Blyth Spartans - Spirit of the North East

[Schnauzer]

Blyth Spartans - Spirit of the North East



Back again folks! After trying a story at Aubervilliers in the lower reaches of the French leagues I was eager to try again - and what better place to come than one of my favourite (and I'm sure the same for many others) FM teams?

I've had a few good saves with Blyth over the years (particularly on FM14 where we reached the Championship), but I've never quite reached the promised land of the Premier League with the Spartans.

I've recently watched the Netflix documentary 'Sunderland Til I Die' and felt inspired by the people of the North East's devotion to their football team even when it piles on the misery for them. Football is a fundamental aspect in their lives.

Despite all of this, sadly there doesn't seem to be a club in the North East on an upward curve. Of the big three - Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesborough - none look capable of making big strides forward this season in real life (before C19 happened), and the lower league sides - Hartlepool, Gateshead, Darlington, etc. - aren't making any great shakes either.

This opens the door to Blyth Spartans, a team from the small coastal Northumberland town of Blyth - just 14 miles north of Newcastle. The town only has a population of under 40k people and of course many of the town's folk will be Newcastle supporters. But can this plucky underdog spark a new era and inspire a new wave of footballing success in the region?

So what squad will I inherit from my predecessor, former Birmingham, Huddersfield and Blackpool manager Lee Clark? Frankly, a pretty **** one.

As you can see above, we are predicted to finish rock bottom of the league upon my arrival, with the appalling odds of 225-1 to lift the leagues title.

Clark has allowed a host of former key players such as Jarrett Rivers, Louis Laing, Dan Maguire, Nathan Buddle, Peter Jameson, Michael Liddle (and more) to leave. He had not replaced them particularly well either! With just £500 per week left in the budget to do so I had a big job on my hands.


KEY EXISTING PLAYERS

Even though the majority of the squad is poor, we do have some talent in our ranks:

Mark Waddington is a great all-round midfielder for this level on loan from Barrow (or Barrowcelona, if you have seen them this season):

Another North-East (NE) loanee, Zach Hemming is a very agile keeper from Middlesborough. Currently he is our only first team keeper.

Once played for Norwich city between 09-10, the 39y/o has a good deal of experience but is surely on limited time as a competitive footballer. Let's hope this is a stellar twilight year for Nelson.

Jack Hunter is a Newcastle academy graduate who played a full season at Vanarama National level for arch-rivals Gateshead last season so he can be a key man for us even at 21y/o.




A key thing I picked out from the Sunderland documentary was that the supporters all worked hard to pay for the tickets on the weekend, and as a baseline they expected to see a lot of effort from the teams on the pitch. Now in the lower leagues this is also vitally important, as skill levels are quite similar between the top and the bottom sides. However Blyth have a particularly poor playing squad so hard work is even more important, and played a big part in my recruitment policy - getting players in with reasonable personalities and at least decent work rates.


NEW TRANSFERS

Firstly we borrow exciting young attacking midfielder Josh Hawkes from NE side Hartlepool. He is a technical player and has the PPT of 'places shots' so I'm hoping for a few special goals.

We needed a fairly competent keeper to come in as backup to Zach Hemming on the cheap. Branagan signs for just £30 per week, and looks capable enough. He has a great determined attitude too.

A top loan signing from Doncaster Rovers for just £110 per week! Danny Amos has the engine and the speed to get up and down the line for us and I think it's a top deal.

Jack Barthram has been a regular for Cheltenham in L2 and for Barrow in VNL and signs on the cheap for us. Can be a important full back for us.

At £375 per week, young Okera Simmonds is a big signing for us! He played one game on trial for us and scored, and our assistant manager was raving about him, telling me he is a Vanarama National level player. I couldn't say no! I needed a foward player with a bit of pace too and Simmonds fits the bill, but also at 6'2 with 11 jumping he can get on the end of crosses, key to my game plan.

We still only had Josh Hawkes at AMC so I felt I needed to bring in another face. We have added some Brazilian flair in Denilson Carvalho, and he has been identified by our assistant manager as the club's best player! At the very least it gives competition. Carvalho demanded a 3 year deal to sign here, and I agreed to give him it based on his supposed League 1 potential.



TACTICS

I want to take inspiration from German football and press the opposition high up the pitch. I know that we haven't got the technical ability to pass the ball around the opposition so I want to play fairly directly. I think at this level it is important to get a man advantage across the pitch where possible, so I want to play a narrow 442 and let the team hunt in packs. This will stop the opposition from hogging possession and hopefully will see us get some goals from midfield.

I know on the face of it, the tactic I have made looks too aggressive and attacking for a poorer side to use, but actually I want to argue the opposite!

I really believe that attack is the best form of defence, and we want don't want to allow teams to dominate us. Our midfield roles are all quite attacking and our full backs are going to get forward. Our forwards jobs are to press the defence and get in behind them, and to constantly give the opposition a headache. Our regista Jack Hunter has the ability to pick apart defences, and Waddington and Hawkins can break the lines.

The part that worries me the most is our two centre backs. Michael Nelson is a good defender but has only FOUR for pace. This is a problem for a side with a high line. We have other options in Tom Devitt and Scott Wilson but I'm hoping Nelson can cope as he is a real leader and superb in the air.


PRESEASON

An undefeated preseason bodes well. A particularly impressive performance against Barrow - we dominated the game and should have won. Okera Simmonds won his contract here partly on on the Scarborough game. A victory over local rivals Ashington sees us nicely into the new season.



GOALS FOR THE SAVE


Firstly, I want to stay true to the hard working style of play written about above, in order to reflect the people of the North East. Secondly, I want to see if little Blyth can transcend the boundaries that finances set for football clubs, and reach the top level (yes the Premier League!) without a big fanbase or a big investor.

Let's see what we can achieve. I don't think we will challenge for promotion first season at all, but I'd be chuffed if I can start to reshape the squad whilst finishing in the top half.



Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

First Quarter of the 19/20 Season


English football is relentless and we will have to play 50+ games in this season, but the first few months is also the most intense. We have played 13 games in the first two months and squad rotation was important as to not let the players get jaded this early on.


AUGUST

A pretty solid start to the season overall, however as you can see the great start tailed off! Unfortunately we lost both local derbies games against Gateshead and Darlington so I haven't endeared myself to the Blyth faithful in August.

39y/o centre back Michael Nelson scored from corners against both Guiseley and Telford to set us off. Michael Sweet was in great form and picked up 3 goals this month, whilst Jack Hunter played well in the regista role.

We were forced to adopt a second formation (a 4231) as results weren't going to plan so much, which is not ideal as I have precious few wide players. I saw enough from the team to feel confident that form would turn around though!

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Michael Sweet




SEPTEMBER

A much better month! Kidderminster were 5 points top of the league before playing us and we beat them at their ground Aggborough to bring them back down to earth. We then stayed unbeaten across all 6 games.

Okera Simmonds bagged his first 3 goals which is encouraging, and Mark Waddington, Josh Hawkes, Tom Devitt, Danny Amos and Jack Barthram all opened their accounts for the season. However the standout player of the month was 26y/o centre midfielder Lewis Hawkins who has scored 3 goals and assisted 4. Two of those goals were 30 yard blockbusters.

The best performance was a comfortable win against King's Lynn but we also did well to hold the strong Chester to a draw at their ground the Deva Stadium. Overcoming NE rivals Whitby Town in the FA Cup earned us £7k.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Lewis Hawkins

In fact Hawkins was so good he won the award for the division also! Good job lad.




LEAGUE TABLE

We're exceeding my expectations - and at our 225-1 preseason odds we are far exceeding the bookies expectations! To be in the playoffs this early on we have set a standard for this season and I expect the players to keep up these levels to give us something to play for this year.

I want to keep strengthening the team and I do have one more loan spot available, however I'm struggling to offload some of our weaker players. Club legend Robbie Dale is getting on and is now past it. Lewis Horner, Scott Fenwick, Kris Thackray and Damon Mullen are well below average for this level, and I have no idea why striker Ben Harmison (1 star) was signed. These players are taking up a combined £1,700 per week of my £5,000 a week budget. I know I can put it right next season after releasing them, but it's holding us back now which is frustrating.

Onwards and upwards into October anyways...


Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

Second Quarter of the 19/20 Season


We are now really setting down foundations for a great season. The players are to be commended for putting the hours in on the training ground, and our narrow 442 'Centreball' tactic is flourishing. I can really see it working as planned on the pitch as players are hounding the opposition for the ball all over the pitch and we look a threat on the counter every time the opposition have the ball in our half.

By the end of November we now have an unbeaten streak in all competitions of 19 games! Despite this, York and Kidderminster are both bang on form and despite having beaten both of them so far they are matching us, creating the basis of a 3 horse race..


TRANSFER NEWS

We use our sixth and final loan spot to secure the loan addition of Fleetwood striker Harvey Saunders for the rest of the season. He has great all round attributes for a striker and his pace will cause problems playing off the last man of the opposition.

We have also gone some way to reducing the wage bill to allow us to bring in a free transfer by allowing backup centre midfielder Lewis Horner to move to Scottish side Raith Rovers on a free transfer come January 1st. He is nothing special and I'd like to bring in a better CB using the £300 p/w he was on.



OCTOBER

One goal away from the perfect month of results! We storm up the table and also pass through two rounds of the FA Cup.

I'm particularly happy with the 6-1 away victory over Fylde, who are a strong side in the Vanarama National - we completely blew them away! Sadly the game against Gloucester was just one too many and we struggled to score, despite scoring at least 3 goals per game in the rest of the month's fixtures.

Michael Sweet re-found his shooting boots bigtime, netting a hattrick against Brackley, Michael Nelson bagged a brace in the FA Cup, and Waddington had a good month. But the stand out player for us was the new boy Harvey Saunders, who bagged 6 goals in October.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Harvey Saunders


.................

... Oh, and a little something arrived for me in the post too!




NOVEMBER

Again so close to a perfect month of results.

First we went to top of the league York City and did enough to close the gap on them. Then Michael Sweet won and scored a last minute penalty to maintain the unbeaten run and take the FA Cup 1st round tie to a replay. Josh Hawkes scored a well placed goal to send us through on the reply.

I fully expected my rotated side to go to Chester in the FA Trophy and lose big but they snuck a win in added time, as 39y/o centre back (yes I will keep emphasising this lol) Michael Nelson scored his sixth goal already of the season from another corner. Lastly we continued Blyth Spartans proud FA Cup tradition (see below video) by reaching the third round! The fans are clearly loving it too:

Josh Hawkes was brilliant this month and deserves the award, netting four times from the shadow striker role.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Josh Hawkes

Another little accolade doesn't hurt either!


LEAGUE TABLE

Well if we win the game in hand we will go top, not bad at all! The cup run has ensured that we have nearly £300k in the bank balance and that could be added to should be get a dream draw in the 3rd round (a local game at Newcastle away would be incredible).

I'm thinking that a talented centre back joining in January could push this team onto the next level. We couldn't go and actually win the league in the first season could we?!



Howay Blyth!​

 

[anej]

Most likely a league win in the cards I would say, seing the huge progression this season already l

 

[Schnauzer]

Most likely a league win in the cards I would say, seing the huge progression this season already l

Thanks bud I'm very pleased with how it's going so far! I'm surprised about how some really average players are overperforming in this system - Michael Sweet for example, only a 2 star rated striker that I inherited but he has hit 11 goals by the end of November. I love players that look rubbish but then do the business for you haha!

 

[Schnauzer]

FA Cup Third Round Draw

No disrespect intended to Mansfield but we are disappointed with this draw! With the chance to make a huge payday away to a big club we only managed to draw a mid-table League Two side. Then again, could we capitalise on our form and reach the fourth round...?​

 

[Schnauzer]

Third Quarter of the 19/20 Season


It's really heating up now into a 3 horse race - Place your bets, because this one is going to the wire!

Quick bit of good news for the save, as part of the Brexit negotiations, the current status quo will remain:

Hopefully this will help if we can get higher up the league system, as if the rules favoured players of UK nationalities, it would probably drive up the market competition and we simply don't have the academy to churn quality players out ourselves.

Anyway, onto the results..



DECEMBER

At last we achieve the perfect month! 4 out of 5 games resulting in clean sheets means a shout out needed for the defensive unit.

Second win of the season against Vanarama National side Harrogate as we dump them this time out of the FA Trophy. They must be sick of us by now lol.

Danny Amos has been great up and down the wing at LB, and Zach Hemming's handling in goal has been superb. However my player of the month is going to our RB Jack Barthram. The former Tottenham youth teamer has had a great season and is in line for a contract extension come the end of the season, despite only coming in to provide competition.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Jack Barthram

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TRANSFER UPDATE

Firstly I finally managed to get rid of the 1 star rated, 34 y/o striker Ben Harmison. My predecessor Lee Clark had plucked him out of the local NE lower leagues. You really should have left him there, tbf Lee. This saves £250 p/w in wages but is offset by the transfer budget cost, however for squad morale it's worth it.

A more difficult decision was ending Josh Hawkes loan contract. He did get 5 goals in 32 games, but only managed a disappointing 2 assists from attacking midfield and I expect better. And I think I have found better....

THE BIG STORY: GARDNER SIGNS FOR SPARTANS

And that player is Dan Gardner! Joining after being unattached for £450 p/w he becomes our best paid player, but is also valued at £155k! Gardner has nearly 300 pro appearances mostly at L1 and L2 level, playing for the likes of Chesterfield, Tranmere, Bury and Oldham.

His attributes are great and he's only 29 still. Yes his decision making is very poor but with the amount of possession he will get in our system his technical ability means that at least some of things he does will come off. He joins until the end of next season.

I had wanted a marquee signing, and I couldn't quite tempt ex-Stoke and Sunderland defender Marc Wilson to make the drop down to this level, so Dan Gardner is our man!

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JANUARY

A whopping 8 games played this month and although our unbeaten run in all competitions at last came to an end at the total of 25 games, we can be proud of how we did in January.

Unfortunately Mansfield were too strong, although I did not change our attacking approach and we did bag a couple of consolation goals to showcase our ability. We did however reach the 3rd round of the FA Trophy, after Michael Sweet banged 4 goals in against Eastbourne.

The month was finished off by 4 back to back wins in the league to keep pace with the annoyingly good York City.

Performances have been mostly good although Dan Gardner had a couple of poor games and then became injured for 4 weeks. Attacking midfielder Denilson Carvalho stood out as did centre back Tom Devitt but I can't ignore our loan star striker Harvey Saunders for player of the month again, after he bagged six more goals, to take his total for Blyth this season to 21 in 25 games.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Harvey Saunders



LEAGUE TABLE

Things are looking good, yet York can retake top spot if they win the game in hand.

With 13 games left for us to play it's important that we keep consistent. Our three defeats all came in the first month of the season, but if we lose another (which probably will happen) I don't want to see a total collapse. A 6 team playoff is far too stressful after all!!

Until the final update of 19/20 season....



Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

BLYTH SECURE THE SERVICES OF TALENTED YOUNG KEEPER GRAY

All FM players will now how annoying the emails from agents and unattached players can be, but every once in a while you get a little gem come through!

Louis Gray, a 24 y/o Welsh goalkeeper formerly of Everton and then Carlisle has messaged asking us to consider him. Now, we already have Zach Hemming, on loan from Middlesbrough. However, Middlesbrough are unwilling to allow a loan extension so I thought it would be wise to start planning before he leaves.

Gray came in for a trial, and impressed the coaching staff so much that we offered him a contract running until the end of the following season. My assistant reckons he will become a leading League Two keeper. He was desperate to get back into football and didn't have to move far - having been released from nearby Carlisle mid-season a few months ago. A £180 p/w contract was agreed and we are pleased to welcome him!

​

 

[Schnauzer]

Final Quarter of the 19/20 Season


Here it is, the final installation of the 2019/20 Vanarama National North division! After the last update everything was set up to be a brilliant 3 horse race between arguably the clubs biggest side, York City, alongside perennial challengers Kidderminster Harriers and plucky underdogs Blyth Spartans. How will it turn out?



FEBRUARY

This was the month that I was fearing. The game against promotion rivals Kidderminster was a real 6 pointer and after being 1-0 at home at half time, we really messed up. Young striker Austin Samuels equalised in the 49th minute and I should have tightened up and accepted a point rather than pushing for a winner. Samuels struck again in the 94th minute to knock us off top spot and put his side there instead.

This loss hurt us and we lost again to Aldershot, crashing out in the 3rd round of the FA Trophy. After a brief respite of a 7-0 away mauling of Altrincham (who were unbelievably bad on the day), we again lost at home in the league to an under-performing Chester, who showed the ability their side has - even if it lacks the consistency. A good win against Alfreton rounded the month off but it was clear in the dressing that morale had taken a hit and the boys' feeling of invincibility had gone. We in the management team were going to have to get creative to keep this amazing title challenge on the rails.

The most farcical thing that happened was when our new marquee signing Dan Gardner, upon returning from a 4 weeks injury, got injured just ONE minute after coming on as a substitute and was then out for the rest of the season. He wasn't even identified as injury prone in his medical assessment.

As for player of the month, we had a few contenders. Harvey Saunders as always has been registering plenty of goals, and Lewis Hawkins was very impressive in a midfield that had a disappointing month. However the player that stood out was the man in the number 10 shirt providing Brazilian swagger, Denilson Carvalho. He hit 2 stunning long range goals and picked up a few assists also.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Denilson Carvalho


Now for a quick transfer interlude as our struggles continued into the month of March

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BLYTH ADD FORMER ACE REID AND YOUNGSTER BROUGHTON TO RANKS

With the non-league transfer deadline arriving in the back end of March, I knew that we needed a little bit more talent and depth to continue our title challenge. Our centre backs are all 2 star rated and I felt that this was a big cause for us conceding goals of late. In midfield we simply did not have adequate cover and I was having to play Damon Mullen and Robbie Dale off the bench in Dan Gardner's absence, both of whom are transfer listed and well below the required standard despite being great servants to the club over the years.

So I put out feelers to see who was available and first found out that Salford had made 19 y/o CB Max Broughton - a former England youth international (left) - available for loan, so we secured him for the final 6 games after this month's Boston game - paying just £45 p/w!

Secondly, I had my eye on bringing 28 y/o midfielder Sean Reid (right) back to the club. Between 2015-19, Sean made 164 league appearances for the Spartans and scored an incredible 51 goals from midfield in this time, before being allowed to leave for local non-league moneybags Morpeth Town. He was performing well this season in our division for local rivals Darlington - 9 goals and 3 assists in 34 games - and I was delighted to secure his services for the Spartans once again for just £3.5k! Sean signs a £90 p/w deal until 2021.

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MARCH

How we managed to take 10 points out of 12 this month I will never know!

Our spark has deserted us at a crucial point. Nevertheless, three 1-0 wins softened the blow of conceding a late equaliser at home to Boston - the game that made me go and sign Broughton and Reid. A win against York spelled the end of their participation in the promotion race, leaving it to us and Kidderminster - with the Harriers having a 2 point lead with four games to go.

Broughton was very good in the two games he played (vs Brackley & York) but I'm going to give the POTM to one of my favourite players of this save so far, striker Michael Sweet. His two goals secured us 6 massive points and that's priceless at this stage. The guy's an absolute unit btw, look at him haha!

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Michael Sweet



THE FINAL SHOWDOWN

Coming into the final four games we are trailing by 2 points, but I'd say we had the easier set of fixtures.

We simply had to pin our hopes on our local rivals Gateshead and Darlington, and fulfill our end of the bargain.


APRIL

YES!! There it is, we get over the line! After a draw thanks to late Mark Waddington goal against Gloucester, we managed to scramble together 3 special wins that result in Blyth reaching the fifth tier of English for the first time in their modern history!

On the final day it was still Kidderminster's to lose but Farsley Celtic beat them 3-2, meaning that a draw would suffice for us to win the league. But a Michael Sweet strike secured a 1-0 win over local rivals Spennymoor and the title was in the bag!

Lots of heroes in this side that the Spartans fans will remember looking at their matchday programmes for years to come, but the final POTM award will go to our young regista Jack Hunter. The Newcastle academy graduate controlled the tempo at the base of midfield in all four games and even scored a 30 yarder against Kettering.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Jack Hunter


FINAL LEAGUE TABLE

Joining us are York City, after they defeated Kidderminster (who will be gutted) in the playoff final.


END OF SEASON AWARDS

A clear and deserved winner for player of the season in loan striker Harvey Saunders after he netted 29 times in 39 games - winning the division top scorer award in the process. He leaves as a favoured personnel of the club. Honourable mentions go to Lewis Hawkins in midfield (12 goals, 14 assists), Jack Barthram & Danny Amos on both flanks ( both getting 3 goals and 14 assists) and Michael Sweet up top (21 goals, 5 assist).



And with that, the update is over. A brilliant outcome to a brilliant season! At 225-1 odds we have handed the bookies a big shock, not that I imagine many would have backed us haha.

The next update will cover our summer transfer dealings and preseason. I imagine the Vanamara National League will be a considerable step up in quality, but I back my recruitment ability to strengthen this team. We are settled on our narrow 442 diamond and won't break from principles. Who knows what will happen?


Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

Pre-Season 20/21


I had an interesting time over this pre-season in trying to strike a balance between strengthening the side whilst also not overhauling it completely. I knew that we needed better players to compete for starting spots (something that was lacking last season) but I did not want to let go too many players from last year to facilitate this, as these boys had earned this.

But then as you can see above, we certainly are not working with a huge budget. The transfer budget is great and has facilitated the club bringing in some really good permanent transfers over the summer. However, the wage budget has only increased by around £2,500 per week, despite us having around £400k in the bank, increasing average attendance by nearly 500 people per game in a year and for playing in a higher division.


CONTRACT RENEWALS

To achieve this continuity we kept some of the core of this squad here but on reduced terms. As these guys are still here on semi-professional terms they are still able to get income elsewhere but wanted to continue the journey at the club in the National League.

The players renewing are Michael Sweet (£70p/w), Tom Devitt (£90p/w), Jack Hunter (£120p/w), Lewis Hawkins (£120p/w) and Jack Barthram (£160p/w).

In addition to this, Max Broughton (£35p/w), Harvey Saunders (£45p/w) and Danny Amos (£110p/w) have all had their loans extended for another season from Salford, Fleetwood and Doncaster respectively.


DEPARTURES

Unfortunately some players weren't good enough to continue the journey with us.

Michael Nelson finally hung up his boots aged 40, which is a pretty decent innings. Mullen, Fenwick and Dale were all transfer listed previously but I couldn't shift them. A special farewell to Robbie Dale as he is a club legend who has turned out for the Spartans hundreds of times, but at 36 his time had come. Anthony Callaghan was a decent back up left back but not good enough to step up a level.

Kris Thackray and Okera SImmonds were both unlucky not to win new deals having been first team players. However unlike the other lads renewing they were unwilling to accept reduced terms. Thackray is 32 and VNN is his limit I believe. Whilst I think Simmonds was good enough to play in the VNL, he had only scored 6 league goals last season and therefore his wage demands of £500p/w were unreasonable in my opinion. He got a move to Tranmere so good for him I guess!



NEW SIGNINGS

Here are the new boys! I have to say I'm very happy with this summer's business. I established 5 targets for positions needing strengthening early on, and we secured these 5 thankfully - White, Anderson, Platt, Dimaio and Martin.

The other 3 - Edwards, McKenzie and Maguire became available later on in the window and all helped to fill other positions that we were still weak in.

First up, we acquired the talented 18y/o left back Joe White from Bolton for just £25k (spread out over 3 years). With Bolton's financial troubles I think they are happy to make money from any source, including from their talented academy. Joe is a well rounded player and is determined to improve, and he will share the left back spot with Danny Amos this season.

This is our marquee signing of the window. Jermaine has played over 100 League One games for Peterborough and Bradford so I was surprised that he was open to the move! He is a really talented midfielder and still only 24. He will play both at the base of our midfield diamond and also in the middle. He is a good athlete and is great at ball recovery, and I think he will be a big player for Blyth over the next two years.

Matthew Platt is probably the most gifted player we have signed this summer. Our scouts marked him out as a good League Two player already and perhaps Blackburn should have given him a new contract. Nevertheless, we swooped in early to secure his signing on our highest wage of £800p/w. Matthew is also a good leader and will become our new vice captain, behind Dan Gardner.

Connor Dimaio is another player that I was surprised to see become available to us! He registered 10 assists in the VNL last season for Stockport County. I see him being a great fit as a regista controlling the game for us. Still only 24 as well. Very happy with this deal!

Aaron Martin scored 16 league goals in the VNN last season for Guiseley, who were relegated. Upon their relegation he handed in a transfer request and for just £14k I felt sure he could improve us. He can finish, good in the air, strong, and will battle for everything in our direct system. The oldest of our incomings but has good experience.

Another defender signed from Bolton but this time on loan. Liam Edwards is an intelligent defender and is very comfortable on the ball which will help in our direct system - he should get some assists from long balls over the top.

I had to wait a while before I found a right back that I considered an upgrade to Jack Barthram. Eventually right before the start of the season, Hull made Robbie McKenzie available for loan and we made a bid without thinking he would want to play for Blyth. Robbie accepted thankfully. He has some great attributes - passing, tackling, marking, positioning, work rate - and will be an important player for us.

Finally, as we lose one club legend in Robbie Dale, we bring back another in Dan Maguire! Maguire scored 139 goals in 271 for the Spartans and I'm sure the fans will be delighted that he is back. Although he can play striker, he actually has brilliant attributes for the shadow striker at the tip of our diamond and I am going to retrain him to play there.


There may still be further incomings if the right players become available but for now these are the new boys.


NEW ASSISTANT MANAGER

I'm sure everyone will be familiar with our new assistant manager! Our previous assistant got poached and I saw Peter was working as a coach in the youth teams of Farsley Celtic and enquired if he would be interested in the role. Talks went well and we welcome him aboard!

Also incoming is goalkeeper coach Steve Collis and former Middlesbrough player Stuart Parnaby as fitness coach.


PRE-SEASON FIXTURES

A prestigious friendly at Ibrox against Rangers went well and we gave a good account of ourselves. We surprised our senior affiliate Lincoln with a big win, alongside beating local sides South Shields and Morpeth. However rivals Whitby Town frustrated us to a 1-1 draw. Former Newcastle striker Luke Charman trialled and bagged 2 goals against Morpeth, but I felt his movement off the ball was lacking so I didn't offer him a contract in the end.

As you can see above, Harvey Saunders is the bookies favourite to be division top scorer again after achieving it in the league below last year. He has great team mates around him so fingers crossed he will rediscover the same form.

We also cancel our partnership with Lincoln City as there hadn't been an appropriate player to loan as of yet. In lieu, we welcome a new affiliate partnership with Leeds United, and I'm very excited to see if we can secure some good players from this.

Onto next season..


Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

First Quarter of the 20/21 Season


Welcome back to the Blyth Spartans journey as we commence the second campaign, this time in the Vanarama National!

It has taken some time for the new players to learn the system we play and to gel with the squad, and I think that has reflected in the results.

Before we start, I just wanted to give a quick update of our starting eleven, tactics and squad.

No change to the tactics that I can remember, but some change (improvements) to the personal!

Ideal Starting XI: Louis Gray; Joe White, Liam Edwards, Matthew Platt, Robbie McKenzie; Connor Dimaio, Jermaine Anderson, Sean Reid, Denilson Carvalho; Harvey Saunders, Aaron Martin.

Ideal Bench: Jack Barthram, Danny Amos, Dan Gardner, Dan Maguire, Connor Hall.

Other Team Members: Richie Branagan, Max Broughton, Tom Devitt, Rhys Evans, Jack Hunter, Lewis Hawkins, Michael Sweet.



AUGUST

There's no hiding from this being a terrible start. In the first game of the season against Barrow we went 3-0 up at home, and contrived to draw the game. Unfortunately it didn't improve much from there.

Against Barnet we conceded a last minute equaliser. Already we should have had 6 points but had 2, and morale was greatly down. We were then comfortably beaten by Notts County, Cheltenham and NE rivals Hartlepool, before conceding yet another late equaliser at home to Bromley. Finishing the month of with a win at Fylde was massive, and it was actually a very polished performance.

Not many players to shout about for POTM. Robbie McKenzie was good at right back, but not as good as Jermaine Anderson who made an excellent start to life at Blyth, bagging three goals.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Jermaine Anderson

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BLYTH BOLSTER STRIKER RANKS WITH ANOTHER BOLTON LOANEE


After the Hartlepool game I became frustrated and felt we needed another threat up top - sorry Michael Sweet. In any case, 3 strikers wasn't enough for a 2 striker system over lots of games.

I used my final loan signing to bring in the third incoming of the window from Bolton Wanderers (Joe White, permanent, and Liam Edwards, loan). That man was 22 y/o striker Connor Hall. Connor is a very well rounded striker and has great footballing knowledge for this level and I think he can improve us.

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SEPTEMBER​

Far better, yet still inconsistent in performance levels. I guess I have to accept this after changing the squad and going up a tier.

Against Maidenhead and Maidstone (two weaker sides) we showed our attacking prowess, but against Sutton we looked unable to control the tempo and had numerous holes in our defence. The worst performance for me was the last, against Chelmsford. They are an average at best side and we just didn't even threaten them at all. We simply need to improve our away form and quick.

Encouragingly Harvey Saunders scored a few and Joe White impressed down the left going forward. However I'm going to give the star man award for this month to Connor Dimaio. He scored one goal and got two assists, and controlled the tempo excellently in most games.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Connor Dimaio



LEAGUE TABLE

Things are looking okay on the whole but I want us to be a lot closer to the playoffs. I think now that form is picking up it is a possibility, but you never can tell.

I am more expectant than last season because I know the team on the whole is better equiped to compete higher in the division than they were last season. We have got some talented players in with good Football League experience in Jermaine Anderson, Robbie McKenzie and Connor Dimaio - in addition to players who know the club well and can unite the team and fans in Dan Maguire and Sean Reid. I see no reason why the playoffs are beyond us!


Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

Second Quarter of the 20/21 Season


If Carlsberg did updates...

Things clicked nicely into place as we went on an absolutely storming run. How much of it was down to the two new additions? I couldn't say, but they're two cracking players for our level!



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SPARTANS SIGNAL INTENTIONS WITH BIG DOUBLE SIGNING; GARDNER LET GO TO RIVALS

We had money left in our budget to sign the right player(s), so when they became available I jumped at the chance.

Firstly, I moved quick to add former Feyenoord and Leeds goalkeeper Kamil Miazek (left) to the squad. The 24 y/o Polish keeper had been let go by Leeds after playing a full season in League Two on loan at Forest Green last season.

I had been concerned that Louis Gray, signed at the back end of last season, had left in too many soft goals - particularly drilled shots that seemed to expose a weak wrist. Miazek is big lad and a commanding keeper and I see him as the new number 1 - he comes in on £525 per week until the end of next season (2022). Gray has been loan listed to allow him to get some 1st team football.

Secondly, I spotted that the experienced Championship midfielder Kieran Lee, formerly of Sheffield Wednesday, had been without a club for a while. I asked him if he wanted to get back into the game and if he would consider joining Blyth just until the end of the season, and we struck a deal at £775 per week. He is an experienced player with nearly 300 games at League One and the Championship with Oldham and Sheff Wed so this is a big acquisition for us!

Our midfield diamond is now looking superb with Connor Dimaio, Jermaine Anderson, Kieran Lee and Denilson Carvalho and we are dominating games. Both new additions come in rated as star players at League Two level, so they should be game changers at VN level!

In order to help balance the books, one player needed to leave the club. Midfielder Dan Gardner joined us towards the end of last season and it really just didn't work out for him. A combination of injuries and poor performances meant that I had been looking to replace him and he had already look his position in the team to Sean Reid.

Our local rivals Spennymoor came in with a free transfer offer for Gardner after I transfer listed him and I was happy to let him move on. He was able to stay in the North East and even doubled his wages to a ridiculous £900 per week (good luck getting value for that Spennymoor lol)!

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OCTOBER

And here is the impact of the new additions - 7 wins out of 7 games!

Progression in the FA Cup to the 1st Round and also dishing out a humiliating defeat to Stockport at Edgeley Park. My favourite part is that the monthly goal difference was 16-2.

As for player performances Miazek started great between the sticks, and Liam Edwards defended very well. But I will give POTM to Aaron Martin for grabbing 5 goals this month.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Aaron Martin


NOVEMBER

Barring the match vs Solihull Moor this was another good month. We progressed to the 3rd round of the FA Cup for the second season running, which has our bank balance to reach £670k to the good - not bad in the non-league!

Four 3-0 victories show that this month was comfortable but yeah, they just didn't show up against Solihull. Solihull matched us by playing a narrow 442 and we lost too many 1v1 battles and deserved to lose.

POTM could have gone to Aaron Martin again or to the excellent Robbie McKenzie (who is leading the division's average rating table!) but for getting his first 3 goals in his third spell at the club I will give the award to club legend Dan Maguire.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Dan Maguire


LEAGUE TABLE

Two brilliant months catapults us into the playoffs. I do have my eye on the top spot as the thought of a 6 team playoffs is stressful, however we are very far away from Barnet and Cheltenham and I can't see them going off the boil soon.

But, after last season you never know...


Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

Third Quarter of the 20/21 Season


As predicted things are starting to click and we are edging closer towards the top, but again inconsistency is still a big problem.

The forming of a new clinical strike partnership towards the end of the update gives us great hope..


DECEMBER

Almost a month that I would have been very satisfied with, had it not been for a 90+5 minute equaliser conceded at home to Stockport. Although I played a second-string side in this game due to the big game vs Barnet two days later, I expect us to win games like this - particularly as we beat them 5-0 at their place earlier this season!

We complete a season double over Maidstone and get a great 3-0 win over promotion rivals Barnet. I'm not too worried about crashing out of the FA Trophy already as I played my reserves as I didn't fancy my players getting tired when I need them to be fresh for the league. The loss against Harrogate was poor but it was an off day.

There were not many consistently good players this month. Connor Dimaio impressed in parts but not as much as centre back and vice captain Matthew Platt who defended very well in every game he played (let down by his teammates in parts).

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Matthew Platt



JANUARY

This is where we lost the most ground, and started to trail the league leaders by quite some distance. We bowed out of the FA Cup in the 3rd Round (pretty respectable for little Blyth) for the second year running, but unlike last season we had a strong shout of reaching the 4th Round and Forest Green will consider themselves lucky to have won.

In truth it was a month of tough fixtures. We did brilliantly to take 3 points at Notts County and then nicked a point against league leaders Cheltenham. But then I feel we should have done better against Halifax and Bromley. Against Bromley we actually finished with 9 men so actually maybe we were the lucky ones!

Again no standouts for POTM so I'll give it to young left back Joe White - signed at the beginning of the season from Bolton - as he is racking up the assists and is showing great maturity.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Joe White



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BLYTH BRING IN EXPERIENCED FORMER BORO STRIKER

You may well recognise the name of the final scorer for Blyth in January. Well, I have introduced him, but that he joined after the Cheltenham game when Aaron Martin became injured for 5 weeks.

I used my network to see who was available on a free transfer to cover Martin until the end of the season and was shocked to discover that Rudy Gestede was interested to join until summer. Turns out Rudy had been let go by NE side Middlesborough in the summer and was desperate to get back into the game like Kieran Lee, and so he has agreed a £450 p/w deal until this summer.

Rudy still has good physical attributes at 32 y/o and is a tank in the air, and I think he can score a lot of goals given the amount of crosses our full backs put in! Hopefully he can help us push towards the Football League and then secure himself a more exciting move come the summer. He also becomes Blyth's first ever international player (I think), as he is called up to his national team Benin after an impressive run with us!

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FEBRUARY

What an impact Rudy has had! His strike partnership with Connor Hall - a traditional 'big man, little man' is paying off big time! Rudy is winning tons of headers from the centre backs' long balls, which feed the onrushing Connor Hall and Dan Maguire and equals goals!

As you can see we sweeped every opponent this month and everybody was on top form. The goal difference for this month was an incredible 14-1!!

Dan Maguire has settled into his new role at No.10 (AMC), and Rudy Gestede bagged a few assists and goals, but I can't ignore Connor Hall for POTM - 6 goals and 2 assists!

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Connor Hall



LEAGUE TABLE

Here's how the table looks before the final run of games. Cheltenham still some distance away but they are certainly slowing down, and the lads are starting to believe. The dressing room atmosphere - which seems to be a key factor on this year's game - is top draw!

Let's do this, it's doable I think!


Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

Final Quarter of the 20/21 Season


What an end to the season for the Spartans! But have we done enough to take the title, or will we have to compete in the playoffs and hope for the best?



MARCH

The second perfect month in a row means that the title is now ours to lose! Cheltenham have been playing extra matches to reach the final of the FA Trophy and this added workload has worked in our favour.

5 solid wins this month and we only conceded the one goal. I was particularly happy with the win against Solihull Moors as they convincingly beat us earlier this season, so progress is happening!

Kieran Lee was very impressive orchestrating play from the centre of the pitch but special mention needs to go to right back Robbie McKenzie. The player on loan from Hull City is hugely consistent for us and was very creative this month out wide.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Robbie McKenzie


THE FINAL RUN-IN

So after one game into April this is how the final table looks..

Four teams are able to still win the league - Cheltenham, Blyth, Barnet and Sutton.

So long as we keep winning then it will be our title... But can we keep our nerve and propel a small town outside of Newcastle to the Football League for the first time in their history?



APRIL

There it is! Back to back promotions to the Football League!!

It didn't come easy and I was very worried after conceding a late equaliser at home to Sutton but then the team won four games on the trot. Going into the final day of the season I knew we would win the league providing we got at least a draw at home to Chesterfield - thanks to our strong goal difference.

After Denilson Carvalho netted his 10th league goal of the season we were well set, but then nerves kicked in big time as Will Evans equalised for Chesterfield with 17 nervy minutes still to play! I made the call not to sit back and defend and to keep playing our normal game, and the match petered out to give us the most satisfying draw you could imagine.

I can't think of anyone more deserving for POTM than Connor Dimaio. His performances across the season would also make him my player of the season, and he has attracted interest from Gillingham and Wycombe, but it would take a big bid for me to consider selling him. It's rare to find a natural regista player at this level, and Dimaio is our non-league Pirlo.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Connor Dimaio


FINAL LEAGUE TABLE OF THE 20/21 SEASON

Joining us in League Two will be Chesterfield, after they overcame Cheltenham in the final even with a man sent off early on.

I have no sympathy for Cheltenham as they bizarrely played their first team two days prior in the FA Trophy final against VNN side Gloucester.... And lost!! By the time of the final game to get promoted back to the FL their team was knackered... priorities, Mr. Cheltenham gaffer, priorities!


TEAM OF THE SEASON

Here's the team of the season - and the POTS award rightly goes to Connor Dimaio! Although McKenzie and Platt ran him close in the voting. Loanee Connor Hall deserves a special mention after netting 21 league goals for us this year.

We are now a professional side for the first team in our history!

For a town of under 40,000 people no longer even sustained by the coal mining and shipbuilding trades, having a professional team is an incredible achievement. I want the team to become more successful and to spur the town of Blyth onwards!

That said, this comment from the fan made me laugh - clearly we have some way to go haha!

And to finish off, here's a great bit of news for the club! We had to build an extension to our Croft Park ground to comply with the Football League's regulations - but I'm very glad they have extended rather than building a new ground altogether.

Croft Park has been the club's home since 1909 and I wouldn't want it replaced too soon. If we reach the big time leagues then it would be acceptable but for now we need to stay put in this lovely little (not so little anymore) ground!

Howay Blyth!​

 

[TaymuirFC]

Wow thats a great turnaround. I thought for certain you were going to be mid-table at most in the last season after a tricky start but the signings have turned it around and you've just gotten over the line in a dramatic end to the season. I wasn't expecting that. Love the formating and that social media comment think my own club could take a leaf out that.

 

[Schnauzer]

Wow thats a great turnaround. I thought for certain you were going to be mid-table at most in the last season after a tricky start but the signings have turned it around and you've just gotten over the line in a dramatic end to the season. I wasn't expecting that. Love the formating and that social media comment think my own club could take a leaf out that.

Thanks pal, yeah the social media comment got to me too haha!

I've learnt that in the lower leagues you can get some really good players if you wait long enough for them to need to get a new team - Miazek, Lee and Gestede were those guys and they made us a much better team. I love this tactic that I created for Blyth and once the team becomes comfortable with it (there's a lot of pressing and ball possession) we go on these amazing runs. I've done a big team renovation for the Football League which I'll post soon!

Liking the look of your story so far btw. You've got a long way to go but it should be an interesting ride!

 

[Schnauzer]

Pre-Season 2021/22


So, little old Blyth Spartans FC is heading into the Football League! Whilst this means that we have a vastly bigger budget and are able to give out full professional contracts, it also means that we need to improve the side over the summer - especially as a good percentage of our existing squad are still playing from the Vanarama National North days.

That said, I think the gap between the Vanarama National and League Two is actually not all that big. If you consider all of the top 6 tiers in English football, I'd argue it's the smallest leap in quality. Combine this with FOUR promotion spots on offer this year, and we have to take advantage of our club's momentum and aim high! I'm looking at playoffs at a minimum - I know what these lads can achieve in our playing system!

Here are the playing budgets. Our wage budget has more than tripled!

In fact, it was actually only doubled, and our transfer budget was an enormous £800k, but I shifted it around to make it work better for us. We have to continue to mostly use and take advantage of the free agent market available, which has so far thrown us numerous gems.

And how did we get such an enormous budget? Well the club's balance has been steadily increasingly the whole time I've been here! Two consecutive runs to the 3rd Round of the FA Cup have massively helped, and attendances just keep rising. Couple that with rather low wage budgets for non-league level and we have become very financially secure for the foreseeable future - but we do have to payoff the cost of the stadium increase gradually.



CONTRACT RENEWALS

Last pre-season I handed out lots of renewals as I wanted continuity, however this year I have been rather more ruthless.

Only two existing players had their contracts renewed, becoming professional. These were star midfielder Connor Dimaio (£725 p/w, until 2023) and back-up goalkeeper Louis Gray (£275 p/w, until 2022). Dimaio had some interest in him but wanted to stay, so I gave him an extra year and a slight increase. Gray's deal was expiring but he is a useful back-up and cheap.

Just one loan player's loan deal was extended for another season - that player was composed right-back Robbie McKenzie (£650 p/w).



DEPARTURES

Quite a lot of departures, including some surprises!

That's right, the three players that joined towards the end of last year and boosted us to promotion have all gone!

Barthram, Sweet, Devitt, Reid, Hunter, Branagan and Hawkins were all told they were going to be released long before the end of the season, and I managed to find the last two a new club before they left.

I was very much on the fence about Kieran Lee and Rudy Gestede. They had been instrumental, but at 32 going on 33 their physical capabilities were falling off a cliff. Gestede actually would have got a new deal but he wanted too much, so I wished him the best and said thank you for your help.

That leaves Matthew Platt and Kamil Miazek.

With Miazek, despite all his clean sheets I still wasn't convinced that he was a natural sweeper-keeper that we needed - a lower league Ederson, someone to play out with accurate long range passing / throws and a counter attacking mindset. When I found someone better suited, I transfer listed him (expecting an offer from Poland or maybe the Netherlands where he used to play) and Coventry came straight in with a big bid of £125k that I happily accepted. A great profit and a nice move for the lad!

Platt was the only player that I really didn't want to lose as he was an excellent centre-back for us, and would have done great. However, his head was turned by a move back to the Championship with Rotherham, so we negotiated for a new club record deal. Good luck Platty!

NEW SIGNINGS

We've brought in a lot, but I'd argue a lot of quality! A total of 14 players have joined, here they are:

As you can see we have worked the free transfer market and the loan market to good effect again, picking up a few relatively big names in the process! Only one big money (ish) move, to bring back hitman Connor Hall back to the Spartans.

The first summer addition Zach Dronfield was brought in for just a minimal fee from Kettering. He went there after being released by Norwich last year and got 10 goals and 14 assists. He will get game time here but more off the bench I imagine, but a good prospect.

I had to bring Connor Hall back! With Bolton's financial issues striking a deal was straightforward. Given he scored 21 league goals for us in the VN it was easy to justify the club's record purchase.

Definitely the marquee transfer of the summer! In the summer of 2018 David Button was bought by Brighton from Fulham for £4 million. He is a top quality keeper who will be comfortable as a sweeper-keeper, and I had to take the deal (sorry again Miazek!). He's on big money for our standards but he surely will be worth it.

Former Chelsea youth defender Charlie Wiggett has a lot of potential, but initially will be a back-up defender for us. He's glad to have stayed in the FL following his release from Chelsea and hopes to impress.

Mitch Brundle is a player who has impressed me every time we played against Dagenham. With the Daggers getting relegated to the VNS and Brundle leaving, he jumped at the chance of FL football for us. £575 per week is a bargain for an underrated midfielder with a cracking long shot.

I used our affiliate partnership with Leeds to bring Norwegian youngster Espen Sandstad in on loan, but he will only really be a back-up for us. Still, he's a great ball-winner and has his uses.

Ryan Haynes is a player who should be playing higher up the league ladder but has found himself being released by Newport County. He is great going forward and is a good fit for us. Hopefully we can kick-start his career again. On big money like Button at £1,300 p/w but I think he is worth it.

I think Arsenal loanee Ben Cottrell is going to do so well here. He is so nippy and will give us a great counter-attacking threat with his pace at the tip of our midfield diamond. Pricey at £1,100 per week but really talented.

Norwich loanee Melvin Sitti is a League One player if ever I've seen one. The Frenchman is a quality addition for us, at just £250 p/w also!

Two words. JUMPING REACH! Former Arsenal academy defender Mark McGuinness is a ball magnet. Like Wiggett, he will provide back-up at first, but has the potential to do very well (and score lots of goals from set pieces?).

A new star centre-back to replace Matthew Platt. Dara O'Shea played 25 games in the Premier League for West Brom last season but somehow they've decided to loan him out to us in League Two... Not complaining!

Former Everton academy man Kieran Phillips comes in for competition up top. Ask any Sunderland fan and they'll tell you strikers called K. Phillips are top class
He has great off the ball ability and can finish, head and shoot from distance - can't be bad?

A bit of a deadline day panic deal, but in a good way... Matt Godden is a good striker and was unwanted by Coventry. We needed a dependable striker, but I was loathe to pay his £2,000 p/w wages. In the end, I had no other options so he comes in until the January window as a very expensive short term measure.

Finally, right-back Zak Mills comes in also on deadline day on a free transfer. His average ratings for the last two seasons at Oldham were 7.22 and 7.28 respectively, so I don't know why he left. Another expensive player, but I need strong cover of the bench at full-back, as they get through the most work in our system.



PRE-SEASON FIXTURES

A pretty decent if short pre-season to get us going. We impressively beat senior affiliate Leeds at home before demolishing part-time Scottish side Kelty Hearts. Local non-league rivals Ashington stepped their game up and frustrated us, before we beat another local side Whitley Bay comfortably at Croft Park.

So there we have it - difficult to tell how well this group can do in League Two, but as I previously said I don't think the step up in quality is that big.

We have added some great players such as Button, O'Shea, Sitti and Godden. I think this team looks like a playoffs side at least. The key I have learnt the hard way is getting them to gel and starting well. So I have heavily focused on teaching the new players our playing style - but it shouldn't take too long as they were mostly all signed for their suitability for our system. Fingers crossed for a good start!


Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

First Quarter of the 21/22 Season


Here we go, off on a new adventure in the Football League for the first time in the club's history. Expectations are low from our fans but they are encouraged by our new player signings and the pre-season results, and are now piling into the ground to get behind their local side.

So a recap of this new side:

Ideal Starting XI: David Button; Ryan Haynes, Tom Lees, Dara O'Shea, Robbie McKenzie; Connor Dimaio, Mitch Brundle, Melvin Sitti, Ben Cottrell; Connor Hall, Matt Godden.

Ideal Bench: Mark McGuinness, Zak Mills, Joe White, Jermaine Anderson, Denilson Carvalho, Kieran Phillips, Aaron Martin.

Other Team Members: Louis Gray, Charlie Wiggett, Rhys Evans, Espen Sandstad, Zach Dronfield, Dan Maguire.



JULY & AUGUST

A dreamy start to life in the Football League for the Spartans faithful! A winning start in a trip to Exeter was backed up by a huge 5-0 win at home to Morecambe, and the good times continued to follow.

We got a dream tie to go to St James Park and play in the local big city lights of Newcastle and we gave an excellent account of ourselves to make the Geordies take note of us. A defeat to Bradford was unfortunate but our opposition were excellent on the day at Croft Park so no complaints. I sent out a complete reserve team against Salford in the "Leasing.com" Trophy as I don't really want to advance, and to my dismay the boys won it on penalties

Mitch Brundle started his time at Blyth very impressively, as too have centre-back Mark McGuinness and keeper David Button. That said, Connor Hall is straight back on the goal train with 6 goals and is justifying to his critics why he took the risk to leave League One side Bolton for us - and he picks up the POTM award.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Connor Hall


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Blyth get reward for patience as Lees becomes a Spartan

I love a marquee signing that makes you sit up in your chair and take notice, and I know the fans do too. I knew that former Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday centre back was out of contract and had been released from Hillsborough in the summer - where he had been captain - so I asked his former teammate Kieran Lee if he would put in a good word about his time here.

Kieran sold the club and it's positive atmosphere to Tom, and Tom agreed that if by September he still hadn't secured a contract at either a Championship or League One club then he would sign for Blyth. September came around I whilst I have had to pay through the nose, unlike with Godden I am confident that it is money well spent.

Tom is an intelligent traditional defender who can still play out from the back. He is confident using either foot and at 30 years old I think we have got him at a great age and he will be a good mentor for McGuinness and Wiggett, whilst also forming a formidable partnership with Dara O'Shea. Tom joins us on £1,900 p/w wages for two years (until 2023). Welcome aboard!

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SEPTEMBER

Straight away you can notice the difference as we go on another clean sweeping month, as is becoming customary with this team. However in both previous seasons we have tended to start badly and finish strongly, so who knows how this will play out!

My favourite win was the final game of the month at Colchester as Aaron Martin snatches the 3 points away in extra time. That kind of ruthlessness will take us far.

Player of the month again could have gone to Connor Hall who is now leading the League Two scoring charts with 11 goals already. However the award will go to the giant young centre back Mark McGuinness for playing well above expectations and defending like a lion this month - and grabbing a quickfire double against Carlisle.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Mark McGuinness



LEAGUE TABLE

How about that for a start? 33 points taken from the opening 12 games and we have already gone 10 points clear from the playoff sides.

The standards have been set now and we need to maintain them. Bristol Rovers have got a great team with players like Jonson Clarke-Harris, Will Smallbone and Rafa Mujica and I can see them overtaking us before long. But for now at least, we are top!


Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

Second Quarter of the 21/22 Season


After a dream start to life in the Football League we picked up a few bad injuries and form took a bit of a hit. But by and large this team is not fazed by the professional game and the lads have been really spurred on by the locals getting behind them.

With crowds now pushing 4,000 a game, that represents 10% of the town of Blyth's population. On the right track!


OCTOBER

Yeah we hit a wall this month. Even the opening win against Northampton wasn't all that convincing and we then continued playing badly, and didn't win a single of our remaining 6 games in October.

Not bothered at all about the loss to Crewe in the B team Trophy (I don't agree with this competition and the teams in it) but the other performances barring the away draw to Bristol Rovers were unacceptable. Against Rovers we were solid, and this was important as they are our main competitors for the title as things stand.

I can't say there way too many players who did well this month but centre back Dara O'Shea can hold his head high at least.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Dara O'Shea


Sadly, our big new signing from the last update Tom Lees picked up a big injury at the end of this month, tearing his hamstring. He joins Matt Godden and Denilson Carvalho on the long-term injured list. Barring miracle work in the physio's room, I'd imagine at Tom's age this could bring on a more rapid decline. A shame for the player and for us.

NOVEMBER

A month of respite and recovery.

Unlike the past two years (3rd round x2), we under-perform in the FA Cup - but perhaps understandably, since we got the short straw of a trip to Portman Road and to Ipswich in the first round. We then bowed out of the "Leasing.com Trophy" with a win over Forrest's u23s. Then a couple of inspired performances by Ryan Haynes spurred on to recover our place at the top of the table!

Aaron Martin continues to confound critics who say he isn't good enough for this level, as the former Guiseley striker hits 3 goals. But the clear star man this month was Ryan Haynes, as he completely owned the left side of the pitch for us.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Ryan Haynes

Dan Maguire just didn't look cut out for this level so we allowed our club legend to leave the club again, to save on his £950 per week salary. He joins VNS side Basingstoke and we wish him the best!

Our stadium expansion has finally been finished and we can now boast a near average max capacity for this level, at 5,630.



DECEMBER

Two great wins (vs Burton and vs Grimsby) and two lesser performances (vs Port Vale and vs Northampton) but on the whole very positive - it's 10 points gained this month after all!

In particular the 5-0 win at the Pirelli ground in Burton was spectular and we blew them away in the first half.

Aaron Martin continued his steady goal contribution (now 12 in all comps). Connor Hall has gone properly off the boil and needs to get himself right. By far the POTM was Zak Mills, another full back, as he became a real threat down the right and kept Robbie McKenzie out of the team.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Zak Mills


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Just a quick breakaway to bring you something mildly amusing. I have this guy on my shortlist (he's actually quite a decent player) and was surprised by some of the stories on my social feed...

I fully recommend shortlisting players with funny names and seeing what magic the socials feed comes up with

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LEAGUE TABLE

With just over half the season played we are still in the driving seat. Whilst Bristol Rovers and Bradford are breathing down our necks, we have a big gap from the teams in the playoffs and if we can maintain relative consistency, we will go up again.

I have my eyes on certain players to reinforce the team, and hopefully I can unveil them in the next update as the January window opens...


Howay Blyth!​

 

[Schnauzer]

Third Quarter of the 21/22 Season


We stagger onwards towards the title, but my goodness is going to be a struggle!


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JANUARY NEWS: CHELTENHAM ACE BROOM AND YOUNGSTER BUTTERFIELD JOIN THE SPARTANS

Two new additions to bring you in the January window.

Firstly, Cheltenham Town's Ryan Broom - capable of playing across the midfield - joins us for 70k and signs a deal at £1,100 per week. He was playing really well for Cheltenham in the VN and was a handful against us last year. He will compete with Cottrell for the n.10 role, but also can play out wide if we need him to.

Secondly we add young striker Tom Butterfield, on loan from Derby. Tom hasn't played a single professional game yet so it is a risk, but his technique and understanding of the game is second to none at this level. That said he is a poor finisher.

Departing us are loanees Espen Sandstad (Leeds) and Matt Godden (Coventry). Sandstad did ok as a backup but I was really disappointed with Godden. I recognised that he was a bit of a panic addition on deadline day but he did nothing to dispell this - scoring just 3 goals in 12 games. That isn't good enough to justify an extension of his £2k a week loan. We will place faith in the untested Butterfield instead!

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JANUARY

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I think it's fairly clear that our loan additions haven't greatly strengthened us, but we keep digging deep.

12 important points gained this month but disappointingly we succumb to promotion rivals Bristol Rovers. Their striker Jonson Clarke-Harris is a real handful and if I can sign him next season I will.

Kieran Phillips managed a couple of important goals and Godden finally had a good game the day before his loan expired. POTM goes to Ryan Broom for a very solid first month in the green and white colours of Blyth.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Ryan Broom

Disappointingly our top scorer and talisman Connor Hall picked up a bad injury against Forest Green and will be out for up to 4 months. I hope this doesn't derail our season.



FEBRUARY

We have started to really unravel!

Without Connor Hall our strikeforce is looking very weak and most of the goals this month came from defenders. This needs to change and fast. Tom Butterfield scored a worldy to beat Fleetwood but he needs to become more consistent. Aaron Martin has become completely impotent for us sadly, and Kieran Phillips is still young and inconsistent.

One man who played consistently well during our February crisis was midfielder Melvin Sitti. The Norwich loanee playmaked to great effect and it could have been a lot worse without him.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH -
Melvin Sitti



LEAGUE TABLE

I forgot to the screenshot the table after February so this is the table 2 games played into March.

We hold a 6 point lead over Bradford and a 14 point lead over nearest playoff side Bristol Rovers (who have tailed off). Whilst we may not be steamrolling the division, little old Blyth is making its way towards the big boy divisions!


Howay Blyth!​