I'm in the process of doing another Year Book for the current season. Here is a sneak preview

Last season's year book (2018-19) should be printed soon.


Year Book 2019-20    ( *Draft copy subject to amendment) 

 

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 curtailed his playing career. Harrad in particular proved to be an excellent addition to the coaching staff because at 34 he was still talented enough to play and score goals. Liam Attwood who had held several roles in 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.                 

BetVictor Northern Premier League :  South East Division as at 30th September 2019 
         
                                                      P      W     D     L      F      A   GD   Pts
1 Leek Town                                 9       7      1      1    19      8    11    22
2 Carlton Town                            9        6      2      1    17      9     8    20
3 Ilkeston Town                         10        5      3      2    16      9     7    18
4 Sheffield FC                             9        5      1      3     25    17     8    16
5 Cleethorpes Town                   8        5      1      2     19    12     7    16
6 Stamford                                  8        5      1      2     17    10     7    16
7 Belper Town                             6        5      1      0     12      5      7   16
8 Stocksbridge Park Steels       9        4      3      2     17    12      5   15
9 Spalding United                     10       4      3      3     12      9      3    15
10 Worksop Town                     10      4      0      6      15    19     -4    12
11 Lincoln United                      11      4      0      7      15    23     -8    12
12 Loughborough Dynamo       7      3      1      3       19    15     4     10
13 Chasetown                             6      3      1      2       12    10     2     10
14 Kidsgrove Athletic                6      2      1      3        4      7     -3       7
15Newcastle Town                     9      2      1      6      15    22     -7       7
16Frickley Athletic                     9      2      1      6       8     14    -6        7
17Glossop North End                8      1      3      4       5       8    -3        6
18 Sutton Coldfield Town          6      2      0      4       5       9    -4        6
19 Wisbech Town                       7      1      2      4       8     14    -6        5
20 Market Drayton Town          11      1      0    10     10     32   -22       3               


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 fourth in the league 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.     

BetVictor Northern Premier League :  South East Division as at 31st October 2019 
           
                                                      P      W     D     L      F      A   GD   Pts

1 Carlton Town                           11      8      2     1     20      9    11      26
2 Leek  Town                              10      7      2     1     21    10    11      23
3 Cleethorpes Town                  11      7      2     2     25     15   10      23
4 Ilkeston Town                         13      6      4     3     22     15     7      22
5 Stocksbridge Park Steels      11      6      3     2     21     13     8      21
6 Stamford                                  9       6      1     2     22     11    11     19
7 Sheffield FC                           12       6      1     5     31     24     7     19
8 Belper Town                            6       5      1     0     12       5      7     16
9 Worksop Town                      12       5      0     7     19     21     -2     15
10 Spalding United                  12       4      3     5      13    16     -3     15
11 Lincoln United                     14       5      0     9      19    30    -11    15
12 Loughborough Dynamo     11       4      2     5      25    26     -1     14
13 Chasetown                            8       3      2     3      13    13      0      11
14 Frickley Athletic                 13       3      2     8      15    29     -14    11
15 Kidsgrove Athletic              7        3      1     3        9     7        2     10
16 Glossop North End            11       2      4     5       13   13       0     10
17 Wisbech Town                    10       2      3     5       12    19     -7       9
18 Newcastle Town                 11       2      2     7       18    26     -8       8
19 Sutton Coldfield Town        7       2      1      4        9     13     -4       7
20 Market Drayton Town        11      2      0     11      15     39    -24      6          

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Last edited by Matchman (27/10/2019 8:50 AM)