The 2019-20 Season may soon be expunged from official records but as always there was plenty happening at the NMG and here is a brief summary of what occurred even before the season started.

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.  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 took on the important position of Club Secretary.