back, and he was named man of the match after shutting Barnet out. Boxing Day could also have been a day to remember for his near-namesake Kieran Goulding. With five minutes to go, the substitute right-back was the recipient of a great Tankovic pass into the Bees' box. Kieran was in prime position to score his first senior goal... but he got too pumped-up and blasted a horrible left-footer deep into the stand. A fourth goal would've been the icing on an already delicious late Christmas cake.

 

Romford - 3 (Tankovic 13, Greenwood 19, Gray 74)

Barnet - 0

Conference South, Attendance 544 - POSITIONS: Romford 10th, Barnet 17th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Reid, Rafferty (Goulding), Crossley, Cooke, Fitzpatrick (Brun), Tankovic, Appleyard, Greenwood (Formaston). BOOKED: Rafferty.

 

This was a very costly defeat for Barnet manager Gary Warren, who lost his job after seeing his team drop to 17th.

 

We travelled to the Gallagher Stadium 48 hours later for a big away game against Maidstone United. The Stones were four points ahead of us in 5th spot. I don't need to say much more, do I?

 

28 December 2021: Maidstone United vs Romford

The first 20 minutes were certainly not a joy to watch. Romford playmaker Ron Lake hit a shot that drifted wide in the 9th minute. A minute later, Maidstone forward Anson McBride curled in a free-kick that likewise failed to trouble the target. Sam Clucas then miscued a woeful strike for the Stones in the 20th minute, but that actually started a period of play in which the hosts dominated. After 25 minutes, McBride swung another free-kick to Matt Godden in the Boro penalty area. The journeyman striker hit the post, and then struck his team-mate Clucas with the rebound! Two minutes later, Maidstone left-back Thomas Cruise found Godden with a fine cross, but Godden's header couldn't beat Moses Millen. Romford's number 1 was also alert in the 31st minute, when he picked up a wayward backpass from Kevin Holt before Godden could run onto it. Three minutes after that, Stones centre-back Martyn Dunbar came off worse following a collision with Boro counterpart Kieron Gray. Dunbar picked up a groin strain and bravely played on. The deadlock remained intact at half-time, though Maidstone midfielders Filip Lesniak and Eddie Garman both came close to breaking it with fierce efforts in the 38th and 42nd minutes.

 

United made a change during the break, bringing on Joe Keaney. Three minutes into the second half, the right-back sent a half-volley clean over the bar. Keaney's next effort, in the 58th minute, didn't exactly improve on that. Maidstone had missed their best chance yet three minutes earlier, when Godden headed Clucas' corner over from the near post. Stones boss Paul Joynes quickly took off his underperforming frontman, and he'd soon be rueing Godden's misses. In the 64th minute, 16-year-old Boro winger Brandon Crook crossed to Muamer Tankovic, who'd replaced the struggling Bernard Brun at half-time. Mujo cushioned the ball to Duncan Greenwood, who met it with a diving header that beat Maidstone keeper Tom Halsall! Despite being under pressure for much of the game, it was us who had opened the scoring! Maidstone were annoyed, and they looked to restore parity after 72 minutes through league debutant Ed Vahid. To be honest, the teenage midfielder's attempted chip over Millen wasn't ever going to fool Moses. About a minute after that, Kieron Gray almost doubled our lead with a header that Halsall just about caught on his line. It would've capped another superb display from Gray, who would win his second man of the match award in the space of three days. Kieron only made one real mistake in this game - and sadly, it led to Maidstone equalising in the 90th minute. Garman chipped a fine short pass to McBride, and Kieron couldn't prevent the Stones' leading scorer from thrashing home. The home team had finally equalised - with their 17th shot of the match. Moments like that can make you feel sick.

 

Maidstone United - 1 (McBride 90)

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 64)

Conference South, Attendance 1,091 - POSITIONS: Maidstone 7th, Romford 10th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Goulding, Gray, Connolly, Holt, Wood (Cooke), Crossley, Brun (Tankovic), Lake, Crook, Greenwood (Morath-Gibbs). BOOKED: Wood, Holt.

 

Conceding a last-minute equaliser was difficult to take, especially as we had defended so well beforehand. It also meant that we were behind the top five by six points, and not four, at the end of 2021. In a league as tight as this, a couple of points can make all the difference.

 

The first month of the New Year is going to be very, very important.

[CFuller]

Conference South Table (End of December 2021)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Tiverton               24    14    5     5     35    22    +13   47
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Kingstonian            23    13    4     6     50    21    +29   43
3.          Eastbourne Boro        24    12    7     5     33    21    +12   43
4.          Oxford City            21    12    5     4     46    32    +14   41
5.          Salisbury              24    12    4     8     36    27    +9    40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Wingate & Finchley     24    11    6     7     33    32    +1    39
7.          Maidstone              24    11    5     8     34    27    +7    38
8.          Enfield Town           22    10    6     6     35    28    +7    36
9.          Grays                  24    10    4     10    28    27    +1    34
10.         Romford                24    9     7     8     28    31    -3    34
11.         Weston-super-Mare      24    9     6     9     41    40    +1    33
12.         Hampton & Richmond     24    7     11    6     30    25    +5    32
13.         Dorchester             24    9     5     10    25    29    -4    32
14.         Hayes & Yeading        24    8     7     9     37    38    -1    31
15.         Canvey Island          24    8     6     10    37    38    -1    30
16.         Woking                 23    9     3     11    25    34    -9    30
17.         Barnet                 24    8     4     12    30    33    -3    28
18.         Basingstoke            24    6     7     11    28    41    -13   25
19.         Bromley                22    6     6     10    37    42    -5    24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20.         Havant                 24    4     8     12    29    42    -13   20
21.         Dover                  24    5     5     14    20    41    -21   20
22.         Slough                 21    2     5     14    23    49    -26   11

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2022

The British weather can really be a pain at times. That became very clear in the first week of 2022.

 

We were supposed to start the New Year like we ended 2021 - with a match against the 5th-placed team. Unfortunately, our home game with Salisbury City was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and rescheduled for 12 January.

 

The weather hadn't improved a great deal by Wednesday, when we travelled to Ilford for our Essex Senior Cup Quarter Final at Waltham Forest. We arrived at the Cricklefield Stadium about an hour before kick-off, and saw the groundsmen desperately trying to get the pitch in a playable condition. Their efforts proved to be in vain.

 

With another match rained off, our schedule had to be shuffled again. The Waltham Forest game was moved back a week to 12 January, meaning that the visit of Salisbury would now have to wait until February.

 

In the midst of the chaos, young striker Daniel Formaston left Romford to join Uxbridge on loan for the rest of this season. I hoped that the 18-year-old would regain his scoring touch in the Isthmian League Division 1 North.

 

While Formaston was starting his stay in west London, the rain continued to pour down in our part of east London. It got so bad that chairman Leo Jones considered bringing in some alternative entertainment in case our FA Trophy Round 3 game with Lincoln City also got washed out. Thankfully, he reassured me that there was no chance of Sir Cliff Richard singing in the Ship Lane stands!

 

When Saturday afternoon came, the heavens relented to some extent. It was merely drizzling, and the pitch was now in a playable condition.

 

Conference North leaders Lincoln would be difficult enough to beat with a full-strength Romford squad. Unfortunately, we would have to take them on without a key defender. After picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Maidstone United, Kevin Holt was forced to serve a one-match suspension, so Danny Rafferty replaced him at left-back.

 

8 January 2022: Romford vs Lincoln City

I warned the players before kick-off not to concede any needless fouls against a quick and technically-gifted Lincoln team. In the very first minute, Efe Festus barged into Ciaran McGahon just outside our penalty area. Samuel Benson chipped the resulting free-kick to the far post, where John Winter put the Imps ahead after just 54 seconds. Warren Cooke tried to restore parity for us in the sixth minute, but his shot curled narrowly over the bar. Two minutes later, the man who cost us a goal saved us from conceding another. Efe did brilliantly to head Tony Bowen's close-range header off the line and keep the deficit down to 1-0. Festus then curled a promising cross into Lincoln's box on 13 minutes, only to see Bowen intercept it. Another right-wing cross, this time from Bernard Brun, found Muamer Tankovic in the 15th minute. However, Tankovic completely messed up his diving header, sending it out for a goal kick. Six minutes later, Lincoln captain Chris Baker showed much greater composure in front of goal, with a strike that made it 2-0 to the visitors. Our FA Trophy charge was collapsing in front of my very eyes. Only a great save from Millen in the 37th minute stopped Bowen from heading the Imps into a three-goal lead. After Lincoln wasted the resulting corner, I made a desperate change to my defence, as Brett Reid replaced Aaron Connolly. Moments later, Tankovic protested for a penalty after he was apparently hauled down by Bowen. Although Mujo's claims were waved away, we would get a chance to pull one goal back in injury time. Reid grabbed it, with a great header from Kendall Appleyard's corner giving us fresh hope for the second half.

 

We looked to continue the fightback in the second half by slowing down play and disrupting Lincoln's rhythm. The result was a very encouraging first 10 minutes, in which we won a couple of corners. We first produced something substantial in the 58th minute, when Ron Lake's long-distance shot was held by Lincoln's rookie keeper Conor Gayler. A minute later, Lake squared the ball first-time to Appleyard on the edge of the 'D'. Kendall got past Imps right-back Joe Burns, and then slotted the ball home! We'd recovered from 2-0 down to level at 2-2! Sadly, we could not keep on building up the momentum. Lincoln attacked again in the 62nd minute, when Swedish midfielder Tim Jakobsson blasted a shot high and wide. Three minutes after that, a corner from another City midfielder - Jamie Allen - was headed back towards him by Duncan Greenwood. Allen got a follow-up cross into the six-yard box, where McGahon restored the away team's advantage. Our comeback was almost worthless now. Baker could've given Lincoln a two-goal cushion for the second time after 69 minutes, but his low strike didn't cause any problems for Millen. Baker's next attempt did, as he beat Moses again in the 72nd minute. 4-2 to Lincoln, and it was pretty much game over. This was an error-strewn defensive display from Romford, and we could've given away a fifth goal to the Imps. With eight minutes to go, Tim Crossley's clumsy foul on Jakobsson was almost punished by Benson, whose free-kick went just wide. To be honest, I wouldn't have begrudged Lincoln boss Matt Watson another goal - his team deserved to be in Round 4, and we most certainly didn't.

 

Romford - 2 (Reid 45, Appleyard 59)

Lincoln City - 4 (Winter 1, Baker 21,72, McGahon 65)

FA Trophy Round 3, Attendance 382

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Connolly (Reid), Rafferty, Brun, Cooke (Crossley), Lake, Appleyard, Greenwood, Tankovic (Morath-Gibbs). BOOKED: Festus.

 

A few hours after the end of our FA Trophy dream, I received another dose of bad news. After failing to even make the bench against Lincoln City, Kieran Goulding finally lost patience. The right-back informed me that he was leaving Romford and signing for Burgess Hill Town, where he would find first-team opportunities much easier to come by.

 

My mood didn't improve on Sunday, when one of my loan targets - AFC Wimbledon midfielder Phil Shepherd - turned us down and joined our rivals Grays Athletic instead. I went home that night feeling like Fran Healy, and wondering, "Why does it always rain on me?"

 

I badly needed cheering up, and I hoped the Boro boys would raise my spirits by beating Waltham Forest in the rescheduled Essex Senior Cup Quarter Final. If we won at Cricklefield, we would be 'rewarded' with a Semi Final trip to Canvey Island in February.

 

12 January 2022: Waltham Forest vs Romford

After 11 minutes, it looked like we would get an early opening goal. Garry Morath-Gibbs dove to head Seidu Asante's chip towards goal, but Waltham Forest keeper Tyrone Leach parried his effort. Morath-Gibbs got to the rebound and cut it back for Brandon Crook, whose cross was blocked by Stags skipper Robert Mann. GMG then linked up with Asante to create another attack in the 23rd minute. Sadly, Seidu's strike went high and wide. Zak Fitzpatrick wasn't much more threatening with a tame shot that Leach picked up two minutes later. Waltham Forest were pressing hard and defending in numbers, so we really needed to play slower to try and break them down. When we did switch to a more patient strategy, though, our shooting seemed to suffer. Asante went harmlessly wide with a couple of poor attempts in the 27th and 31st minutes, while Ron Lake was similarly wasteful four minutes later. By half-time, we were dominating the Stags 6-0 on the shots count, but the score was still 0-0.

 

A tepid attacking performance didn't improve much during the second half. Kevin Holt messed up a shot in the 47th minute, and we had to wait until the 64th for another. Unsurprisingly, Ron again failed to trouble either Leach or his goal. With a quarter of an hour to play, the match was still goalless, and the stands were almost deserted. In front of just a few men, women and dogs, I brought on 16-year-old Michael Montgomery for his senior Romford debut. Mickey wouldn't score, but after 81 minutes, someone finally did. Forest defender Mohamed Ahmed couldn't intercept Sam Lord's incisive pass to Asante, who pounced on it and tapped in the long-awaited opener. I breathed a sigh of relief... and then another two minutes later. Waltham Forest substitute Darren Kerr gave Boro keeper Jason Byrne his first real test, and Jason passed it with a fine reflex save. That was as close as the Essex Senior League team would get to scoring. Their run in the Essex Senior Cup was over, and ours would continue into the Semi Finals.

 

Waltham Forest - 0

Romford - 1 (Asante 81)

Essex Senior Cup Quarter Final, Attendance 75

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Carr (Festus), Connolly, Reid, Crossley, Fitzpatrick, Lord, Lake, Crook (Holt), Asante, Morath-Gibbs (Montgomery). BOOKED: Carr.

 

Better late than never, I suppose.

 

We were now just 90 minutes away from reaching our 14th Essex Senior Cup Final. If we could defeat Canvey Island at Park Lane on 1 February, we would be through to a Final showdown with either Maldon & Tiptree or Colchester United Reserves on 30 April.

 

Before that Semi Final, we would face our first four league matches of this year. We needed to take as many points as possible, otherwise the Essex Senior Cup would be all we were fighting for come February.

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2022 (continued)

A rainy start to 2022 resumed on 15 January, when we were scheduled to face 3rd-placed Kingstonian at home. Alas, another downpour resulted in yet another postponement. That meant we would have to wait another four days before we could play our first league match of the New Year.

 

In the meantime, I signed another defender in the shape of 19-year-old centre-back Connor James. The ambitious Londoner was released by Chelsea last summer following a brief and unsuccessful loan spell at Grimsby Town.

 

Connor was eligible to make his Romford debut on Wednesday evening, when we were able to host Eastbourne Borough at Ship Lane. Eastbourne were 2nd in the Conference South - just three points behind leaders Tiverton Town, on whom they had a game in hand.

 

In the three weeks that had passed since our most recent league game, we had slipped from 10th to 14th. Most of the teams in this division had been blessed with good weather and were able to play three or four matches during that time. Some took full advantage and either jumped above us in the standings, or further tightened their grip on a play-off place, from which we were now 12 points away.

 

19 January 2022: Romford vs Eastbourne Borough

Eastbourne got a free-kick just outside our 'D' in the fourth minute, when Romford defender Brett Reid clattered into Johnny Cosgrove. Chris Shephard's free-kick deflected off our wall and towards his Eastbourne team-mate Lee McArdle, whose volley hit the post. Romford keeper Moses Millen had been caught out by the original deflection, and he was helpless to prevent Cosgrove from tapping in the Sports' third attempt. There was some confusion over whether the Ulsterman was offside, so the referee consulted his assistant... and then pointed to the centre circle. It was 1-0 to Eastbourne, and I was not a happy man on the touchline. I was even more furious when my skipper Duncan Greenwood hit a terrible strike past the post after 12 minutes. A minute after Dunc's miss, Cosgrove came within inches of getting his and Eastbourne's second goal. Willie Mathieson then pulled another Sports shot off target in the 15th minute. The momentum shifted towards us halfway through the period, when visiting midfielder Jake Dawes picked up a rib injury in fouling Tim Crossley. His foul led to a free-kick for Greenwood, who was denied by a great catch from Ojay Foderingham. About three minutes later, in the 26th minute, Foderingham saved his team again by keeping out a couple of Reid headers. We continued to put the away team under pressure, but their goalkeeper was in excellent form. Foderingham tipped away a fine effort from Kendall Appleyard on 31 minutes, and caught Muamer Tankovic's diving header two minutes later. I then made a bold tactical switch from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2 in order to give us more of a threat up front. That was followed by a short spell of Eastbourne dominance, but Millen proved every bit as impressive as his opposite number. Between the 37th and 40th minute, Moses parried three shots - two from Cosgrove, and one from Freddie Warren. Millen's saves would be crucial, as Tankovic hit a powerful shot beyond Foderingham after 41 minutes to give us a level game!

 

Understandably, an energetic first half wasn't replicated to the same extent after the interval. Kieron Gray did, though, come very close to heading us into a 2-1 lead after 47 minutes. In the 62nd minute, Romford full-back Kevin Holt tried to pick out Tankovic with a left-wing cross, but Foderingham tipped it behind before it could reach Mujo. Five minutes later, Mathieson half-volleyed over Eastbourne's first effort of the half. Greenwood also took a shot on the bounce in the 71st minute... and he skewed it off target. Out of Big Dunc's eight shots at goal, only two troubled the Sports' goalkeeper. Duncan hoped for better luck as a provider for substitute Garry Morath-Gibbs after 84 minutes. The captain found the out-of-form Morath-Gibbs, whose goal drought continued after another excellent stop from Foderingham. That was the last decent shot either team could muster. After 34 attempts (21 for us), and some brilliant goalkeeping, Romford and Eastbourne remained locked level at 1-1.

 

Romford - 1 (Tankovic 41)

Eastbourne Borough - 1 (Cosgrove 4)

Conference South, Attendance 407 - POSITIONS: Romford 15th, Eastbourne Boro 2nd

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Reid, Holt, Crossley, Cooke (Lake), Brun (Fitzpatrick), Tankovic (Morath-Gibbs), Appleyard, Greenwood.

 

Our next match came at the Harry Abrahams Stadium against Wingate & Finchley. The Blues were unbeaten in five league games and were just outside the play-off spots.

 

22 January 2022: Wingate & Finchley vs Romford

New centre-back Connor James had a difficult start to his Romford career, as we conceded the first goal after three minutes. Wingate & Finchley defender Gavin Still set it up for the clinical Eric McLean, who drilled in his 12th league strike of the season. The Blues could've had another goal three minutes later, when Byron O'Sullivan's volley was fumbled away by Moses Millen. Our very early nerves calmed down in the 12th minute. Following some great Boro passing, Duncan Greenwood found Garry Morath-Gibbs in a ludicrous amount of space just outside the W&F area. Garry then composed himself before slotting in his first goal since November! The equaliser was followed four minutes later by another goal - one which gave us the lead. Kendall Appleyard's corner was headed in by Kieron Gray, and it was 2-1 to Romford! This was shaping up to be a thriller, as the hosts reacted positively to going behind. On 21 minutes, McLean flighted in a free-kick that was held by Millen. Seven minutes later, Blues winger Graham Reid bent a cross towards Ricky Peacock, but it flew too close to Moses, who made another fine catch. W&F finished the period with two more half-chances. Midfielder Antoine Boland was off target in the 39th minute, while Peacock's header four minutes later was caught by Millen. The Blues had the impetus, but we still had a 2-1 lead.

 

Wingate & Finchley continued to pressurise our defence in the second half, as Lloyd Griffin put a shot over the bar in the 49th minute. Three minutes later, Boro left-back Danny Rafferty was panicked into conceding a corner after Millen had saved from McLean. That corner didn't amount to much, but we were being stretched to our limits. Young Connor's debut would come to an end after an hour following a cash of heads with Peacock. Brett Reid came on for James and slotted into our defence quite well. After 68 minutes, Brett made a superb tackle on Griffin in the Romford penalty area. The referee saw it differently, and awarded a penalty to Wingate & Finchley! Boland stepped up to take the spot-kick, despite having bruised his shin minutes earlier. He fired the ball towards Millen's left-hand side... but Moses went the same way and tipped it out for a corner! That was a massive save in the context of the match, and it inspired us to try and move two goals clear. In the 76th minute, Muamer Tankovic finished a dribble with a pass to Greenwood just inside the Blues box. Duncan cut the ball back to Warren Cooke, who hit a fierce shot that W&F goalie Taurean Treadwell turned away! Treadwell thwarted Warren again with another great save moments later. The home team soon turned the pressure back on, and we were having to defend deep again. As the match entered injury time, we were on course for three big away points. That was until Peacock turned past Brett and hammered a low shot into Moses' net, thus leaving us with just one. For the second time in three league games, we had lost a lead at the death, and I felt enormously frustrated.

 

Wingate & Finchley - 2 (McLean 3, Peacock 90)

Romford - 2 (Morath-Gibbs 12, Gray 18)

Conference South, Attendance 326 - POSITIONS: Wingate & Finchley 6th, Romford 13th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, James (Reid), Rafferty, Tankovic (Brun), Cooke, Lake (Crossley), Appleyard, Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs.

 

We had now drawn three consecutive Conference South matches. Maidstone United and Wingate & Finchley had both grabbed late equalisers, and we failed to beat Eastbourne Borough despite having more scoring chances. That meant six points had gone down the drain - six points that could've put us in a much stronger position.

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2022 (continued)

The final week of January saw us receive a visit from Kingstonian. I was not looking forward to it one bit.

 

Kingstonian were seen by some as favourites for the automatic promotion place, and justifiably so. They went into this match having scored more goals and conceded fewer than any other team in the Conference South. The K's were six points behind table-toppers Tiverton Town in 4th place, but they had four games in hand.

 

25 January 2022: Romford vs Kingstonian

To try and blunt the division's best attack, we went for a zonal marking strategy against Kingstonian's little and large partnership of Caolan Lavery and Huw Griffiths. It certainly worked, as 5ft 11in Lavery was unable to use his pace, and 6ft 9in Griffiths' aerial threat was largely restricted. The Welsh giant did get a chance in the 12th minute, but he could only head Elliott Hodge's corner past the far post. Kingstonian's only other opportunity to break through a much more compact Romford backline came after 21 minutes. Winger Derek Abel was unable to find enough space to get his shot on target. Our new defensive solidity came at the expense of our attacking exploits, though we were able to launch a counterstrike four minutes later. Garry Morath-Gibbs followed up an excellent run into the K's area with a shot that thundered off the bar. Neither team would come closer to scoring in a dire first period.

 

The second half was similar in many respects. Although our rigid defending wasn't impressing the home fans, it certainly did a magnificent job of silencing Kingstonian. In the 66th minute, Abel's second attempt of the evening was cleared by young Boro defender Chad Carr, who'd replaced a disinterested Efe Festus at half-time. About four minutes earlier, Kingstonian boss Alan Dowson had taken off Griffiths and brought on Wes Fletcher in the hope that he could make something happen. Fletcher almost did that on 76 minutes, but Jason Byrne stopped the veteran's shot with his one and only save of the whole game. The K's did not trouble us again, and we ground out a 0-0 draw against a very dangerous team.

 

Romford - 0

Kingstonian - 0

Conference South, Attendance 398 - POSITIONS: Romford 12th, Kingstonian 4th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Reid, Festus (Carr), Gray, Connolly, Brun, Crossley (Cooke), Lake, Appleyard, Tankovic (Asante), Morath-Gibbs.

 

Fans of defensive football would've loved that game, but any purists who were watching probably wanted to kill me! Thankfully, I wasn't the subject of any murder attempts over the next three days, so I was able to lead us out on Friday evening at Hampton & Richmond Borough.

 

We'd drawn four league games in a row by that stage, and our opponents were similarly used to sharing points. Hampton & Richmond had already drawn 14 matches in a campaign that had positively screamed mid-table.

 

28 January 2022: Hampton & Richmond Borough vs Romford

On four minutes, Romford full-back Efe Festus brought down Hampton & Richmond winger Zaine Hunter with a strong tackle inside the centre circle. Hunter was briefly forced off so he could receive treatment, and the Beavers struggled for a while thereafter. We could have taken full advantage by scoring the first goal after 17 minutes. Zak Fitzpatrick hit an audacious left-footed cross from the right wing... and he was unlucky to rattle the crossbar. H&R midfielder Philip Hulme's miscued pass led to that opportunity, but a minute later, he more than made amends. Hulme buried Hunter's left-wing delivery into the net from point-blank range, and the hosts led 1-0. Gabonese striker Herbert Boucka played a key part in creating the goal, and he missed two opportunities to score himself within the next five minutes. We struggled to get back into the game until the 31st minute, when Muamer Tankovic flicked Kevin Holt's cross past the post. Our only other decent shot of the half was Warren Cooke's injury-time curler, which bent just wide. At the break, our run of draws looked set to end with a defeat.

 

I furiously demanded an improvement from Romford in the second half. The players' response was to really take the game to Hampton & Richmond in the opening four minutes. Duncan Greenwood's header hit the crossbar in the last of those minutes, but he would draw us level shortly afterwards. Zak lobbed a weighted pass for Muamer, who centred it into the six-yard box for Duncan to finish. We couldn't, though, create a second goal in quick succession. Our attacking prospects were hampered somewhat after 58 minutes, when winger Brandon Crook came off a gashed leg that would rule him out for two weeks. Another Boro youth player - Seidu Asante - came on as an inside-forward. Five minutes later, Zack Malone lofted a Beavers corner to Aaron Crush, whose header was caught by Romford keeper Moses Millen. That was part of a nervy period of play for us, during which Tim Crossley and Efe Festus picked up yellow cards within moments of one another. That shaky spell ended after 71 minutes. Crossley hit a low crossfield ball to Fitzpatrick, and Zak then crossed it into the H&R area. The recipient was Asante, who hit a left-footed half-volley into the far end of Rikki Banks' net! Another Seidu stunner had turned the game firmly in our favour! Hampton & Richmond could not create any chances to get back on level terms, so we took a 2-1 win and moved back into the top half.

 

Hampton & Richmond Borough - 1 (Hulme 18)

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 49, Asante 71)

Conference South, Attendance 636 - POSITIONS: Hampton & Richmond 11th, Romford 10th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Reid (Carr), Connolly, Holt (Rafferty), Crossley, Cooke, Fitzpatrick, Tankovic, Crook (Asante), Greenwood. BOOKED: Holt, Crossley, Festus.

 

Duncan Greenwood was arguably our best performer in what was his 221st league appearance for Romford. That broke Nicky Reynolds' record of playing in 220 games under my management. Duncan's 103rd league goal still left him 23 short of Nicky's tally, but the big man has at least a season-and-a-half to catch up on that particular front.

 

As a team, we are still playing catch-up with those sides in the top five. With a third of our Conference South campaign still left to play, we're seven points adrift. Nothing is ever impossible, of course, but what we really need is a sustained run of good form - and perhaps a cup final to look forward to.

[CFuller]

Conference South Table (End of January 2022)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Tiverton               30    16    8     6     41    27    +14   56
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Eastbourne Boro        30    15    8     7     43    29    +14   53
3.          Maidstone              30    15    6     9     46    34    +12   51
4.          Kingstonian            27    14    7     6     53    23    +30   49
5.          Salisbury              27    14    5     8     43    27    +16   47
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Oxford City            29    13    8     8     53    42    +11   47
7.          Wingate & Finchley     30    12    11    7     43    41    +2    47
8.          Enfield Town           28    12    9     7     42    35    +7    45
9.          Grays                  30    12    7     11    36    34    +2    43
10.         Romford                28    10    10    8     33    35    -2    40
11.         Barnet                 29    11    6     12    38    38    0     39
12.         Dorchester             29    11    6     12    34    35    -1    39
13.         Canvey Island          29    10    8     11    43    40    +3    38
14.         Hampton & Richmond     30    8     14    8     34    31    +3    38
15.         Weston-super-Mare      30    9     9     12    45    47    -2    36
16.         Woking                 28    10    5     13    29    40    -11   35
17.         Hayes & Yeading        29    8     9     12    39    46    -7    33
18.         Bromley                29    8     8     13    44    54    -10   32
19.         Basingstoke            30    7     10    13    34    48    -14   31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20.         Havant                 29    6     10    13    34    46    -12   28
21.         Dover                  30    7     7     16    25    47    -22   28
22.         Slough                 29    3     7     19    27    60    -33   16

 

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2022

Because of the postponements in January, February would be a busier month than usual for us. It would begin and end with two matches against Canvey Island - both very important for very different reasons.

 

On the first evening of the month, we were at Park Lane to face our big county rivals in the Semi Final of the Essex Senior Cup. Canvey Island had knocked us out of that competition twice in the last decade. One of those defeats came at this exact same stage in 2018.

 

This was the 17th time I had come face-to-face with the Gulls' long-serving manager Steve Tilson. I'd only beaten him three times before, but a fourth win would put us into our first Essex Senior Cup Final since 2014.

 

1 February 2022: Canvey Island vs Romford

Canvey Island started with a succession of passes that led to Efe Festus conceding an early throw-in. Moments later, Tim Crossley gave away a free-kick by tripping up Gulls winger Jordan Roberts on the edge of our area. Roberts swung the set-piece to Louie Swain, whose header clipped the bar. Swain troubled our defence again in the third minute, when his sliding tackle on Aaron Connolly left the centre-back with a knock. The match then became a stop-and-start affair, although to be fair, we were the ones disrupting play more than our opponents. After getting bogged down in poor fouling and even worse passing, we finally started playing something that resembled football in the 28th minute. Ron Lake knocked the ball wide to Kevin Holt, who floated in a left-wing cross that Lake headed agonisingly over the crossbar. Kevin created a better chance for Duncan Greenwood in the 41st minute, but the captain's shot was tipped behind by Gulls keeper Simon Coulson. Following a first half that wasn't exactly one to remember, the destiny of the Semi Final remained unclear.

 

Three minutes into the second half, some good play from Lake set up Greenwood, who could only curl his effort beyond the far post. Canvey Island's first chance after the restart came about four minutes later, in the 52nd. Roberts was involved again as he went up the left flank before playing a weighted pass for Swain. Festus was unable to keep up with Swain, who applied an easy finish to give Canvey the edge. I was so annoyed with Efe that I took the Nigerian off straight away and brought on new signing Connor James. Seidu Asante would also be subbed after firing a great equalising chance inches wide on 59 minutes. The Gulls then put us under further pressure by winning three corners in the space of eight minutes. None of those led to goals, but with eight minutes left, another Canvey corner almost killed us off. Roberts' attempted cross to Gulls centre-half Ramil Sheriff was intercepted by Kieron Gray, who could only knock it towards former Boro winger Dean O'Halloran. The Irishman's shot was parried by Jason Byrne, and Sheriff's attempt to bury the follow-up was blocked by Holt. Those late heroics meant very little for us, as our attack had disintegrated long before then. Yet another Essex Senior Cup campaign ended in heartbreak for Romford, and Canvey Island progressed to a Final meeting with Colchester United Reserves.

 

Canvey Island - 1 (Swain 52)

Romford - 0

Essex Senior Cup Semi Final, Attendance 397

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Reid, Festus (James), Gray, Crossley, Brun, Connolly (Cooke), Lake, Holt, Greenwood, Asante (Morath-Gibbs).

 

In each of the last five seasons, we had taken part in a Semi Final of some sort... and we had lost the whole lot. A man can only take so much heartache.

 

I now had to get back off the canvas, and try to guide us back up the Conference South table. Our next home match against second-from-bottom Dover Athletic was a must-win game. It was also a poignant one, because Dover were now managed by one of my former Boro midfielders - Rosalino Almeida.

 

After leaving Ship Lane in 2014, Almeida embarked on a managerial career that started at Hertford Town and later took him to a trio of clubs in the south-west. The 42-year-old Angolan's first crack at Conference management came in November, when lowly Dover hired him to replace the sacked Richard Wood.

 

I was excited to meet Rosalino again, but I wasn't willing to do my old friend any favours in his battle against relegation.

 

5 February 2022: Romford vs Dover

Things looked promising in the first minute, when Duncan Greenwood's free-kick was headed behind by Dover defender Dwight Blackburn. Duncan then got his head to Kendall Appleyard's corner, only to hit the post before Blackburn cleared the rebound. That would actually be the high point of an infuriating first half for us. After 11 minutes, Dover's only shot of the period was half-volleyed wide by Jack Jeffrey. Our next chance came in the 20th minute, but Ian Vicars got in the way of Garry Morath-Gibbs' strike. Nine minutes later, Boro defender Aaron Connolly unsuccessfully claimed for a penalty after Blackburn rose above him to intercept Muamer Tankovic's corner. We then withstood a couple of late Dover corners before trudging into the dressing room with the score still at 0-0. I wasn't at all impressed with how unthreatening we were to the Whites.

 

We were even less threatening in the second half, as Dover started to show how much they wanted to win. Efe Festus needed to make a crucial block in the 49th minute to prevent Andy Appleby from putting Athletic ahead. Moments later, Vicars aimed a header that bounced into Moses Millen's grasp. Dover's early pressure would lead to the opening goal after 53 minutes. Jeffrey flicked the ball to Olly Taylor, who shrugged off the presence of Romford substitute Connor James and put Dover 1-0 up. One goal was all that Rosalino Almeida and his men needed, because we seemed to give up the ghost almost immediately. Some incredibly nervous passing from our part allowed Dover to grind out a slender victory that they barely deserved. The only time we ever looked like equalising was in the 68th minute, when Seidu Asante cut inside before pulling the ball wide. That was our second and final shot of the entire match. Nothing more needs to be added.

 

Romford - 0

Dover Athletic - 1 (Taylor 53)

Conference South, Attendance 498 - POSITIONS: Romford 12th, Dover 20th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Reid (James), Rafferty, Tankovic, Connolly, Lake (Briggs), Appleyard, Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs (Asante). BOOKED: Greenwood.

 

Losing at home to a bottom-three team was unforgivable in my eyes, and our ineptitude up front was even more so. A horrible season in the league had plumbed new depths.

 

We had another home game four days later against a team who were battling at the top end of the Conference South table. Salisbury City had their minds set on automatic promotion after a run of six league matches without defeat.

 

9 February 2022: Romford vs Salisbury City

Salisbury first displayed an aerial threat after six minutes, as Jonathan Montgomery headed Danny Racchi's free-kick delivery just wide. A subsequent Romford counter-attack broke down when City keeper Dan Hanford got to Bernard Brun's cross before Kendall Appleyard could run onto it. After 10 minutes, Brun was quite badly hurt in a tackle from Dale Gray. While Bernie was writhing in the Salisbury penalty area, the Whites launched a breakaway that ended with Jacob Stones heading into Moses Millen's hands. Stones' next header in the 14th minute went over the crossbar. Seven minutes later, Salisbury took the lead in predictable fashion, as Racchi's corner was looped home by playmaker Matt Grimshaw. My stress levels rose further in the 25th minute, when Muamer Tankovic was booked for diving. Tankovic showed a slightly more positive side of his game on 38 minutes. The Tank dribbled unchallenged into the City area, but when the moment came to shoot, he snatched at his chance. Seidu Asante hit another unclean strike in the 43rd minute, and we remained 1-0 down at the interval.

 

While Mujo and Seidu were both struggling to find their range, Duncan Greenwood was faring slightly better. The Romford skipper hit a fierce shot towards goal in the 48th minute, and Hanford turned it away. We couldn't build on that promising start to the second half. Brun picked up another injury after Brian O'Boyle brought him down on 57 minutes. This time, I didn't want to risk keeping Bernard on, so I replaced him with Zak Fitzpatrick. Our French winger's absence clearly had an effect, as we didn't trouble Salisbury again until the 79th minute. Efe Festus started a Romford counter with his great headed interception from Stones' free-kick. Soon after that, Efe launched a cross into the City area, but Hanford fisted it away from the lurking Appleyard. Millen then kept the Salisbury lead down to one goal by making saves from Stones and Grimshaw in the 81st and 82nd minutes. Moses would soon be beaten for a second time, though, as Grimshaw's cross was finished by 17-year-old Laurie Murrell after 84 minutes. At 2-0 behind, I'd almost given up hope. Three minutes later, Greenwood clinically pulled one goal back for the Boro, and I started to believe again. Would we be able to salvage a point at the death? In the fourth and final minute of injury time, Fitzpatrick looked to find Appleyard in the box. Unfortunately, Kendall couldn't quite reach the pass, as Salisbury defender Luke Jones intercepted it and sealed our fate. We had lost at home again.

 

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 87)

Salisbury City - 2 (Grimshaw 21, Murrell 84)

Conference South, Attendance 382 - POSITIONS: Romford 12th, Salisbury 4th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray (James), Connolly, Holt, Briggs, Cooke, Brun (Fitzpatrick), Tankovic, Appleyard, Asante (Greenwood). BOOKED: Tankovic.

 

Bernard Brun would miss our next game with a stubbed toe, but the Frenchman's injury was the least of my worries.

 

Team morale had dropped to its lowest point yet after three successive defeats that saw us register a total of three shots on target. In the space of nine days, we had been knocked out of the Essex Senior Cup and, it seemed, the play-off race.

[tenthreeleader]

Wow. It never rains but it pours

[CFuller]

Wow. It never rains but it pours

Indeed, and I'm afraid the weather is about to get nastier...

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2022 (continued)

I made a big decision before our trip to Havant & Waterlooville. This - my tenth season as Romford manager - would definitely be my last campaign at Ship Lane.

 

As I'm sure you'll recall, I had been thinking about walking away for the best part of two years, ever since THAT play-off capitulation at Bromley. Time and time again, I had been persuaded to continue, but our recent home losses to Dover Athletic and Salisbury City were the proverbial straws that broke the camel's back.

 

My intention was to tell the players at the end of the month that I would be leaving once the season was over.

 

With 12 matches left to play in the Conference South, we trailed 5th-placed Kingstonian by 11 points. Only a sudden resurgence would give us a chance of breaking into the top five by season's end. Considering how poorly we'd played throughout this campaign, that was about as likely as the Liberal Democrats winning a seat at the next general election.

 

It was also unlikely that we'd be dragged into a relegation dogfight, but defeat at 21st-placed Havant & Waterlooville would raise any fears. The Hawks were 12 points behind us before kick-off.

 

16 February 2022: Havant & Waterlooville vs Romford

Havant & Waterlooville had the edge in the opening half-hour, which saw little in the way of attacking action. After 11 minutes, Hawks striker Stewart Lavery flew through our defence to latch onto Dan Preston's long ball, but he could only head it wide. A dreadful pass by Romford midfielder Warren Cooke created another chance for Havant in the 27th minute. Much to my relief, Warren's error was not fully punished by Merrick James-Lewis, whose shot bobbled past the post. Cooke then came to our rescue three minutes later by blocking another strike from James-Lewis. We weren't able to launch any meaningful attacks during the first half, and our threat was reduced in the 33rd minute. Seidu Asante picked up a knock in a collision with Havant defender Raphael Branco, and the teenager wouldn't return after half-time. By then, we were trailing 1-0. Lavery finally got off the mark with a cool finish in the 40th minute that left me feeling anything but calm.

 

I gave my players another tongue-lashing in the second half, and they came back out all fired up. After 54 minutes, a dangerous cross from Muamer Tankovic was headed behind by Hawks midfielder Malcolm Melvin for a corner. Though that corner didn't lead to anything, it did give us reason for optimism. Three minutes later, Garry Morath-Gibbs drilled a low shot into the corner of Havant keeper Ricky Thornton's net, giving us the equaliser! That goal could've been rendered meaningless in the 67th minute, as Macaully Smith came within inches of restoring Havant's advantage. The scoreline did change to 2-1 about two minutes later... but we were on the right end of it! Duncan Greenwood got on the end of Efe Festus' cross into the six-yard box, and his header put us on top. Duncan's 15th goal of this season silenced the majority of the spectators at Westleigh Park, though only briefly. Within four minutes, lethal Lavery was celebrating his 18th goal of the campaign - a simple tap-in that made it 2-2! If the score stayed that way, it would be our third consecutive four-goal draw against Havant & Waterlooville. However, Havant were determined to get a decisive goal before time was up. Smith was unsuccessful in the 75th minute, while Lavery missed out on his hat-trick two minutes later. Then, on 80 minutes, James-Lewis drilled a left-wing cross into our box. The cross didn't find its intended target Aaron Bragg... because it had deflected across the goal line off Moses Millen's foot! We were now 3-2 down!

 

After shouting expletives at my goalkeeper, I urged the outfield to press forward for another equalising goal. We put the Hawks defence under massive strain over the next ten minutes, initially to no avail. We then got an enormous stroke of luck in the opening seconds of injury time. The referee pointed to Havant's penalty spot after ruling that Thomas Bryan had handled the ball - a decision that infuriated the hosts. Their anger grew further after Greenwood buried the penalty past a static Thornton. In the dying moments, we had levelled the match at 3-3 and snatched a point!

 

Havant & Waterlooville - 3 (Lavery 40,73, Millen og80)

Romford - 3 (Morath-Gibbs 57, Greenwood 69,pen90)

Conference South, Attendance 326 - POSITIONS: Havant 21st, Romford 12th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Reid, Holt, Tankovic (Fitzpatrick), Cooke (Crossley), Briggs, Appleyard, Greenwood, Asante (Morath-Gibbs).

 

We would have to wait 10 days for our final game of the month. Canvey Island arrived at Ship Lane sitting in 10th place, with just one more point than us. If we could beat Canvey and overtake them in the standings, it would certainly soften the blow of our Essex Senior Cup loss against the Gulls.

 

There was an air of uncertainty at Ship Lane, as the Boro's future was once again in the local papers. The Romford Recorder had reported that Leo Jones was finally about to sell the club...

 

...to former Walsall chairman Jeff Bonser. Personally, I didn't want those rumours to be true. I meant no disrespect to Mr Bonser, but I couldn't understand why an almost 70-year-old from the Black Country would be a suitable long-term chairman for this little club from Essex.

 

26 February 2022: Romford vs Canvey Island

The Romford fans were eager to see us register our first home win in exactly two months, and the first knockings gave them hope. After five minutes, Kendall Appleyard hit a low shot that Canvey Island keeper Simon Coulson picked up fairly easily. A minute later, our other winger Bernard Brun skillfully knocked the ball past Gulls full-back Sam Beale and slid it towards the six-yard box. The ball deflected off Shaun Pearson and fell for Boro midfielder Ron Lake, who was unlucky to strike the post. The woodwork denied us again in the 12th minute, when Aaron Connolly's header from a Tim Crossley free-kick hit the bar. Brett Reid was quickest to the rebound, and he fired us into a 1-0 lead! Our position got stronger as the game wore on. On 21 minutes, a piledriver from Mark Briggs struck Pearson and deflected out for a corner. Briggs hit another fierce shot a minute later, as he fired Appleyard's low centre into the Canvey net! 2-0 to Romford! It could've been 3-0 in the 32nd minute, but Duncan Greenwood's free-kick wasn't as threatening as it could've been. After over half an hour's play, Canvey Island finally showed up. Two former Boro boys linked up in the 33rd minute as Eddy Gnahoré got his head to Dean O'Halloran's free-kick, but Jason Byrne made a comfortable save. Jason then kept out a couple of efforts from Louie Swain in the 35th and 42nd minutes before we headed into the dressing room with a comfortable lead.

 

A big miss can completely transform a game, and Big Dunc was guilty of a very big one in the first minute of the second half. Greenwood got to Appleyard's floated delivery, but his left-footer from six yards out bypassed the post. Having narrowly avoided going three goals down, Canvey Island set out to try and claw themselves back into the match. In the 49th minute, Connolly had to make a crucial challenge to stop Gulls substitute Chike Kandi from halving our advantage. Two minutes later, another Canvey sub - Jordan Roberts - tore his hamstring after Crossley made a strong tackle near the touchline. With Roberts off, the visitors' resurgence seemed to peter out. We again tried to kill them off in the 64th minute, but Kendall's strike drifted miles off course. Three minutes later, a moment's hesitation from Lake cost us dear. Ron dawdled on the ball just outside our penalty area and eventually lost it to Cameron Norman. The Gulls stalwart knocked it forward to Swain, who laid on a simple finish for Kandi. It took us a while to regain our composure, as we didn't get a chance to restore our two-goal cushion until the 78th minute. Reid's attempt to claim an unlikely brace of goals was kept out by Coulson. Within less than a minute, Canvey Island had gone up the other end and equalised through Kandi, who half-volleyed in his second goal from a tight angle. We were 2-0 up, yet now it was 2-2! With nine minutes to go, Appleyard drilled the ball towards Garry Morath-Gibbs in the Gulls' six-yard box. Coulson blocked the cross with his legs, and Garry went for the loose ball... but he fired it straight at the Canvey keeper. Our biggest opportunity to claim a late victory had gone. In the third and final minute of injury time, it looked like we wouldn't even get a draw, let alone a win. Kandi lofted a cross to our near post, where his strike partner Swain leapt to reach it. Much to our relief, Swain's header hit the post, so Canvey Island couldn't quite complete the second-half fightback. Their manager Steve Tilson was, though, much happier with a 2-2 draw than I was. As I saw it, this was two more points down the drain.

 

Romford - 2 (Reid 12, Briggs 22)

Canvey Island - 2 (Kandi 67,79)

Conference South, Attendance 475 - POSITIONS: Romford 13th, Canvey Island 11th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Byrne, Festus, Reid, Connolly, Holt, Crossley, Briggs, Brun (Fitzpatrick), Lake (Cooke), Appleyard, Greenwood (Morath-Gibbs).

 

The dressing room was very solemn at full-time. I felt stunned that we'd let a 2-0 lead slip, but it summed up our season to a tee. We had drawn or lost too many matches that we should've won.

 

The next time I met the players was a couple of evenings later, when I broke the news that I was planning to leave. Some of the lads looked quite upset - particularly the local boys such as Moses Millen and Garry Morath-Gibbs, who had grown up during my reign as manager.

 

I reassured the players that I would try to see out the rest of this season... but I couldn't give any firm promises.

[jdoyle9293]

It's unfortunate that you can't buy a win and that you've decided to move on. I hope it won't be the end of the story, though, as I'm constantly hooked by this. Liked the Lib Dems joke as well. Great work all round.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2022

I am writing this with a very heavy heart. The date is Friday 4 March 2022, and as of yesterday, I am no longer the manager of Romford Football Club.

 

At the start of this week, I was beginning my preparations for Saturday's away game at arch-rivals Grays Athletic. It was business as usual for me... until Thursday morning.

 

Barely an hour after I had woken up, I received a phone call from Leo Jones. The chairman asked me to meet him in his office, so he could deliver some big news. The news in question was what I had been fearing for the past week.

 

Mr Jones started the meeting off by saying, "I'll cut to the chase. I've decided to sell the club to Jeff Bonser."

 

I sat still in my chair, with my mouth wide open in shock, as Mr Jones explained why he'd opted to hand over control to Mr Bonser. When he offered me the chance to share my views, I brought my true feelings out into the open.

 

"Why him, Leo? Why? He's not a local - he's from Walsall, for goodness sake! I bet he didn't even know where Romford was until last week! And how old is he - 69? He'll probably drop dead before we can build a new stadium!"

 

65-year-old Leo took offence at what he considered to be ageism. "It ain't about how old you are, Chris! It's about the grey cells up 'ere! Jeff's a smart bloke and a great businessman - he can take this club forward!"

 

I shook my head in disbelief, and then told him, "You know what, Leo? I'm done. I'm leaving as well. I don't think I can work with him in charge."

 

Mr Jones shrugged, "It's your choice, Chris, but at least talk to him. You never know, he might win you round."

 

He then offered a handshake, saying, "I hope we can part on good terms." Shaking his hand, I sighed, "I wish we could, Leo. I wish we could."

 

I then went back home, feeling almost distraught. I was ready to phone the new chairman and tell him that he would have to look for a new manager. I then thought that would be rather tactless, and that I should at least give Mr Bonser the courtesy of a face-to-face meeting.

 

After a quick shower in the afternoon, I headed to a local restaurant to meet Jeff Bonser later that evening.

 

Mr Bonser was as polite as I could expect from a man of mature years. He was very to-the-point with his answers to my questions, even if those answers weren't necessarily what I wanted to hear.

 

I asked Mr Bonser if there would be any new financial investment for the club. Instead of a vague "I can't promise anything", he replied, "There will be no investment at this present time." Regarding a new stadium, he was just as quick to quash my hopes. "I am not thinking about that just yet. Our current arrangement with Thurrock is fine as it is."

 

While I respected Mr Bonser's honesty, it only made me more convinced that this was the right time for me to leave. Over the last three years, we had got ourselves into a vicious circle. We had to improve the squad to launch a serious challenge for promotion, but we needed to get into the Conference Premier to attract better players. Without financial investment or a massive run in the FA Cup, I couldn't see how we could break the cycle.

 

And so, after nine years and eight months in charge of Romford FC, I told Mr Bonser that I was resigning with immediate effect. Bonser didn't want me to leave at first, but I suggested that it was best for the club to start this new era with a new manager. He reluctantly agreed.

 

I can look back on my time at Romford with a sense of pride. Back in 2012, we were an average club going nowhere in the Isthmian League Division 1 North. Nearly a decade on, we've established ourselves in the Conference South, and we've also delighted the fans with our cup exploits. Our FA Cup game against Portsmouth in 2015, and our run to the 2021 FA Trophy Semi Final, will stick long in the memories of Boro fans.

 

Regrets? Like Paul Anka wrote and Frank Sinatra sang, I've had a few. For one, I couldn't quite take Romford up that next step to the Conference Premier. Those crushing Play-Off Semi Final defeats to Woking and Bromley will haunt me for the rest of my life.

 

I'm also sad that I haven't been able to lead out Romford in their own stadium. We haven't had a place to call our own for 21 years, and I fear that it'll be a long, long time before we can afford to build a new ground in our hometown.

 

On the most part, though, it's been a blast. Even if I haven't been able to achieve all I've wanted to achieve, I have - at the very least - given the people of Romford a football team that they can be proud of.

 

It feels such a shame to be leaving Romford now, but who knows what could happen in the future? Maybe I will return at some point to continue the job that I started in July 2012. Maybe we will, one day, get into the Football League.

 

Right now, though, I really need a break - and some time to think about where I go from here.

[CFuller]

Christopher Fuller at Romford (3 July 2012 - 3 March 2022)

Statistics (competitive fixtures only)

Played: 539. Won: 250. Drawn: 119. Lost: 170. Goals For: 903. Goals Against: 725. Win Ratio: 46%.

 

Records (Team)

Biggest Win: 6-0 vs Salisbury City (16 December 2017). Biggest Defeat: 0-5 vs Lewes (18 November 2015).

Highest-Scoring Game: 3-7 vs Bromley (9 May 2020).

Highest Attendance: 2,729 vs Woking (15 May 2019). Lowest Attendance: 27 vs Colchester United Reserves (8 December 2015).

 

Records (Players)

Most Appearances:

Duncan Greenwood          2015-        272
Nicky Reynolds            2012-2018    269
Kieron Gray               2016-        231
Dean O'Halloran           2014-2020    222
Connor Dymond             2013-2018    196

Most Goals:

Nicky Reynolds            2012-2018    160
Duncan Greenwood          2015-        130
Garry Morath-Gibbs        2017-        82
Kieron Carroll            2013-2017    57
Dean O'Halloran           2014-2020    21

Fastest Goal: Nicky Reynolds - 24 seconds vs Aveley (2 February 2013).

Highest Fee Received: Serge Gnabry - £18,000 from Milton Keynes Dons (10 July 2020).

Youngest Player: Danny Rafferty - 15 years 286 days vs Hayes & Yeading United (8 May 2019).

Oldest Player: Rosalino Almeida - 34 years 274 days vs Metropolitan Police (26 April 2014).

 

My All-Time Romford XI

Scott Traveller (Goalkeeper, 2012-2014: 104 apps, 36 clean sheets)

Trevor Dunn (Defender, 2017-2021: 123 apps, 4 goals)

Connor Dymond (Defender, 2013-2018: 196 apps, 7 goals)

Kieron Gray (Defender, 2016-present: 231 apps, 18 goals)

Russell Bradley (Defender, 2017-2020: 99 apps, 3 goals)

Dean O'Halloran (Midfielder, 2014-2020: 222 apps, 21 goals)

Kieron Carroll (Midfielder, 2013-2017: 157 apps, 57 goals)

Callum Crawley (Midfielder, 2012-2015: 119 apps, 3 goals)

Graeme Montgomery (Midfielder, 2016-2019: 134 apps, 6 goals)

Duncan Greenwood (Forward, 2015-present: 272 apps, 130 goals)

Nicky Reynolds (Forward, 2012-2018: 269 apps, 160 goals)

[CFuller]

So, I've resigned from Romford. Where does that leave this story?

First of all, I'm not going to leave you in the lurch as to how the season finishes. I'll give you a quick month-by-month summary of what went on at Romford after my departure, with much shorter match reports, until the season has concluded. I'll then give you my usual season round-up before bringing this story to a close.

There will be a second chapter to my FM13 career in a new story thread, but before I publish that, I'm going to take a break from FMS, so I can sort out some more important things in my life. Thank you for your understanding.

It's unfortunate that you can't buy a win and that you've decided to move on. I hope it won't be the end of the story, though, as I'm constantly hooked by this. Liked the Lib Dems joke as well. Great work all round.

I think you can tell I'm not a Lib Dem!

As I've explained above, the story isn't quite over. I'm going to tie up the loose ends for this season and then finish up.

[mark wilson27]

Well its sad that you didn't get your Romford to the promised land of the Premiership, but sir this has been an excellent story.

[EvilDave]

I know it isn't technically over, but well done on a superbly-written story. I can understand you wanting a break, and I look forward to seeing what you do with the next chapter. Great work, you can be rightly proud of this.

[tenthreeleader]

Especially for a first effort, you've done extremely well. Congratulations on a great effort and some very nice writing.

We'll welcome you back when you're ready, even if you do think there are things more important in life than FMS.

[CFuller]

Well its sad that you didn't get your Romford to the promised land of the Premiership, but sir this has been an excellent story.

The Premiership? I would've been delighted if we ever made it to League Two!

I might try again to take Romford up the leagues in a future edition of FM. I won't be writing a story about it if I do, though.

I know it isn't technically over, but well done on a superbly-written story. I can understand you wanting a break, and I look forward to seeing what you do with the next chapter. Great work, you can be rightly proud of this.

Thanks again. I can't wait to give you my next story once I'm feeling re-energised, as it takes the fictional Christopher Fuller to a place you might not expect.

Especially for a first effort, you've done extremely well. Congratulations on a great effort and some very nice writing.

We'll welcome you back when you're ready, even if you do think there are things more important in life than FMS.

I don't subscribe to Bill Shankly's belief that Football Manager is more important than life and death. Well, that's what I think he said.

I'm in the same boat as you, 10-3, in that I am currently unemployed. To be brutally honest, I've not been doing anything worthwhile (outside FMS, of course) for the last year, having taken a break after several years in higher education. Now, though, my confidence is much higher, and I'll soon be on the lookout for employment.

That's why you won't be hearing much from me story-wise for a while. Of course, in time, I will return.

[mark wilson27]

Even if your not writing a story, feel free to pop in and have a look around (Unless your after the most missed FMS'er in the awards next year )

[CFuller]

MARCH 2022 (continued)

My sudden departure from Romford came as a massive shock to the players - and to the backroom staff. Virtually all of my staff, including assistant manager Wayne Daniel, felt that they couldn't continue without me and left en masse.

 

The only member of my coaching team who chose to stay at Romford was Dominic Shimmin, who was in his first season with the club. Dominic's first game as caretaker manager would be the big derby match against fellow mid-tablers Grays Athletic at the Rush Green Stadium.

 

5 March 2022: Grays Athletic vs Romford

Less than 48 hours after my resignation, I took my place in the stands to watch my old team in action. To my delight, Romford scored the opening goal after just nine minutes. Grays failed to clear Bernard Brun's cross out of their area, and Duncan Greenwood punished them with a simple finish. We remained 1-0 up at the break after Moses Millen pulled off a couple of stops to thwart Gravelmen striker Ross Armstrong.

 

The second half of this derby started off scrappily with three bookings - two for Romford, and one for Grays. Things then calmed down, and the Boro went 2-0 up in the 70th minute. Moments after clearing John McReady's cross out of the Romford area, left-back Kevin Holt went up the other end to knock Warren Cooke's byline delivery into the Grays net! Those two goals from Duncan and Kevin gave the Boro an impressive victory that the home team never looked like putting under threat. Romford had broken a five-game winless streak in their first game without me!

 

Grays Athletic - 0

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 9, Holt 70)

Conference South, Attendance 472 - POSITIONS: Grays 11th, Romford 12th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Connolly, Holt, Brun, Crossley, Cooke, Tankovic (Briggs), Greenwood, Morath-Gibbs. BOOKED: Holt, Festus, Connolly.

 

Dominic was already looking like a decent candidate to get the Romford manager's job permanently. He got another opportunity to impress in the dugout a week later. The Boro travelled to struggling Hayes & Yeading United, who hadn't won in ten matches.

 

12 March 2022: Hayes & Yeading United vs Romford

The good feeling we had after our derby win didn't last very long at The Warren. With seven minutes gone, Stuart Marrow fired Hayes & Yeading into the lead after his team-mate Jamie Bowden's shot had been blocked by Aaron Connolly. United's 1-0 advantage was as solid as anything in the first half. Muamer Tankovic was badly hampered by an early knock, while Romford's only shot before half-time was blasted well wide by Kevin Holt in the 29th minute.

 

Things went from bad to worse in the 50th minute, as Bowden's header made it 2-0 to Hayes & Yeading. Four minutes later, though, a howler from the hosts gave us renewed hope. A massive positioning error from Ali Dowling allowed Boro captain Duncan Greenwood to hoover up United counterpart Joe Wilkinson's pass and slot it into the net. That goal looked like being a mere consolation until the final minute of normal time. Duncan knocked the ball to Garry Morath-Gibbs, who equalised with another clinical strike! Romford's comeback could have been cancelled out in injury time, but Danny Glover hit the post for Hayes & Yeading, and we held firm for a draw.

 

Hayes & Yeading United - 2 (Marrow 7, Bowden 50)

Romford - 2 (Greenwood 54, Morath-Gibbs 90)

Conference South, Attendance 148 - POSITIONS: Hayes & Yeading 19th, Romford 12th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Connolly, Gray, Briggs, Brun (Lake), Crossley, Cooke (Reid), Holt, Tankovic (Morath-Gibbs), Greenwood.

 

Garry Morath-Gibbs had bailed Romford out with his ninth goal of the season, but he won't be scoring any more for us this term. For reasons unbeknownst to me, Garry was loaned out to Isthmian Premier side VCD Athletic for the next two months.

 

That surprising news was followed by another announcement. My replacement as Romford manager would be...

 

...Tony Burman. The 63-year-old Londoner previously managed Bromley from 2015 to 2021, and masterminded the Lilywhites' incredible play-off comeback against us two seasons ago. If I could've handpicked my successor, I probably would have plumped for him.

 

The new Burman era at Ship Lane began with what looked on paper like an easy home game against Basingstoke Town. The Dragons were in 18th place at kick-off.

 

19 March 2022: Romford vs Basingstoke Town

Basingstoke had beaten Romford 1-0 in their last two visits to Ship Lane, and a repeat looked likely after 28 minutes. Belgian winger Kamal Yilmaz flicked a first-time pass to former Portsmouth striker Chris Franklin, who opened the scoring for the Dragons. Two minutes later, the Boro went a man down as well as a goal down. Mark Briggs stupidly caught Franklin with a flying elbow whilst already on a yellow card. That earned Briggs a second booking, and when his team-mates joined him in the dressing room at half-time, they were still trailing.

 

Captain Duncan Greenwood inspired the Boro boys to fight back after the break. On 57 minutes, Big Dunc bulleted a fierce shot into the net from about 25 yards out. Teenage striker Seidu Asante tried to get another goal moments later, but both of his attempts were saved by Basingstoke keeper Billy Baker. Our goalie Moses Millen was kept busy in the latter stages of the game. Moses made excellent saves to keep out a couple of long-range strikes from Billy Burton and Crystal Palace loanee Yilmaz. His heroics helped to earn the Boro a point in their first match under Tony Burman's stewardship.

 

Romford - 1 (Greenwood 57)

Basingstoke Town - 1 (Franklin 28)

Conference South, Attendance 443 - POSITIONS: Romford 12th, Basingstoke 18th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Connolly, Gray, Holt (James), Brun (Crossley), Cooke (Asante), Briggs, Appleyard, Tankovic, Greenwood. BOOKED: Briggs. SENT OFF: Briggs.

 

After the game, Tony Burman started building his own Boro team. His first signing was experienced Geordie goalkeeper Ben Alnwick. The 35-year-old, who played in League One for Brentford last season, would seriously challenge Moses Millen for the number 1 jersey at Romford.

 

Burman also secured a deal to sign Kingstonian's prolific striker Wes Fletcher on 1 July. Left-winger Kendall Appleyard would leave Romford at the same time, having signed a pre-contract agreement with Enfield Town.

 

The new manager then began the task of rebuilding his backroom. His first recruit was 29-year-old former West Bromwich Albion player Kemar Roofe, who arrived as the club's new physio. I thought that was a rather bizarre appointment, until I found out that Roofe was born in Walsall. Jeff Bonser must've had a major influence...

 

The Boro's next home game was against yet another team struggling at the wrong end of the table - Weston-super-Mare.

 

26 March 2022: Romford vs Weston-super-Mare

Kendall Appleyard's first game since his impending departure was announced got off to a bright start. After eight minutes, Kendall headed Tim Crossley's free-kick into the net... only to be flagged offside. The rest of the first half would be frustrating for Romford, who failed to turn possession into strong chances. Perhaps our best opportunity to score came in the 32nd minute, when Seidu Asante's header was caught by Weston keeper Ethan Lynch.

 

The second half would also be quite short on goalmouth action. Weston-super-Mare gave Boro keeper Ben Alnwick hardly anything to worry about on his debut, other than a 68th-minute Joey Butlin header that hit the bar. Nine minutes later, Duncan Greenwood flicked an Appleyard cross over the Seagulls crossbar. Romford defender Aaron Connolly came off injured later on as the match fizzled out into yet another draw - our 15th in the league this term.

 

Romford - 0

Weston-super-Mare - 0

Conference South, Attendance 485 - POSITIONS: Romford 13th, Weston-super-Mare 16th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Alnwick, Festus, Connolly (Reid), Gray, Holt, Brun, Crossley (Lake), Cooke, Appleyard, Tankovic (Greenwood), Asante.

 

Following our third successive draw, Tony Burman added two more members to his staff. Lee Warren - his long-time number 2 at Bromley - was appointed as assistant manager, and former Dagenham & Redbridge full-back Scott Griffiths was hired as a scout.

 

Less positive was the news that midfielder Warren Cooke suffered a sprained ankle during a training session on Monday evening. The loanee from Farnborough would not play any further part in what had been a turbulent season at Romford.

[CFuller]

Conference South Table (End of March 2022)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Maidstone              36    20    7     9     56    36    +20   67
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Salisbury              36    18    9     9     58    35    +23   63
3.          Enfield Town           36    17    12    7     53    39    +14   63
4.          Oxford City            36    17    11    8     60    45    +15   62
5.          Eastbourne Boro        36    17    10    9     51    37    +14   61
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Tiverton               36    16    10    10    46    39    +7    58
7.          Kingstonian            36    14    13    9     60    33    +27   55
8.          Canvey Island          36    14    11    11    61    48    +13   53
9.          Dorchester             36    15    7     14    45    43    +2    52
10.         Wingate & Finchley     36    13    13    10    46    46    0     52
11.         Grays                  36    14    8     14    42    42    0     50
12.         Barnet                 36    13    9     14    46    46    0     48
13.         Romford                36    11    15    10    44    46    -2    48
14.         Weston-super-Mare      36    11    11    14    55    55    0     44
15.         Woking                 36    12    8     16    36    48    -12   44
16.         Bromley                36    10    12    14    53    62    -9    42
17.         Basingstoke            36    10    12    14    43    56    -13   42
18.         Hampton & Richmond     36    8     16    12    37    41    -4    40
19.         Hayes & Yeading        36    8     12    16    44    58    -14   36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20.         Dover                  36    9     8     19    29    54    -25   35
21.         Havant                 36    6     14    16    40    58    -18   32
22.         Slough                 36    5     8     23    34    72    -38   23

 

[CFuller]

APRIL 2022

With six games remaining, Romford were 13 points behind the play-off places, and the same distance away from the relegation spots. That meant the run-in would serve little purpose other than to determine the Boro's final position, and perhaps even build up confidence ahead of the new campaign.

 

The first game of that run-in came in Devon against Tiverton Town. Tivvy were top at the end of January, but they had since slipped down to 6th after racking up just two points in six matches.

 

2 April 2022: Tiverton Town vs Romford

An exciting start saw plenty of opportunities at both ends. Ben Alnwick made excellent saves from Tiverton duo Jamie Bosley and Leonardo Pino in the first quarter-hour. Meanwhile, Boro captain Duncan Greenwood headed wide from point-blank range in the 30th minute. Four minutes later, Muamer Tankovic finally opened the scoring for Romford with a tidy finish. That looked set to give us a half-time lead of 1-0... until Ed Coe slid Adam Willis' free-kick home and drew Tivvy level in injury time.

 

Greenwood restored our advantage just four minutes after play restarted. A brilliant assist from Bernard Brun led to Big Dunc firing in his 20th goal of the season. After 54 minutes, he was celebrating his 21st. This time, it was a Kendall Appleyard through-ball that led to Duncan finishing for 3-1. Tiverton got back into the game six minutes later, thanks to another brilliant set-piece from their young midfielder Willis. His corner was turned in by Bosley, and we were now only 3-2 up. Tivvy's hopes of a full comeback were massively dented when their final substitute - Paul Whittle - had to come off hurt midway through the period. We soon made the most of playing with an extra man. After 79 minutes, Greenwood completed his hat-trick with a header that made it 4-2. That wasn't the last goal of a thrilling match, though, because Seidu Asante nodded home a FIFTH for Romford in the dying seconds of added-on time!

 

Tiverton Town - 2 (Coe 45, Bosley 60)

Romford - 5 (Tankovic 34, Greenwood 49,54,79, Asante 90)

Conference South, Attendance 506 - POSITIONS: Tiverton 6th, Romford 11th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Alnwick, Festus, Gray, Connolly, Holt, Brun, Briggs, Crossley, Appleyard, Greenwood, Tankovic (Asante). BOOKED: Holt, Gray.

 

A week later, Ship Lane received a visit from 9th-placed Dorchester Town. If Romford could finally record their first victory at home since Boxing Day, they would overtake the Magpies.

 

9 April 2022: Romford vs Dorchester Town

Romford captain Duncan Greenwood continued where he left off from the previous game. With just four minutes on the clock, he headed Bernard Brun's cross into the Dorchester net for our opening goal. The Boro had a multitude of chances to double or even further increase their lead before half-time. Dorchester keeper Paul Farman tipped behind a stunning strike from Tim Crossley on 14 minutes, but most of our other attempts failed to even test him.

 

Dorchester would have just three shots at goal in this match. The last of those came after 53 minutes, when Michael Doughty blasted the ball into orbit. Three minutes later, the home fans at Ship Lane were feeling over the moon. Greenwood's eighth goal in six matches put the Boro 2-0 up, and firmly on course for three points. We completed a 3-0 win in the 74th minute... but instead of completing back-to-back hat-tricks, Greenwood set up a goal for Kendall Appleyard. We were now unbeaten in eight league games!

 

Romford - 3 (Greenwood 4,56, Appleyard 74)

Dorchester Town - 0

Conference South, Attendance 498 - POSITIONS: Romford 9th, Dorchester 12th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Alnwick, Festus, Connolly, Gray, Holt, Brun (Asante), Crossley, Briggs, Appleyard, Tankovic, Greenwood. BOOKED: Crossley, Holt, Festus.

 

That victory ended any lingering fears of relegation, and it also kept alive our improbable dream of sneaking into the play-off zone. A nine-point deficit was not insurmountable if we could keep on winning to the end.

 

The following weekend saw Romford travel to rock-bottom Slough Town, who were already doomed to relegation after losing their previous five games. However, the Boro would have to travel to Holloways Park without two midfielders. Bernard Brun was out with a bruised thigh, while Ron Lake would miss the rest of this season after breaking his arm.

 

16 April 2022: Slough Town vs Romford

Slough had a dream start, as Scottish midfielder Chris Dillon fired the ball into our net after just 19 seconds! We were riled by conceding at such an early stage, and we looked to launch a quick response. On eight minutes, Duncan Greenwood fired Mark Briggs' long lob past Rebels goalkeeper Chris Riley and gave us the equaliser - or so it seemed. The linesman had flagged for an infringement of some sort, and so our goal was questionably disallowed. That decision affected us for the rest of the half, and we went into the break still trailing 1-0.

 

A bad day in Beaconsfield didn't get any better for us in the first minute of the second half. Greenwood sent Seidu Asante through on goal, but the Boro teenager volleyed wide. After 58 minutes, though, we got an equaliser after hitting Slough on the counter. The finish was applied by none other than Tim Crossley, who at long last scored his first Romford goal! The whole game turned on that moment, and another Boro counter led to us moving 2-1 ahead in the 74th minute. Aaron Connolly cleared the ball from our half to Asante, who skinned Rebels defender Malcolm Dunwell and drilled home! That gave us the edge in a very scrappy match. We committed 22 fouls, and one particularly rough tackle from Aaron ended Slough striker Kieran Marsh's game with nine minutes remaining.

 

Slough Town - 1 (Dillon 1)

Romford - 2 (Crossley 58, Asante 74)

Conference South, Attendance 249 - POSITIONS: Slough 22nd, Romford 8th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Alnwick, Festus, Gray, Connolly, Holt, Tankovic, Crossley, Briggs, Appleyard, Asante, Greenwood.

 

Tony Burman tried to keep Romford's winning streak going 48 hours later, when he led the Boro out at Hayes Lane against his former club Bromley.

 

18 April 2022: Bromley vs Romford

We were off the mark after just five minutes, as Duncan Greenwood's centre was fired in at the far post by Kendall Appleyard. That could've been followed by a second Romford goal in the 11th minute. Muamer Tankovic's free-kick hit the crossbar, and Seidu Asante finished the rebound... but the teen talent was offside. It didn't matter, really, as we went 2-0 up anyway two minutes later. After another great finish from Kendall, it looked like we were cruising. Bromley had other ideas, and Elliott Charles got them a goal back after just over 15 minutes. The Lilywhites then got a stunning equaliser through Chris Hunter less than a minute later! The Boro fans were stunned, and with Bromley finishing the first half strongly, a spectacular turnaround was in the offing.

 

The momentum shifted back to Romford after the interval. Although Seidu had a penalty claim disallowed in the 62nd minute, we were edging closer and closer to a 3-2 advantage... until the game took another, fateful twist. After 76 minutes, Boro defender Aaron Connolly committed a clumsy professional foul on Hunter. Aaron knew he was a goner, and he was already heading for the dressing room when the referee brought out the red card. We defended the resulting free-kick doggedly, but a third Bromley goal was now almost an inevitability. Allan Mead's 79th-minute strike completed the Lilywhites' revival from 2-0 down and gave them a 3-2 win. Tony Burman's unbeaten start at Romford was over, as were our play-off hopes.

                                                                                                    

Bromley - 3 (Charles 16, Hunter 17, Mead 79)

Romford - 2 (Appleyard 5,13)

Conference South, Attendance 349 - POSITIONS: Bromley 15th, Romford 9th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Alnwick, Festus, Connolly, Gray, Holt, Tankovic, Crossley (Reid), Briggs (Wood), Appleyard, Greenwood, Asante (Standen). SENT OFF: Connolly.

 

Romford now had nothing left to fight for other than a top-half finish. That would be guaranteed if they could win at home to 4th-placed Oxford City. That wouldn't be a mean feat, as Oxford had won five of their last six clashes with us.

 

23 April 2022: Romford vs Oxford City

Oxford City ominously found the net in the second minute, as Nicolae Marin's free-kick was headed home by Pete Wimble. The goal didn't count, though, as Wimble had pushed Kieron Gray. The hosts would become more annoyed five minutes later. Kendall Appleyard continued his fine form with an excellent cross that Seidu Asante bundled over the line. Asante could have doubled Romford's lead in the 38th minute, but his shot was pushed away by Oxford keeper Tom Godfrey. Wimble then drew City level about three minutes later, leaving the match nicely poised.

 

Romford started the second half encouragingly, and after 49 minutes, they were in front again. Gray's header from a Muamer Tankovic corner beat Godfrey for 2-1. Tankovic created another goal two minutes after that, as Duncan Greenwood's deadly finish put the Boro in dreamland! Unlike five days earlier, we had no problems holding onto a two-goal lead, despite left-back Kevin Holt suffering a serious injury in the 63rd minute. This was Romford's first victory against Oxford City in about five-and-a-half years!

 

Romford - 3 (Asante 7, Gray 49, Greenwood 51)

Oxford City - 1 (Wimble 41)

Conference South, Attendance 618 - POSITIONS: Romford 9th, Oxford City 4th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Alnwick, Festus, Gray, Reid, Holt (Brun), James (Greenwood), Crossley, Briggs, Appleyard, Tankovic, Asante.

 

How serious was Kevin Holt's injury? Very - he broke his foot. The Scottish left flanker won't be playing again for at least five months.

 

That put a dampener on what had otherwise been an excellent first full month in charge for Tony Burman, who was named as the Conference South's Manager of the Month. My replacement as Boro boss is already looking like a marvellous choice.

[Crackers786]

sad to see you leave chris. will be keeping a eye out for any more story you write

[CFuller]

sad to see you leave chris. will be keeping a eye out for any more story you write

Thank you again - and rest assured, I will be back.

[CFuller]

MAY 2022

There was still one last match to get through before the Romford players could go on their summer holidays. It was at home to Enfield Town, who unlike the Boro were still fighting for something on the final day. They were battling with Kingstonian and Tiverton Town for the last remaining play-off place.

 

4 May 2022: Romford vs Enfield Town

Enfield Town gave us a couple of early scares, as Adam Watkins and Aiden Blanchard both went narrowly wide with shots in the opening 12 minutes. They next troubled us in the 34th minute, when Jason Smith's effort was caught by Boro keeper Moses Millen. After 39 minutes, Enfield midfielder Jack Curtis rattled the crossbar with an excellent free-kick. Two minutes later, Smith knocked the ball past Brett Reid and went clean through on goal. Had Moses not stood his ground and blocked Smith's shot, the Towners would have taken a narrow lead into the break.

 

We only had a few shots at Enfield's goal during the first half. Our first attempt after the break came on 54 minutes, when Duncan Greenwood's header went just over the bar. Smith missed a clear-cut chance for Town very soon after that, but he would finally find his range in the 70th minute. A cool finish into the bottom corner put Enfield Town 1-0 ahead and on course for the play-offs. Nine minutes later, though, we spoiled their promotion dreams. Kendall Appleyard shinned the ball past Towners full-back Sami Davies, and Seidu Asante buried it to secure us a draw on the final day. Enfield's grip on 5th place had loosened, and Kingstonian would go into the play-offs instead.

 

Romford - 1 (Asante 79)

Enfield Town - 1 (Smith 70)

Conference South, Attendance 613 - POSITIONS: Romford 8th, Enfield Town 7th

ROMFORD LINE-UP: Millen, Festus, Gray, Reid, James (Briggs), Brun (Greenwood), Connolly, Wood (Crossley), Appleyard, Tankovic, Asante.

 

In the end, that wasn't a terrible season for Romford. We finished in a very respectable 8th place - and we were just one place and one point worse off compared to last season. The final difference between us and 5th-placed Kingstonian was six points.

 

There were plenty of times in this campaign when I feared that this would be a 'wasted season'. It could, in fact, be a turning point for the club's long-term fortunes.

 

When I resigned in early March, I left behind a talented squad that was badly struggling for consistency. Since my departure, they have really shone under the management of Tony Burman - a man who's been there, done that, and invested in a T-shirt business.

 

I couldn't get Romford into the Conference Premier, but Tony can. Burman is more than capable of emulating what he achieved with Dartford and Bromley in the past by winning us promotion to the top level of non-league football.

 

Nearly a decade after I started out as Romford manager, it seems that I have left the club in very safe hands.

 

So, what have I been during since I left? Over the last few weeks, I've been doing some part-time coaching with a local youth team. Working in such a low-pressure environment has been great therapy, and before long, I felt ready for a new challenge back in competitive football.

 

When Ian Allinson retired as manager of Conference Premier side Boreham Wood, I sensed an opportunity to go back into management. After applying for the job, I was invited for an interview at Meadow Park. I then waited for nearly two weeks for their response.

 

The phone call came on 23 May... and it didn't bring good news. Boreham Wood had decided to offer the job to someone else.

 

With no other vacancies catching my eye, it looks like I won't be back in competitive football for some time yet. I'm keeping my options open, though. I've been studying for a UEFA A Licence for the past two years or so, and I'll be going to St George's Park in Burton-upon-Trent next month for a final assessment.

 

If that doesn't go too well, or I can't find a position at another club, I'll probably go back into journalism. As a fall-back option, I've provisionally applied for jobs with some online regional news services.

 

So... I guess that's it for now. What will the next few years hold for Romford Football Club, and for me personally? Will Romford start moving up the leagues again? Will I ever return to management? Only time will tell.

[CFuller]

Conference South Table (End of 2021/2022)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Salisbury              42    22    9     11    66    40    +26   75
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Maidstone              42    22    8     12    64    43    +21   74
3.          Eastbourne Boro        42    20    11    11    61    48    +13   71
4.          Oxford City            42    19    12    11    72    60    +12   69
5.    P     Kingstonian            42    18    13    11    68    37    +31   67
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Tiverton               42    18    12    12    59    52    +7    66
7.          Enfield Town           42    17    15    10    58    51    +7    66
8.          Romford                42    15    16    11    60    54    +6    61
9.          Canvey Island          42    16    12    14    70    56    +14   60
10.         Dorchester             42    17    9     16    55    53    +2    60
11.         Barnet                 42    15    11    16    55    55    0     56
12.         Grays                  42    15    11    16    47    48    -1    56
13.         Bromley                42    14    14    14    68    70    -2    56
14.         Wingate & Finchley     42    13    16    13    51    56    -5    55
15.         Weston-super-Mare      42    13    14    15    67    65    +2    53
16.         Hampton & Richmond     42    11    18    13    46    47    -1    51
17.         Basingstoke            42    12    15    15    56    65    -9    51
18.         Woking                 42    13    11    18    41    53    -12   50
19.         Hayes & Yeading        42    12    12    18    53    67    -14   48
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20.   R     Dover                  42    12    9     21    38    59    -21   45
21.   R     Havant                 42    7     16    19    46    71    -25   37
22.   R     Slough                 42    5     8     29    36    87    -51   23

 

[CFuller]

Romford Player Statistics (2021/2022)

GOALKEEPERS               APPS    CON  CLN  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Ben Alnwick               6       7    2    0    72%  -    -    0    0    7.02
Jason Byrne               12      13   4    1    80%  -    -    0    0    6.89
Moses Millen              36      48   7    0    77%  -    -    0    0    6.89
OUTFIELD PLAYERS          APPS    GLS  AST  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Kendall Appleyard         38 (6)  5    10   1    76%  3.26 40%  0    0    6.96
Seidu Asante              13 (13) 12   2    1    75%  2.24 37%  2    0    7.11
Mark Briggs               17 (8)  1    2    0    80%  4.37 29%  3    1    6.85
Bernard Brun              30 (6)  2    7    0    79%  3.29 28%  0    0    6.89
Chad Carr                 3 (2)   0    0    0    65%  1.09 0%   1    0    6.98
Aaron Connolly            35 (4)  1    2    1    73%  2.13 40%  1    1    6.92
Warren Cooke              36 (7)  3    3    2    82%  5.29 34%  2    0    6.99
Brandon Crook             5 (1)   0    4    0    80%  1.81 0%   0    0    7.02
Tim Crossley              34 (11) 1    5    0    82%  3.57 13%  6    0    6.90
Efe Festus                44 (3)  0    2    1    75%  3.27 17%  6    0    7.04
Zak Fitzpatrick           9 (11)  0    3    1    74%  3.14 33%  1    0    6.74
Daniel Formaston          3 (12)  2    0    0    77%  1.40 38%  3    0    6.74
Matt Francis              1       0    0    0    69%  0.00 0%   1    0    7.00
Kieran Goulding           10 (4)  0    0    0    76%  3.32 -    0    0    6.92
Kieron Gray               46 (2)  5    0    8    71%  2.90 57%  3    0    7.30
Duncan Greenwood          42 (5)  25   13   7    73%  1.75 38%  4    0    7.45
Kevin Holt                34 (5)  2    4    1    75%  3.31 33%  10   0    6.90
Connor James              3 (4)   0    0    0    72%  3.23 -    0    0    6.73
Ron Lake                  11 (5)  1    1    0    80%  2.76 20%  1    0    6.86
Sam Lord                  3       0    1    0    71%  3.33 50%  0    0    6.83
Michael Montgomery        0 (1)   0    0    0    80%  -    -    0    0    6.60
Garry Morath-Gibbs        26 (11) 9    9    3    75%  2.17 49%  3    0    7.00
Danny Rafferty            10 (4)  1    1    0    76%  2.66 50%  1    0    6.76
Brett Reid                34 (10) 2    0    5    65%  2.72 89%  3    0    7.23
Johnnie Standen           0 (1)   0    0    0    50%  -    100% 0    0    -  
Dean Stuart               0 (1)   1    0    0    71%  -    100% 0    0    7.30
Muamer Tankovic           35 (10) 9    7    1    79%  1.57 41%  2    0    6.92
Ollie Whitbread           15 (4)  1    0    0    79%  2.40 40%  1    0    6.89
Bentley Wood              3 (1)   0    0    0    78%  3.25 -    1    0    6.78
 
APPS - Appearances (Substitute apps), GLS - Goals, AST - Assists,
CON - Goals conceded, CLN - Clean sheets, MOM - Man of the Match awards,
P% - Pass completion %, TR - Tackles per 90 mins, ST - Shots on target %,
Y - Yellow cards, R - Red cards, AV RAT - Average match rating

 

[CFuller]

2021/2022 season round-up: Part 1

Premier League

The Premier League title is back in Manchester United's possession after a brilliant season for Slaven Bilic's Red Devils. Their league success was built on a solid defence, as goalkeeper David De Gea kept 16 clean sheets and left-back David Alaba enjoyed one of his best ever campaigns. United's resurgent rivals Liverpool finished 10 points behind in 2nd place. Liverpool were actually top at the midway point, and the Reds might have come away with their first league title for 32 years had they not suffered a major slump between February and April.

 

Manchester City's love affair with new manager Ciro Ferrara was a very brief one. Ferrara was axed in February following a derby defeat to United, and his replacement Gianluca Atzori eventually guided City to a 3rd-place finish. Tottenham Hotspur claimed the final UEFA Champions League spot after Ukrainian striker Maxim Rybin became the first player since Robin van Persie a decade ago to score 30 goals in a PL season.

 

Tottenham beat off competition from Chelsea, Norwich City and Southampton to secure 4th place on the final day. The other North London giants finished 7th and miserably failed to retain their title, though Arsenal did at least win both domestic cups. At the other end of the table, Northumbrian wonderkid Clive Johnson - still aged only 20 - single-handedly kept Sunderland in the top flight with 22 goals.

 

Despite having an excellent right-back in Croatian Kristijan Loncar, Blackburn Rovers still shipped 81 goals on the way to finishing bottom. Brighton & Hove Albion endured a terrible start to life in the PL - losing their first 10 matches - and did well not to finish with the wooden spoon. Reading were also relegated, with their latest journey to the top division lasting for just a single term.

 

Top Four: Manchester United (1st, 87 pts), Liverpool (2nd, 77 pts), Manchester City (3rd, 74 pts), Tottenham Hotspur (4th, 71 pts).

Relegated: Reading (18th, 28 pts), Brighton & Hove Albion (19th, 23 pts), Blackburn Rovers (20th, 22 pts).

 

Championship

Stoke City blitzed the Championship, as they racked up 102 points and Romania international Gelu Velici scored 33 goals. Everton were not too far behind the Potters, with 25 goals from Welshman John Howe helping them on their way back to the Premier League.

 

Nottingham Forest were on course for yet another PL comeback after brushing aside Huddersfield Town in the Play-Off Semi Finals. However, their East Midland foes Leicester City would have something to say about that. The Foxes knocked out Hull City, and then scored three first-half goals against Forest without reply to snatch promotion.

 

Aston Villa missed out on the Play-Offs, as they could only draw their final game against Forest when they needed a win. This season will be more fondly remembered by Rochdale fans, as the Dale's 18th-place finish in the Championship represented their best ever performance.

 

Bolton Wanderers' financial situation hit a new low, with administration setting them on the road to relegation. Northampton Town failed to retain their second-tier status, and Cardiff City finally went down following several years of bitter underachievement.

 

Promoted: Stoke City (1st, 102 pts), Everton (2nd, 97 pts), Leicester City (5th, 79 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Huddersfield Town (3rd, 82 pts), Hull City (4th, 81 pts), Nottingham Forest (6th, 79 pts).

Relegated: Cardiff City (22nd, 40 pts), Northampton Town (23rd, 39 pts), Bolton Wanderers (24th, 31 pts*).

* 10 points deducted

 

League One

At long last, Crystal Palace and Coventry City can finally look forward to the prospect of playing Championship football again. Palace won the League One title in their sixth season at that level, while Paul Ince's Coventry had been stuck in the third tier for a full decade before they finished as runners-up.

 

Colchester United won a close-fought Play-Off Semi Final against Notts County 6-4 on aggregate. There would also be goals galore in the Final meeting with Gillingham, who had seen off Hartlepool United less dramatically. After a five-goal thriller at Wembley, Colchester emerged as 3-2 victors and triumphantly returned to the Championship.

 

AFC Bournemouth, Blackpool and Torquay United made up three of the four relegated sides. The fourth was Charlton Athletic, who will soon begin their first ever campaign in the Football League's fourth division.

 

Promoted: Crystal Palace (1st, 91 pts), Coventry City (2nd, 86 pts), Colchester United (3rd, 83 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Gillingham (4th, 81 pts), Hartlepool United (5th, 81 pts), Notts County (6th, 80 pts).

Relegated: Charlton Athletic (21st, 47 pts), Torquay United (22nd, 44 pts), Blackpool (23rd, 42 pts), AFC Bournemouth (24th, 37 pts).

 

League Two

AFC Telford United made a pretty poor start... and then they ran riot. The Bucks went on an unbelievable 35-game unbeaten run in League Two before finishing with a record points haul and a goal difference of +57! Bristol Rovers and Plymouth Argyle were also promoted after reasonably impressive seasons of their own.

 

Hereford United's extra-time win against Tranmere Rovers earned them a place in the Play-Off Final against Stockport County, who got the better of Mansfield Town. Hereford couldn't quite secure back-to-back promotions, though, as a Jason Gilchrist double sent Stockport into League One.

 

Stevenage and Dagenham & Redbridge are both gearing up for life back in non-league football following their relegations. Preston North End barely survived in 22nd place, and Barrow also came close to dropping down.

 

Promoted: AFC Telford United (1st, 109 pts), Bristol Rovers (2nd, 88 pts), Plymouth Argyle (3rd, 86 pts), Stockport County (5th, 75 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Hereford United (4th, 82 pts), Mansfield Town (6th, 73 pts), Tranmere Rovers (7th, 71 pts).

Relegated: Dagenham & Redbridge (23rd, 42 pts), Stevenage (24th, 41 pts).

 

Conference Premier

Luton Town will be back in the Football League after they won the Conference Premier, finishing 10 points clear of both Crawley Town and Forest Green Rovers.

 

Forest Green reached their fourth Play-Off Final since 2016 with a great comeback win over AFC Wimbledon. Rovers had lost the previous three, but Lady Luck finally shone on them here. They beat Crawley's conquerors York City 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw, thus securing that elusive promotion to League Two.

 

Kettering Town, Stalybridge Celtic, Grimsby Town and Gainsborough Trinity were the four relegated teams, and all four can expect to be playing each other in the Conference North next term.

 

Promoted: Luton Town (1st, 88 pts), Forest Green Rovers (3rd, 78 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Crawley Town (2nd, 78 pts), AFC Wimbledon (4th, 74 pts), York City (5th, 72 pts).

Relegated: Gainsborough Trinity (21st, 49 pts), Grimsby Town (22nd, 45 pts), Stalybridge Celtic (23rd, 42 pts), Kettering Town (24th, 36 pts).

 

Conference North

Promoted: Lincoln City (1st, 75 pts), Alfreton Town (4th, 69 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Tamworth (2nd, 75 pts*), Altrincham (3rd, 71 pts), Rugby Town (5th, 68 pts).

Relegated: Gresley (20th, 42 pts), Stafford Rangers (21st, 34 pts), Nuneaton Town (22nd, 32 pts).

* 10 points deducted

 

Conference South

Promoted: Salisbury City (1st, 75 pts), Kingstonian (5th, 67 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Maidstone United (2nd, 74 pts), Eastbourne Borough (3rd, 71 pts), Oxford City (4th, 69 pts).

Relegated: Dover Athletic (20th, 45 pts), Havant & Waterlooville (21st, 37 pts), Slough Town (22nd, 23 pts).

 

Regional Premier Divisions

Promoted from Northern Premier League Premier: Chasetown (1st), Market Drayton Town (3rd).

Promoted from Isthmian League Premier: Dulwich Hamlet (1st), Maldon & Tiptree (2nd).

Promoted from Southern League Premier: Bath City (1st), Romulus (4th).

[CFuller]

2021/2022 season round-up: Part 2

Major Transfers

• Defending Premier League champions Arsenal were the summer's big spenders, as they splurged a club-record £39.5million fee on Southampton's left-winger Marko Skopljanac. The skilful Croatian was affected by injuries in his first season at the Emirates Stadium, and he made just 20 league appearances.

• Dutch right-back Robin Schilder found it difficult to make an impact during two title-winning seasons at Arsenal. Schilder decided to join Manchester United for £17.75million in June, and he got regular football as well as another Premier League winner's medal. He also picked up a high number of cards - 26 yellow and 2 red in the space of 44 competitive matches!

• Manchester City's biggest purchase of the summer was Portuguese defensive midfielder Daniel Ventura, who cost £33million from Porto. City also bought Canada defender Chad Gauss from Toronto FC for £8.75million before signing his compatriot Cameron Green from PSV for £17.5million. Green became City's new first-choice goalkeeper after England international Joe Hart joined Valenciennes on a free transfer.

• Chelsea disbursed £45million on several players before the end of August. Lyon centre-back Alcides Basualdo and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marouane Fellaini both caught the eye, but a player who cost £375,000 from Mallorca found himself making a surprisingly big impact. 34-year-old Serbia international Bojan Saranov became the Blues' first-choice goalkeeper for around four months after Thibaut Courtois was struck down by knee tendonitis.

• United took another full-back off Arsenal's hands in January, as England's Nathaniel Clyne went to Old Trafford for £6.25million. The Red Devils also spent £17.25million on Mitja Basa - a 22-year-old centre-half from Slovenia who was making his name at Burnley.

• Argentina playmaker Gustavo Silva went from Boca Juniors to Barcelona for £27million in the summer, but he made just six appearances due to a broken ankle. Silva left the Nou Camp five months later, as he signed for PSG for £19.25million. Meanwhile, Real Madrid paid £18.25million to make Marseille's Russian midfielder Maxim Zenin their player.

 

Managerial Movements

• Roberto Mancini's successor at Manchester City was his Italian compatriot Ciro Ferrara. However, Ferrara's reign was a disaster, and he was sacked in February after a home defeat to Manchester United left City well adrift of the top four. A third Italian - Gianluca Atzori - was brought in from Spezia to right the ship and retain the Citizens' status among Europe's elite. Meanwhile, Mancini was sacked by his new club Valencia barely weeks after Ferrara was dismissed.

• Two Premier League bosses made mid-season moves to La Liga, as Chelsea's Luciano Spalletti and Wigan Athletic's Henning Berg were hired by Granada and Real Sociedad respectively. Spalletti was succeeded at Chelsea by former Inter Milan boss Marco van Basten. Wigan turned to ex-England chief Alan Pardew, who was replaced at West Ham United by another experienced coach - Tony Pulis.

• Italy was a surprisingly popular destination for English coaches. Inter's next head coach was none other than Stuart Pearce, whose old job at Blackburn Rovers was given to Billy Davies for a second time. A month later, Frank Lampard swapped Reading for mega-rich Empoli after the Azzurri had ditched Massimiliano Allegri. Reading then appointed Mark Bowen as their ninth different manager in nine years.

• Lee Clark returned to his old club Newcastle United following the departure of Ian Holloway. The club he left - West Bromwich Albion - looked to a former midfielder of their own, as Michael Appleton moved back to The Hawthorns from Watford. The Hornets then took Colin Cameron away from Hibernian on Christmas Day. About three months earlier, former Hibs boss Elvis Scoria had left Celtic to take the Fulham reins from Derek McInnes.

• Atlético Madrid have had four different managers since 2020 began. Laurent Blanc, Carlo Ancelotti and Markus Babbel all failed at the Estadio de Madrid, but Neil Lennon has shown promise on his return to Spain. The former Athletic Bilbao coach guided Los Colchoneros to 4th place in La Liga.

• Big things were expected of Valenciennes, who spent over £40million on new players last summer. But after a poor start in Ligue 1, John van den Brom was ruthlessly dismissed by the club's wealthy Argentine owner David Fernández. Aleksandar Jankovic came in from Russian outfit FC Krasnodar, and he inspired VA to finish 3rd. That means they'll be back in the UEFA Champions League next term after four seasons away.

 

Other Major Stories

• Porto have won the Champions League Final for the third time in eight seasons! José Mourinho's men overcame Real Madrid 5-4 on penalties following an exciting 1-1 draw in Berlin. Porto struck first blood through Canadian winger Charlie Wheeldon in the 29th minute, but Flávio levelled for Real in the 55th. When it came down to penalties, Dragoes goalkeeper Kadú saved the decisive spot-kick from Dedé.

• On the final day of the Bundesliga season, four teams were still in contention to become German champions. When the dust settled, perennial bridesmaids Bayer Leverkusen finally walked down the aisle to claim their maiden league title. Thiemo Schuchardt's winning goal against Borussia Moenchengladbach brought an end to five years of Bayern Munich dominance.

• The DFB-Pokal Final ended in a fairytale triumph for St Pauli, who had just finished bottom of the Bundesliga. Adrian Grbic got the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Nurnberg as the 'buccaneers' of German football lifted their first major trophy.

• There's no sign of the status quo ending in France. Paris Saint-Germain were crowned Ligue 1 champions for the 10th season in a row, although Monaco did push them close this time. Lille, who won their most recent championship in 2011, narrowly avoided relegation to Ligue 2 by a single point.

• Juventus scraped to their sixth Serie A scudetto in seven seasons. They finished level on points with Roma, but took top spot courtesy of their head-to-head record against the Giallorossi. There was an even more interesting story at Pescara, as the minnows finished 4th and secured European football for the first time.

• One of the greatest defenders of recent times - Sergio Ramos - announced his retirement at the age of 36. The former Real Madrid captain, who won 184 caps for Spain, hung up his boots following an unsuccessful year at Empoli. Granada's former France striker Olivier Giroud also called it a career, as did his manager Spalletti, who ended his coaching days after six months with Los Granadinos.

 

Cup Winners

FA Cup: Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City.

League Cup: Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool.

Community Shield: Arsenal 2-0 Manchester City.

Football League Trophy: Oxford United 4-3 Walsall (aet).

 

UEFA Champions League: Porto 1-1 Real Madrid (5-4 penalties) - at Olympiastadion, Berlin.

UEFA Europa League: Atlético Madrid 1-0 Rennes - at Benito Villamarín, Seville.

UEFA Super Cup: Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal - at Stade de Geneve, Geneva.

FIFA Club World Championship: Sao Paulo 2-0 Arsenal - at Stade du Prince Moulay Abdallah, Rabat.

 

Major European Leagues

Dutch Eredivisie: Ajax (1st), FC Utrecht (2nd), PSV (3rd).

French Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain (1st), Monaco (2nd), Valenciennes (3rd).

German Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen (1st), Bayern Munich (2nd), Borussia Dortmund (3rd).

Italian Serie A: Juventus (1st), Roma (2nd), Inter Milan (3rd).

Portuguese Primeira Liga: Porto (1st), Braga (2nd), Benfica (3rd).

Russian Premier League: CSKA Moscow (1st), FC Krasnodar (2nd), Lokomotiv Moscow (3rd).

Scottish Premier League: Hibernian (1st), Heart of Midlothian (2nd), Celtic (3rd).

Spanish La Liga: Barcelona (1st), Real Betis (2nd), Real Madrid (3rd).

 

Award Winners

PFA Player of the Year: Alison Brito Neves (Chelsea).

PFA Young Player of the Year: Clive Johnson (Sunderland).

FWA Footballer of the Year: Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).

Premier League Manager of the Season: Slaven Bilic (Manchester United).

PFA Premier League Team of the Year: David De Gea (Manchester United), Kristijan Loncar (Blackburn Rovers), Sunny Salami (Southampton), Phil Jones (Manchester City), David Alaba (Manchester United), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Alison Brito Neves (Chelsea), Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton), Grégory Lefevre (Manchester United), Damien King (Manchester United), Maxim Rybin (Tottenham Hotspur).

 

FIFA Ballon d'Or: Eden Hazard (Paris Saint-Germain).

World Soccer World Player of the Year: Eden Hazard (Paris Saint-Germain).

European Golden Shoe: Maxim Rybin (Tottenham Hotspur).

UEFA Best Player in Europe: Neymar (Manchester United).

FIFA/FIFPro World XI: David De Gea (Manchester United), Nelson Parra (Paris Saint-Germain), Dedé (Real Madrid), Yasar Eroglu (Real Madrid), Samuel Umtiti (Real Madrid), Guido Dri (Porto), Lorenzo Crisetig (Paris Saint-Germain), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Nicusor Stanciu (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Paris Saint-Germain), Robert Lewandowski (Paris Saint-Germain).