Evo-Stik League Southern Division One Central Preview 2015/16
The start of another Evo-Stik League Southern Division One Central season is just a few days away for Aylesbury United, here is our look ahead to the new campaign and a brief assessment of each of the 22 teams..
AFC Rushden & Diamonds Last season: 1/21 (United Counties League Premier Division)
The fan-owned phoenix club formed after the demise of the original Rushden & Diamonds have enjoyed a predictably meteoric rise up the pyramid in only three years of existence - gaining promotion from the United Counties League Division One at the first attempt and then taking only two seasons to take the Premier Division championship last time around, gaining elevation to the Southern League for the new campaign. A squad with plenty of experience at this level contains ex-Ducks loanee defender Liam Dolman, whilst Paul Lamb, another former Aylesbury man, is assistant manager. The Diamonds, with the backing of their large supporter base, are expected to do well this season as they look to climb higher.
Arlesey Town Last season: 22/23 (Premier Division)
The return of the Abbey brothers (Zema Abbey and Nathan Abbey) as joint managers at Arlesey Town after a spell with St. Neots Town came too late to save them from relegation back to Division One after four seasons in the Premier. The duo previously lead the club to their highest ever finish of 6th in the Premier Division (in 2012/13), and have been busy adding to the squad with the intention of making a quick return to that level. Another brother combination in Ashley Deeney (Player of the Year at Daventry Town last season) and David Deeney (formerly of Aylesbury FC/St. Neots) have joined, but scoring goals might be a problem with an out-and-out goalscorer seemingly missing.
Aylesbury FC Last season: 3/22 (Playoffs)
Last season's third-placed finish represented an excellent first full season in charge for manager Steve Bateman, but he was unable to break his playoff hoodoo as FC went down to a semi-final defeat to Bedworth United. There has been little change to the squad of last season, although influential midfielder Brad Wadkins has joined Chesham United, whilst former Aylesbury United midfielder Jon Montgomery, returning FC player Lamar Simpson and striker Terry Dixon are amongst a handful of new signings.
Aylesbury United Last season: 13/22
Going into their third season back in the Southern League, the Ducks have added a number of new faces over the summer and whilst survival (both on and off the pitch) continue to be number one priority, hopes are high that a good season may be in the offing. Aylesbury went through their entire preseason campaign unbeaten to further stoke the optimism, and manager Tony Joyce will face some selection headaches for the season opener having assembled a squad with strong and serious competition in every position.
Barton Rovers Last season: 5/22 (Playoffs)
For the second year in a row Barton have been an unwanted rider of the non-league merry-go-round, losing their management team early in preseason, so will once again start the season with a new man at the helm. New manager Lee Bearman was successful at Cranfield United, but will be keen to shake off his reputation as having overseen Bedford Town's worst ever season in 2013/14, and has been rebuilding the Barton squad with signings including Aylesbury United striker Jason Blackett. Rovers repeating their unlikely playoff finish of last season looks a big ask, but the same was being said at this stage last year.
Beaconsfield SYCOB Last season: 20/22
Plenty of action at Holloways Park over the summer, with a new chairman Andy Agar and new manager in Geoff Warner, who takes his first senior role after a long career with Crystal Palace Centre of Excellence and Reading Academy. Possibly the biggest talking point has been the club's attempted name change to Beaconsfield Town, which did not receive FA approval in time, so the Rams will complete the 2015/16 season as 'SYCOB'. On the pitch, the club will be looking for better having only narrowly avoided relegation last time around.
Bedford Town Last season: 17/22
Something of a disappointing campaign following their relegation a year earlier, Bedford Town are another club with a new manager after Craig Adams opted to move to Rugby Town as assistant manager, and they turned to former Barton Rovers man Dan Kennoy - who returns to the dugout after a year out of the game, and brought with him Wes Byrne as assistant manager (who was joint manager at Barton last season, completing the merry-go-round). With a host of new signings the Eagles will certainly be looking to push in the right direction and feature at the other end of the table this year, however, they suffered a blow when one of the new faces, Sean Brettell, suffered a terrible leg break in a preseason friendly against his former club Welwyn Garden City.
Chalfont St. Peter Last season: 16/22
Blighted by inconsistency yet again last season, for a while Chalfont looked like unlikely playoff contenders before only winning three games in the final four months of the season saw them tumble down the table. The league's longest serving manager Danny Edwards will be keen to address this as he enters his 12th year with Chalfont, and his best bit of summer business looks to be keeping hold of striker Tony Mendy - previously prolific with AFC Hayes, who netted 4 goals in 8 games having joined at the end of the last campaign.
Egham Town Last season: 15/22
An up and down second season in the Southern League saw Egham cycle through three managers, and as a result were unable to improve on their 11th place of a year earlier. The current management team of Trevor Norris and Koo Dumbuya have been busy tweaking their squad over the summer, and whilst the departure of the dangerous Reis Stanislaus - the Sarnies' top goalscorer for the last two campaigns - is a blow, former Staines Town duo Luke Neville (captain) and Danny Bassett committing for the new season will be a boost.
Fleet Town Last season: 19/22 (Division One South & West)
A new opponent for Aylesbury this season, the much moved Hampshire club find themselves back in Division One Central again after two years in the South & West Division, prior to which they spent two years in D1C, and before that were in the Ryman League. Fleet have been playing at this level of football since gaining promotion from the Wessex League in 2002, and were challenging for playoffs in the mid 2000s, but have recently struggled to finishes of 21/18/21/19 in the last four years. Player/Manager Craig Davis will be hoping the change of leagues and some new signings brings about an improvement in fortunes this season. Importantly, Rob Carr and Simba Mlambo - who scored 32 goals between them last season - have both been retained.
Godalming Town Last season: 8/22
Having been switched divisions three times in three years, the Gs can look forward to the rarity of starting a league campaign with some level of consistency with manager Andy retaining the core of the side that finished at mid-table last time out. Amongst the new additions, former Manchester City youngster Louis Hutton joins brothers Charlie and Will after a successful loan spell from Brentford last season, whilst the experienced Steve Laidler has also signed.
Hanwell Town Last season: 7/22
Hanwell enjoyed an excellent first campaign back at this level, having been promoted as Spartan South Midlands League Champions in 2014, before manager Roy Duffy departed in the summer. His replacement is Phil Granville, who makes the step up from Harefield United and has brought a number of his squad with him. Town are therefore expected to be much changed this season, and it will be interesting to see how quickly the new look side adapt to Southern League football.
Kings Langley Last season: 1/22 (Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division)
Fifteen years ago Kings Langley were playing Herts County League football, before embarking on an incredible rise that has culminated with back to back Spartan South Midlands League promotions (Division One, second in 2014; Premier Division, champions in 2015) gaining them entry to the Southern League for the first time in their history. Under the guidance of joint managers Ritchie Hanlon and Paul Hughes they lost just five league games all season and amassed over 100 points. A talented squad includes ex-Duck Nick Jackson.
Leighton Town Last season: 18/22
Despite retaining their league status and some notable scalps along the way, Leighton parted company with previous manager Craig Bicknell at the end of the season, and turned to the familiar name of Mark Eaton - former manager of both Aylesbury sides, amongst others - as their new man in charge. As a result, an all-new Leighton will take to the field, but the return of a number of fans favourites, such as striker Ben Gallant, mean the Reds could have a better season.
North Greenford United Last season: 21/22 (Reprieved from Relegation)
North Greenford's downward spiral of league positions continued and despite finishing their fifth Southern League season in the relegation zone, the club were handed a reprieve and stay in the division for another year. After finishes of 18th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st all involved will be desperate for an improvement this time around, but without some new signings of quality - of which news is sketchy - it looks another tough task for the West Londoners.
Northwood Last season: 10/22
2014/15 saw another top ten finish for Aylesbury's forthcoming FA Cup opponents Northwood's manager Mark Burgess, but he has once again had to contend with key player departures as two of his leading goalscorers in Ismael Ehui and Niko Muir have both moved on to pastures new. Coming in are vastly experienced defender Jon Munday, as well as classy midfielder Louis Stead from Chalfont St. Peter - who was reportedly on Tony Joyce's radar for the Ducks last year, as the Woods aim to get closer to the playoffs.
Petersfield Town Last season: 1/21 (Wessex League Premier Division)
Founded in 1993, the newly promoted Wessex League Champions will be an unknown quantity in the league this season, and, along with Fleet Town, a completely new opponent for the Ducks. Like Kings Langley, Petersfield were dominant in winning their league last season - losing just two games - and should be well equipped to compete at this level, continuing the tradition of newly promoted clubs causing surprises.
Potters Bar Town Last season: 14/22
Some impressive displays under caretaker manager Steve Ringrose, who took over after Jack Friend's resignation last season, landed him the job as Potters Bar Town manager on a permanent basis, as the Scholars ultimately finished one position higher than 2013/14. Replacing top scorer Josh Hutchinson's 29 goals will be key, the striker having moved on to Wealdstone, but Ringrose has brought in a number of new faces to bolster the squad. Potters Bar are Aylesbury's first league opponents of the season.
Royston Town Last season: 2/22 (Playoffs)
League runners up last season, the Crows have rightly been installed as one of the favourites for the title this year, as boss Steve Castle has tweaked his squad with some quality additions such as winger Rhys Hoeness from Barton Rovers and defender Daniel Brathwaite from Chesham United, whilst big striker Robbie Mason is back and fully fit having scored 23 goals in the 2013/14 season. Should be a formidable force this season.
St Ives Town Last season: 9/22
The Ives made steady progress last season in Ricky Marheneike's first year in charge, and some very astute summer signings could see the Cambridgeshire club progress further in what will be their third season at this level. Amongst those joining are attackers Danny Watson and Phil Draycott from Leighton Town - the former scoring 23 goals last season in a struggling side - and defender Steve Gentle from Biggleswade Town.
Uxbridge Last season: 12/22
Another comfortable midtable finish for the Reds will probably be what manager Tony Choules will be looking for, but, once again, if Uxbridge can be more consistent with their results they could push on up the table. The pick of the new signings is exciting winger Anthony O'Connor, who spent the second half of last season with Daventry Town.
Ware Last season: 10/24
Switched in the summer, Ware will play in the Southern League for the first time in their history after 40 years in the Isthmian League, where they finished 10th last season under manager Kem Kemal. Returning to the club this summer was are season's top scorer Kieron Bishop, who hit 23 goals in 32 games before moving to AFC Hornchurch, whilst winger Rod Young from Welling United is amongst the new signings.
