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Ilkeston Town FC  2019-20  Curtailed Season

After the euphoria of winning the league and promotion in the 2018-19 season there followed a period of unease among supporters as it emerged that success had come at a very high price. Mr Hardy had made it clear that he couldn’t continue to finance the club as before and an investigation was ordered to find out why the Club’s accumulated financial loss was so high. It was announced that costs had to be reduced and this involved some high profile casualties. Chief executive Anthony Redwood who had given the club a solid foundation was first to go when his contract was not renewed. One of Mr Redwood’s success’s was to win back the Clubhouse from the previous private owner. After Mr Redwood’s departure, there was a period with no one in charge which left supporters fearing the worst. One consequence was that no one represented the club at the League’s Annual Awards Night. The next bombshell was popular head coach Ian Deakin being asked to take a pay cut. He refused to do this and resigned. The two other coaches, Craig Swinscoe and Martin Lench then followed suit leaving the club without any coaching staff. This was seen as a mortal blow by many supporters but on 22nd June it was announced that Nick Hawkins had been appointed as Chief Operating Officer. Mr Hawkins stated that his remit was to lay foundations to ensure the longevity of the club both on and off the field. That meant the club had to operate at less cost than previously. In a fans forum he told supporters that the club did not want to go for another promotion because promotion to the next level would be too costly. Rather than that we would have to accept a period of stabilisation. The following pre-season friendlies were played : 

          Eastwood   (away)                   won  4-0 
          Airbus UK Broughton (away)   won  3-2
          Pinxton  (away)                        won  4-1
          Notts County    (home)            lost   0-5
          Solihull Moors   (home)            lost   0-4
          Belper United    (home))           won  3-1
          Basford United   (away)           lost   1-7
          Clifton All Whites   (away)        won  4-1
          Grantham Town   (away)          lost   2-4                 

Team manager Lee Fowler was in charge for the pre-season friendlies but on 31st July his contract was terminated. Nick Hawkins said the club were not in a position to fulfil the contract that Fowler had been originally offered. That seemed to suggest that Fowler had been asked to take a pay cut and he was not prepared to do that. Fowler’s last match in charge was at Clifton. The job of First Team Coach was advertised and Mark Clifford was eventually appointed. Nick Hawkins acted as team manager for the Grantham friendly. Clifford had to commence his duties without having had a pre-season and his first game was to be the FA Cup match against Loughborough University, a competition which could have brought in some much needed revenue. Unfortunately the players Clifford had available did him no favours and he immediately had to set about improving the squad. Clifford recruited two coaches in Scott Goodwin and Shaun Harrad. Billy Bennett also took up a coaching role when illness appeared to have curtailed his playing career. Harrad in particular proved to be  a useful addition to the coaching staff because at 34 he was still good enough to play and score goals. Liam Attwood who is treasurer of the Supporters Group took on the important position of Club Secretary.        


AUGUST 2019 

 Following promotion last season to the Northern Premier League Ilkeston’s first competitive match was against Loughborough University in the FA Cup. It was played on Loughborough Dynamo’s ground and it turned out to be a disaster as we were beaten 3-1. Tom Marshall’s dismissal didn’t help. In the first league game on Sat 17th August we met pre season promotion favourites Cleethorpes Town. We played much better than at Loughborough and earned a creditable 0-0 draw. On the Tuesday night we travelled to Stamford. At half time we led 1-0 with a goal by Cameron Dear. Stamford equalised but Dear scored again to restore our lead. We held the lead until near the end but Stamford equalised then went ahead in the final minute. Ilkeston threw caution to the wind in an effort to equalise but it was Stamford who scored again in added time to make it 4-2. Although defeated, Ilkeston played their part in a match highly rated by all who attended. Our third league match was at home to Worksop Town and we recorded our first win by 2-1. Shaun Harrad scored his first goal for the club and Kevin Da Silva Bastos scored a last minute winner. The August Bank Holiday game was home to local rivals, Belper Town. The Nailers had a player sent off in the first half which caused them to settle for a draw and the game ended 0-0. The final August game was away to Chasetown and we achieved our first away win by 2-0 with Alex Marshall scoring both Ilkeston goals. So at 31st August Ilkeston had made a fair start and were in 7th position with 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat.      


SEPTEMBER 2019 

The first game of September was a Tuesday night match at home to Spalding United and it was our third goalless draw at the NMG. Saturday we travelled to play Frickley Athletic. Goals by Conor Green, Jermain Hollis and Shaun Harrad gave Ilkeston a 3-1 win. The next match was at league leaders Leek Town and a real test was anticipated. Ilkeston made a great start and Rod Orlando-Young gave us an early lead. The goal gave Ilkeston confidence and they deservedly led at half time. The game changed though with 15 minutes left when a penalty was given against Robins keeper Richard Stainsby and he was shown a red card. As we had no substitute keeper Tom Marshall had to put on the goalkeeper jersey. The penalty was scored and Leek went on to get the winner. Worse was to come as Ilkeston ended the match with nine players after Alex Marshall saw red for a poor tackle near the end. As at Stamford, the match was highly rated by the many watchers and the Leek directors and officials commiserated with their Ilkeston counterparts recognising that they had been fortunate. Next up was Market Drayton Town at the NMG and it was a comfortable 3-0 win with goals by Shaun Harrad, Fabian Smith and Reco Fyfe. The final September game was again at home and a 3-1 win against Newcastle Town. Mason Lee scored his first goal for the club and Shaun Harrad and Tom Marshall added further goals.  Ilkeston were now up to 3rd after 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in the month but we had played more games than some of our rivals.            


OCTOBER 2019 

On Tuesday 1st October Ilkeston had a third consecutive home game which they expected to win. It didn’t work out that way and Wisbech pulled off a surprise victory by 2-1. Harrad put Ilkeston ahead but Wisbech equalised a minute later. The visitors went on to win with a penalty and held out against a terrific effort by Ilkeston to rescue a point. Next up was a difficult game against Sheffield FC. After a goalless first half Sheffield went two up. It looked like another defeat for Ilkeston until they brought on Mansfield Town loanee Tom Fielding halfway through the second half. Fielding made an instant impact and scored a screamer within minutes of coming on.  Two minutes later it was 2-2 when Shaun Harrad scored his 6th goal of the season and in the 90th minute Tom Marshall headed the winner. After the game manager Mark Clifford came on to the supporters coach to thank the fans for their support. The feeling was, that the win at Sheffield made up for the three points dropped against Wisbech. The following Saturday Ilkeston were away to Bedworth United in the FA Trophy and as in the FA Cup Ilkeston went out at the first hurdle. It was a big disappointment because we were in the ascendency for the majority of the game. If Shaun Harrad’s penalty had not been saved just before half time, the outcome may have been different but Bedworth went through by 3-1. Alex Marshall scored for Ilkeston. Next up was a home match against Frickley Athletic who we had already played and beaten on their ground by 3-1.Before that, on 16th October it was announced that Mark Clifford was the new owner of Ilkeston Town Football Club. Clifford completed the takeover after successful negotiations with outgoing owner Alan Hardy. With the help of investors, Clifford spoke of his ambitious plans to create better facilities and a self sustainable Club. The change of ownership brought about an end to the reign of Nick Hawkins as Chief Executive. MarkClifford’s first match as owner ended a 2-2 draw. Frickley, with a new manager and several new players were a far better side from the one we played against in September. Jermain Hollis gave Ilkeston the lead but Frickley levelled with a penalty. Frickley then went ahead and Alex Marshall earned us a point with the second penalty of the game. A draw was probably a fair result.  On Wednesday evening 23rd October the new owners gave a video presentation of their planned development of the ground and surrounding areas. Amongst other announcements, It was stated that a 4G pitch had already been ordered and would be laid at the end of the current season. There would also be new LED floodlights and fencing around the pitch. The car park would be moved from it’s present position to a much larger area at the other end of the ground. They also told supporters about the club’s on field ambitions and the way the Club would be run which would include supporter involvement.  When Nick Hawkins arrived in June, he made a statement to supporters, that the Club could not financially afford to be promoted again so would have to settle for a season of consolidation. The change of ownership appeared to contradict that and there was now talk of targeting the playoffs. Saturday 26th was the last scheduled match of October and an away game against Newcastle Town which, like the Frickley game, had been brought forward because both teams had a blank Saturday. Unfortunately, heavy rain prior to the match caused every one of Saturdays fixtures to be postponed including our game.Ilkeston’s three league matches played in October month resulted in one win, one draw and one defeat. Add to that the FA Trophy defeat and it was not a brilliant month for results. Ilkeston were still handily placed occupying 4th spot in the table but there were three teams below them, (Stocksbridge, Stamford and Belper) who would have expected to go above them with a realistic points haul from their games in hand. Because of their successful FA Cup run, Belper  had played seven games less  than Ilkeston while Carlton and Leek were starting to consolidate their position at the top.  


NOVEMBER 2019 

Ilkeston’s first game in November was against Loughborough Dynamo at home. Prior to the match it was announced that former favourite, Jamie Walker was to return to the NMG from Basford United on a 3 month loan and this was quickly followed by another signing, that of defender, Kieran Fenton from Quorn. The Loughborough game went ahead but only after two pitch inspections. The match referee insisted on extra forking of the pitch before giving the go ahead. Ilkeston got off to a flier after Alex Marshall headed in after only 2 minutes. Marshall went on to record a hat-trick by the 18th minute. Ilkeston made light of the conditions and two further goals by Rod Orlando-Young gave them their biggest win of the season to date. The following Tuesday night we played against New Mills in the Derbyshire Senior Cup. It was a disappointing night and we lost 2-1 with Alex Marshall scoring our goal. On Saturday it was back to the main priority and an away league match at Lincoln United. Due to the postponement of games involving the teams above us, a win would have enabled us to go top. We didn’t get the win but a we got a draw that felt like a win. Alex Marshall gave us a 14th minute lead but within a minute Lincoln were level. Ilkeston dominated the second half but were kept out by the outstanding Lincoln keeper. Alex Marshall was rather harshly sent off for a late challenge and Lincoln scored with ten minutes left. When a defeat seemed certain, Mason Lee cracked in an equaliser in the 94th minute to give us a point which overall was the least we deserved. Next up was a League Cup tie at Buxton on the Tuesday night. Buxton play on an artificial surface so the game would be on but getting to Buxton through the worst Derbyshire flooding for years would be another matter. Ambergate and Matlock en route were particularly badly affected. A woman had died after being swept away by floods at Matlock after the River Derwent burst it’s banks. I was a cold night and only 92 braved the weather to watch the match which Buxton dominated and won 3-0.The next few days saw our region get more torrential rain and on the Thursday the road outside the NMG had to be closed due to flooding. After sterling work by Mike Pike , Ilkeston’s groundsman, Saturday’s home game against Stocksbridge Park Steels went ahead. But it didn’t go to plan. Stocksbridge scored three times in six minutes in a devastating spell, They scored again just before half time and again just after half time to lead 5-0. We finally got a grip on the game and pulled two back but it was an embarrassing defeat which caused several players to tweet apologies to the fans, Mark Clifford responded by signing two new players, midfielder Danny Racchi and forward Kole Lambert. It was also announced that Shaurn Harrad was to leave  the Club and he was followed by Rod Orlando-Young. who was to join Buxton FC. Saturday 23rd November there was no league match but a friendly was a arranged against a Chesterfield FC XI with free admission.On Wednesday 27th November there was a surprise announcement by the Club that Martin Carruthers had been appointed as the new Head Coach enabling Mark Clifford to take on more responsibilities regarding the Club’s development off the field. Mark Clifford had worked as assistant manager under Martin Carruthers during several years of success at Basford United. Friday 29th November the Club announced another new player, Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain from Notts County on a month’s loan.We really needed to return to winning ways at Kidsgrove on Saturday 30th November but It didn’t happen. After Ilkeston had looked the better side, a first half red card for debutant Christian Oxlade Chamberlain proved to be pivotal. Kidsgrove made their extra man count and ran out 4-1 winners. November had turned out to be an awful month for results with us losing two league matches and exiting two Cup competitions.              


DECEMBER 2019 

Friday 6th December, ahead of Saturday’s home game with Sutton Coldfield, it was announced that Ilkeston had signed 26 year old Kieran Wells, a renowned goal scorer from Grantham Town. Sutton Coldfield proved to be tough opponents but Ilkeston won the game 2-0 giving Martin Carruthers his first win and debutant Kieran Wells opened his account with a spectacular late goal. Dean Freeman scored Ilkeston’s opener.The following Saturday Ilkeston travelled to in-form Glossop North End who were boosted by a 3-1 win at Lincoln United in their last match and only one defeat in their last six games. Prior to the game Martin Carruthers signed Richard Whyman from his old club, Quorn and he went straight into the team. Ilkeston didn’t start well and went two goals behind after only 16 minutes. Kieran Wells scored the best goal of the game before half time and Ilkeston were then on top but they were hit by a Glossop counter attack early in the second half. Kole Lambert made it 2-3 but that’s how it finished. Three defeats in our last four league matches was a big setback to our playoff hopes especially as our next four matches were all against rival promotion contenders. The final game before Christmas was the seaside trip to Cleethorpes. Once again we were beaten. We probably deserved a point but a missed penalty by Alex Marshall proved costly. Ryan Campbell-Gordon scored our goal in a 2-1 defeat watched by a crowd of 502. The final game of December was our Boxing Day match against neighbours Carlton Town at the NMG. Again it all went wrong and we lost by 2-4. Kieran Wells gave us a good start (his third goal in four matches) but three Carlton goals in the seven minutes before half time sealed our fate. Dean Freeman gave us hope with a goal two minutes after the restart but it was not to be and December ended disappointingly with a third consecutive defeat.  Ilkeston went into the new year in sixth position but having played more matches than every other team. Five defeats in our last six league games had made our hopes of finishing in the playoffs seem most unlikely.                         


JANUARY 2020 

New Years Day Ilkeston travelled Derbyshire neighbours, Belper Town. The Nailers had only lost two matches and were in fourth place with games in hand on the teams above them. Ilkeston produced a much better performance than of late and deserved the 1-1 draw. Fabian Smith scored the equaliser four minutes after Belper went ahead. Next up was a home match against high riding Stamford and we were well beaten by 4-2. Debutant, Daniel Melanius Mullarkey and Jamie Walker scored the Ilkeston goals in the first half which ended 2-2.On the 9th January there was the surprise announcement that assistant manager Scott Goodwin had left the club and this was followed by recent signing, Daniel Racchi also leaving.After four tough matches against promotion chasers from which only one point was gleaned, Ilkeston’s next game was against Spalding United away. The Tulips had two points less than Ilkeston with a game in hand. In their ten home matches to date, Spalding had scored ten goals and conceded twelve so a low scoring game looked likely and that’s the way it turned out. Although Ilkeston dominated the match the outcome was decided by a fortunate Spalding goal. It came from a debatable free kick which took a massive deflection leaving Ross Durrant stranded. This defeat meant Ilkeston dropped to tenth, their lowest position so far. Next up was a home game against Sheffield FC, the worlds oldest club. Sheffield, like Ilkeston were experiencing a poor run of results. Ilkeston had gone six games without a win and Sheffield had gone eight games without a win, although Sheffield’s eight games included five draws. With this in mind, a draw looked likely and that’s how it finished. Sheffield had the better of the first half and led 1-0. Ilkeston needed to be better in the second half and they were with Kieran Wells scoring the equaliser. On Wednesday 22nd January we played a friendly against Nottingham University at the NMG. The match went ahead despite the dense fog which made it only just playable. It was a good thing that it was free admission for spectators. An Alex Marshall goal divided the teams.The final league game of January was our longest away journey to play Wisbech Town who had beaten us at the NMG in October by 2-1. The month of January had so far been a been a big disappointment with no wins and just two points from four games so a confidence restoring victory was desperately needed. Once again the match was played a difficult gluepot surface but Ilkeston settled first and went ahead with a goal by Mason Lee. Ironically Lee had been on loan at Wisbech until this match when Ilkeston recalled him. It was a physical game with two sendings off and eleven yellow cards but many of the cautions were thought to be rather harsh. Both teams battled for the vital next goal and it was Kole Lambert who scored it to give Ilkeston a much needed win.On Tuesday 28th January we played another friendly against a strong Chesterfield side. Ilkeston included central defender, Alex Render who had been recently released by Chesterfield. The National League side proved too strong and led by 2-0 at half time. The second half saw both teams make changes and Ilkeston included several Under 18s. One of them, Ayleal Dill pulled a goal back to make the final score 2-1. Although a defeat it was a useful exercise and gave first team experience to eight of our under 18 players.                         


FEBRUARY 2020

It’s very rare that a team has five Saturday fixtures in February but this year being a leap year it happened. Saturday 1st February we were home to Glossop North End. A goal from Glossop substitute Henry Limpishi 9 minutes from time condemned Ilkeston to another defeat.  In a game with very few scoring opportunities, Glossop just about deserved their win. Ilkeston were second best in a goalless first half but despite an improved showing in the second half it was Glossop who grabbed the winner. The following Saturday we were away to Sutton Coldfield on their 3G pitch but before then it was announced that Ilkeston had signed former player Joe Maguire. Joe marked his return with a goal but it wasn’t enough as the Sutton ran out 3-1 winners. Ilkeston started well but went behind to a Isai Marselia goal which gave Sutton the impetus to dominate the rest of the half. James Beresford added a second but Maguire gave Ilkeston hope with a header in first half added time. However it turned out to be false hope as Sutton restored their two goal advantage within two minutes of the restart. Despite a big effort after that Ilkeston couldn’t add to their solitary goal so the game was lost.by 3-1. Saturday 15th February Ilkeston were scheduled to play at Market Drayton. Before that the UK  was hit by two major storms, Storm Ciara and then Storm Dennis within days of each other.  Wisbech Town’s ground and Carlton Town’s ground  both suffered structural damage due to the high winds. The combination of the two storms caused major flooding throughout the country and only three matches were able to be played on the 15th and Ilkeston’s match at Market Drayton  was among numerous matches postponed due to waterlogged pitches.On 18th February the Club announced the appointment of Wayne Hallcro as assistant manager to work with Martin Carruthers. Wayne who had previously been part of the successful management setup at Grantham said he hoped to get the best out of the players with a view to picking up as many points as possible between now and the end of the season. His initial contract was until the end of the season but with a view to it being extended to the following season.Sat 22nd February we were home to league leaders Leek Town who had only lost one of their 25 games played so far. Nobody gave us a chance but it was the day we clicked and had a fair share of luck for once. Kole Lambert gave us the lead and we held on to it. We had Ross Durrant to thank for some outstanding saves but we were threatening to score too. As the game progressed we grew in confidence and Lambert doubled our lead. Leek threw everything at us but we kept them out and pulled off an improbable win.Saturday 29th February we were away to Newcastle Town. After all the rain no one expected the game to be on but surprisingly it was one of just four fixtures in our league to survive. The pitch was sodden but playable. We wanted to play because we wanted to build on last Saturday’s win against Leek. Ilkeston had more of the possession in the first half but half time arrived goalless.Newcastle were much better in the second half and went ahead but Kole Lambert quickly levelled. A draw looked likely but Kieran Wells scored a superb late winner after great work by Reco Fyfe who supplied the cross. So the poor run had been halted and February month which started with two defeats, ended with two wins.         


March 2020

March 7th was the date of our re-arranged match against Market Drayton Town who were bottom of the league table. We totally outplayed them in the first half but only scored once through a Kieran Wells header. Drayton started the second half well but we soon regained control and the result was never really in doubt. New signing Ben Clark came on for the last 10 minutes. The 1-0 win was our third on the bounce and as other results went our way supporters were wondering if we could sneak into the playoffs if we kept the winning run going. The win at Market Drayton lifted us up to 7th but all of the other teams had games in hand. Next up was mid table Loughborough Dynamo away who had gone six games unbeaten. On Friday 13th March, due to the worldwide Coronavirus outbreak becoming more prevalent it was announced that professional football in the Premiership and EFL had been postponed until 3rd April. The Northern Premier League announced that their matches would continue as normal for the time being. Two late Loughborough goals condemned us to a 1-3 defeat after Fernando Bell-Toxtle’s superb equaliser. All the talk at the ground was about whether the NPL season would be concluded or abandoned. By Monday the Northern Premier League confirmed that they, like the Premiership and the EFL, would be postponing fixtures until April 3rd. What might happen after that date was open to speculation. As the coronavirus situation intensified with more and more people testing positive and increasing numbers dying, the possible date for a restart of fixtures was put back to 30th April. The country was now almost in lockdown with most people having to stay at home and only key workers allowed to go to work. Leaving home was only allowed for essential purposes like food shopping and social distancing was to be practised, keeping a distance of two metres from other people. On Tuesday 24th March the Northern Premier League announced that their preferred option was for the season to be abandoned immediately, something which had already been decided for step 5 and 6 clubs but such a decision needed to be ratified by the FA. If the season were to be abandoned, then a further decision had to be made. It would have to be decided whether the season be declared null and void, or if not, how promotion and relegation issues would be determined. Meanwhile, the Club made an announcement that whilst the investors had every intension of proceeding with the ground improvement plans the coronavirus may cause delay. The planned start date for the new 4G pitch was 7th May. On 9th April the FA announced it’s ratification of the NPL’s decision to conclude the 2019/20 season and to null and void all results despite protest letters from over 150 clubs, mainly the ones hoping for promotion.All records were to be expunged for all leagues in Step 3 to 7 so in future years anyone looking for   information and records of this season may not be able to find them. For this reason we decided to prepare the Year Book so that what happened from an Ilkeston Town perspective is not lost.  The Prime Minister Boris Johnson was one who caught Covid-19 and spent several days in intensive care before recovering. The unprecedented decision to abandon the season meant the match against Loughborough Dynamo was to be Ilkeston’s last in the 2019 -20 season and this was the League Table at 14th March 2020 following the final games played. 

                                        P   W    D    L   F    A     GD  Pts
  1  Leek Town               28   23   3    2   64   19   45    72
  2  Stamford                 29   22   4    3   74   27   47    70
  3  Cleethorpes Town  29   17   6    6   67   40   27    57
  4  Belper Town           26   14   7    5   44   29   15    49
  5  Carlton Town          26   14   6    6   52   33   19    48
  6  Stocksbridge PS    30   13   8    9   49   45     4    47
  7  Sutton Coldfield     28   13   5  10   45   34   11    44
  8  Frickley Ath (-3)      31   14   4  13   49   44    5    43
  9  Ilkeston Town         32   12   7  13   52   50    2    43
10  Kidsgrove Ath        27   11   6  10   42   31   11    39
11  Loughborough D    29   11   6   12  43   45   -2    39
12  Worksop Town       32   12   2   18   41  55  -14   38
13  Sheffield                 27   10   7   10   49   47    2    37
14  Glossop N E           30   8    9   13   36   45    -9    33
15  Chasetown             30   9    5   16   38   52   -14   32
16  Spalding United     30   8    8   14   33   53   -20   32
17  Newcastle Town     30   8    4   18   42   55   -13   28
18  Lincoln United        29   8    3   18   30   60   -30   27
19  Market Drayton       30   6    2   22   34   85   -51   20
20  Wisbech Town        29   4    6   19   29   64   -35   18       


       

Last edited by Matchman (11/11/2021 6:01 AM)