And as part of my build up for a new season where i will be covering as many of the Gillingham games as I physically can, I have recruited fans from all 24 clubs from League One and get their options for their clubs as the new season starts on August the 3rd.
Today marks the final day and last but no means least, we have two clubs who came up from League Two at the end of the 2011-12 season and both sides have done really well to finish quite strong in their first season in League One. Both sides are looking to push forward with their campaigns this time around which can only mean- unless I have made an almighty cock up somewhere - it's Swindon Town and Crawley Town.
CRAWLEY TOWN
Name: Craig
Bratt
Occupation away from
supporting your club:
Student
How long have you been a
supporter of Crawley Town and how did you start supporting them?
Started
supporting Crawley in 2006 through a family friend
Let’s get this ball rolling:
What would be your Dream
season?
Play off
Final, JPT win at Wembley and away tie at Arsenal in the cup!
And what will make it a
Nightmare season for you?
Not being
able to compete and finishing rock bottom
Our own fans think our team
is…
Defensively
solid but in need of a new striker
Other teams’ fans think our
team is…
Horrible
cheats, bank rolled
The new season:
How has Pre-Season been for
you this time around?
We have
had some dodgy results to better opposition but rounded off nicely with a win
over Premiership Crystal Palace at home.
Have you got the right
manager and how popular is he?
The right
manager? Yes, Popularity? Not so great
Are there any new signings
that you are excited about?
Andy
Drury has signed from Ipswich who is one to watch!
Name the player that you
would happily drive to his next club (and pay for the taxi as well)...
Gary
Alexander. He's useless and helped keep the Kingston circus up last season.
Name an opposition player
you despise...
N/A
Name an opposition player
you would love to have at your club?
Marlon
Pack.
If I was to visit your club
on an away trip this season, name one thing I must do in your town? (Can be
anything, football-related or otherwise... from visiting a famous sight, to
making sure you don’t park your car somewhere, to find a certain drink in a pub
or a nice place to eat)
See the
giant red and white football on the roundabout outside the ground!
Onto other important matters:
You finished only just
outside the playoffs last season; do you think that you can go one step further
this season?
To put it
simply, No, I personally think it is too big of a task for a club of our size.
You only scored 59 goals
last season which was one of the lowest within the top 10 in the division, do
you agree that this needs to change in order for you to make the playoffs?
In this
division you need goals to get anywhere, and we certainly need a goal scorer if
we ever do aim for the play offs.
Former manager Steve Evans
will be a visiting manager this season; will you give him a good reception?
Will he
get a good reception? No, the man’s an idiot. Yes, he got us to where we are,
but an idiot. Luring Tubbs to Rotherham certainly hasn't helped his case.
And now onto the really important stuff:
Who do you think will be
the top 6 at the end of the season?
Wolves
MK Dons
Peterborough
Bristol City
Brentford
Sheff Utd
MK Dons
Peterborough
Bristol City
Brentford
Sheff Utd
Who do you think will go
down to League 2?
Colchester
Coventry
Shrewsbury
Oldham
Coventry
Shrewsbury
Oldham
And finally, in all
honesty, where do you think you will finish this season?
18th
SWINDON TOWN
Name: Ewan Walsh
Occupation away from
supporting your club:
Teacher
How long have you been a
supporter of Swindon and how did you start supporting them?
I started watching Swindon when I was about 7 or 8, because
my whole family had been watching STFC, and I've loved it since then.
Let’s get this ball rolling:
What would be your Dream
season?
Dream season would be a decent cup run and promotion.
And what will make it a
Nightmare season for you?
With the board at times having poor communications with the
fans, fans are worrying about what is going on behind the club, so I’ll say
entering administration.
Our own fans think our team
is…
Our fans have very mixed views on the upcoming season. Some
think relegation is on the cards; however others see us winning promotion.
Other teams’ fans think our
team is…
Having let go of a lot of key experienced players for our
success in the previous season (reaching the last 16 of the capital one cup and
playoff semi finals) most fans from other clubs are expecting us to have a weak
team.
The new season:
How has Pre-Season been for
you this time around?
Eventful, starting it with a win other a local Swindon side,
but then losing to Banbury United and Forest Green Rovers. (Both non-league
sides) Kevin MacDonald then stepped down as manager (reasons un-known) after
just 14 games at the club. However Town, now playing under care taker manager
Mark Cooper, put together a top performance to earn a 1-1 draw with Premier
League outfit Spurs. Less than 24hrs later we made another good performance but
lost 3-0 against championship side Birmingham. Our tour to Portugal turned out
to be a success beating Spurs U21 4-1 and then drawing to them a few days later
3-3.
Have you got the right
manager and how popular is he?
Can't comment on manager as we don't have one, although care
taker boss Mark Cooper isn't the most popular man at Swindon.
Are there any new signings
that you are excited about?
We have made a few good signings in Ryan Mason, Massiomo
Loungo, Grant Hall and Alex Pritchard (all on loan from Spurs) Ryan Harley from
Brighton is also a good looking signing.
Name the player that you
would happily drive to his next club (and pay for the taxi as well)...
Alan Navvaro, not a bad player but injury prone and is on big
money.
Name an opposition player
you despise...
Clayton Donaldson of Brentford, because he has scored some
vital goals for them against us.
Name an opposition player
you would love to have at your club?
I'd love to have released by rivals Oxford in may. Impresses
me when ever I see him.
If I was to visit your club
on an away trip this season, name one thing I must do in your town? (Can be
anything, football-related or otherwise... from visiting a famous sight, to
making sure you don’t park your car somewhere, to find a certain drink in a pub
or a nice place to eat)
Bar 72 is always popular for away fans visiting the CG on a
match day, a bar just for the away fans to have a drink before the game.
Onto other important matters:
How does your club recover
from a disappointing penalty shootout defeat against Brentford and rebuild
yourself ready for another chance of promotion?
No comment.
You let Paul Benson go on
loan at Cheltenham towards the end of last season where he did ok, would you have
played him against Brentford?
His goals got us out of L2 and is a great guy, but as he's
got older he's lost a bit of his spark in my opinion. I would have brought him
on as a sub as Miles Storey missed a penalty which Paul Benson would of no
doubt scored.
During the middle of the
last season, Paolo Di Canio left the club after false promises from the board
of Swindon, is there still a lot of questions surrounding the situation around
the club and why he left?
Di Canio left to what he described as 'Broken promises' from
the club. However ex owner Andrew Black has repeatedly said this is nonsense.
Most fans believe he didn't have the guts to finish the job when times got a
bit tougher for us.
And now onto the really important stuff:
Who do you think will be
the top 6 at the end of the season?
Brentford, Wolves, Sheffield United, Bristol City, MK Dons,
Preston (in that order)
Who do you think will go
down to League 2?
Coventry, Bradford, Shrewsbury and Oldham.
And finally, in all
honesty, where do you think you will finish this
season?
10th
============
And with the final two clubs now done and dusted, we can now let the talking stop and let the action begin as we all start a 9 month journey into the unknown.
By the end of May, no doubt hearts will be broken, dreams dashed and glory will be given the very best as we continue another unforgettable football season.
To all who have taken part, I salute your honesty here and thanks for taking part. I hope that when I visit your club at any point during the season I hope that we can share our experiences of the clubs we all love so much over a drink or two - PS I'm buying one first.
To conclude, all I need to say at the end of this is...
FOOTBALL IS BACK!!!!!
