By Conor Bennett
The first demotion in Wanderers’ history was as agonising as it gets; a fate that Marc adjudged as a ‘long and painful death’. We are, on paper, the most successful senior club in the country, boasting an unmatched promotion record. So, when the drop was confirmed it meant we would – for the first time – start a new season having taken a step backward in the pyramid.
However, in true Wanderers fashion the heartache has been quickly pushed aside. After Marc’s end of season speech on the turf of Meadowbank it was clear to all involved with our brilliant club that the aim for this coming campaign will be a return to the stylish, front-footed Wanderers we adore.
Marc has not been shy to declare that Wanderers will be pushing for our first NLS title, a quick return to non-league’s top flight and with it the instant restoration of our twenty-five year upward trajectory.
A flurry of quality new signings demonstrated Marc’s early intentions. Versatile left-sided defender Jordan Norville-Williams arrives from Farnborough. Highly-rated goalkeeper Harrison Foulkes joins from Eastbourne Borough to replace outgoing Player of the Year Harrison Male. Full-back Brennan Camp makes the switch from National League Eastleigh. Rhys Murphy completes the new arrivals, a forward with significant pedigree and experience at the top end of the non-league game.
A shift in the training schedule sees the boys working across three weekday mornings. Affording more time to work on playing patterns, Wanderers will hope the change also helps to keep the injury list to minimum, something that has blighted the last two campaigns.
Pre-Season has been largely positive. Back-to-back away victories kicked us off, with an encouraging nine goals scored across visits to Poole, Leatherhead, and Redhill. The remaining four games took place at Meadowbank and provided mixed results as Wanderers won two (against Sholing and Farnham) and lost two (to Dulwich Hamlet and Rushall Olympic).
The seven games gave us an insight into our new signings. All four asserted themselves into the squad and showed signs of what they have to offer. Foulkes looked sharp between the sticks, keeping three clean sheets from seven. Both Camp and Norville-Williams look excellent additions to our backline, whilst Rhys Murphy was clinical in front of goal and a threat from the dead ball.
The opening day of the NLS serves up a 500-mile plus round trip for Wanderers as we travel to Truro this coming Saturday. It’s a challenging opening month with two long away-days and visits from play-off hopefuls Boreham Wood and Eastbourne Borough.
A busy August schedule does allow for Wanderers to build some early momentum and assert themselves at the top of the table, where we hope to remain until the very end.
The bookies suggest that whilst we remain firm favourites for the league, both Maidstone and Boreham Wood could be best placed to push Wanderers for that precious automatic promotion spot. Torquay, Chelmsford, and Chesham are amongst the predicted challengers for the playoffs.
There is much to look forward to this campaign, aside from the obvious expectation that we will be battling at the top end of the league once more. New opposition allow for not-before visited grounds and in turn we will welcome new visitors to Meadowbank.
What a season this could be. We can’t wait. See you in Truro, Wanderers.
