Hempnall First Team, Promotion Season, Continued »

When you reflect on what was a fantastic promotion winning season the analysis is almost inevitably around why were we successful this year and not previous years.

Various elements go into every season such as hard work , Luck , organisation , assembling the best squad of players you can , the quality of the opposition etc.

Many of these will be put forward as reasons for our success & they will have all played their part . However when I look back over the last 30 years as player and / or manager to see when success was obtained & when it was not , one overriding factor stands head and shoulders above the rest ‘ Character’.

But also its not just having the ‘Characters’ within your club , it also has to have the right blend of ‘ Strong’ characters both on & off the pitch !

We have had all the other ingredients before & they are also essential to the ‘Success ‘ recipe but that old saying of ‘ When the going gets tough the tough ( characters ) get going ‘is where I feel my point is illustrated.

Some example on the pitch I would point to are:

Hindringham ( our promotion colleagues ) away . Two nil down , down to ten men & going up the notorious slope . Many sides would have folded including some very talented Hempnall sides. However , the ‘ character ‘ shown that day to get back to 2 – 2 & have them on the ropes as the lads pummelled them for a winner brings a lump to my throat ,even as I write now. The word ‘proud’ is as close as I can get to illustrate feelings on the day.

Thetford Town away , the way we breezed past a side 2 divisions higher didn’t tell the whole story . Our top goal scorer Frankie didn’t start , our player of the season Rob Browne came off with a nasty head injury after 15 minutes & Flinto got his marching orders ( again !!) . The chips were down , the response a comfortable 3 – 1 win as people filled the breeches.

Three defeats on the bounce , our only league defeats , the response a 6 month undefeated run to seal promotion & the title . Its takes character to do that & we had a ‘ bucket ‘ load.

LEADERS - The character has to be led & the 2 main players on the pitch have to be led and the 2 main players on the pitch for this are skipper Ben Player ( The ‘discipline ‘ ) & Manager Frankie ( The ‘Drive’) both leaders in their own right , none the less effective or driven but total contrasts. The important part in my view is that they ‘blended ‘ or ‘complimented ‘ each other ( my second point & may be the tougher one to acquire ) .

Had we had 2 the same they would most likely have clashed & focus is lost or at a minimum distracted , so when the margin of success or failure is as tight as Division one has always proven , there is no room for even the slightest distractions.

This is why I think success cannot be planned or cannot be bought ( many professional sides have proven that ) . You need a certain element of good fortune in how your players (components ) blend together.

In this respect our season started well having a blended leadership & characters amongst the players in home grown talent like Iain Mills, Ben Cudden , David Robinson , Sean Flint , David Storey, Matt Cawston , Sam Wenham all characters in their own way , as are stalwarts Mark Whitmore , Tom Halliwell & Dan Smith.

Throughout the season at different points they were joined by others Ben Lydka , Richard Way , Steve Barnes , Mark Way & Tony Shipley all playing a part in the Success.

Key Highlights in the ‘On Pitch ‘ performances for me were:

• The unbeaten run from 21 Oct to the end of the season.
• The way the side galvanised together following the ‘hit’ to one of its number Iain Mills broke his leg , for me the only real bad news all season .But out of this tragic event & adversity , grew a new determination and desire ‘ lets to do it for Millsy ‘ as well as themselves , became a added motivation and culture.
• The 6 – 1 mauling of Wymondham away , when the boys came out of the blocks like Linford Christie , being 4 – 0 up in 20 minutes , a tough fixture all over.
• The 1 – 0 win at Scole , not in its self a ‘stand out’ result nor the fact Frankie scored the winner . But again when you look further this hid the real story in that Frankie had become a father to twins over night , when his sons had arrived 3 months early ! At 6.15 am he called off & 20 minutes later called back on again , even though he had not slept & other commitments had arrived !
• The fact we only lost 3 games all season.
• The Long Stratton Xmas Derby , 3 times behind , 3 times recovered to secure a draw against an inspired opposition determined to beat the old enemy.
• Against Munford at home in dire weather conditions , the attractive football we played to be 5 – 0 up at half time , then discipline ourselves to ‘temper ‘ our approach as pressure came upon the ref to abandon the game.

Hempnall First Team, Promotion Season, Continued »