My Nomadic Adventure

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Nomadic

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I had just graduated from University with a second-class degree in sports science and began the daunting task of finding myself a career. A couple of months soon passed and the only work I had managed to get was some part time bar work. This wasn’t ideal and so I decided to spend the little money I had on travelling to refresh myself, ready to begin re-applying for jobs when I returned. Little did I know about the adventure that was about to unfold…..

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I decided to go big and do the classic trip to Australia and Asia. It was going well; I had met some awesome people, seen incredible sights and was loving the whole experience. That was until the 3rd​ week, whilst travelling through Indonesia I had my backpack stolen from me, in the city of Pasuruan. Fortunately I still had my passport but had lost a large chunk of my money along with my clothes and possessions. This put a big downer on my trip, but I just wasn’t ready to return home just yet. I therefore decided I would look for a job to earn a bit of cash to enable me to continue on my adventure.

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The fact that I couldn’t speak the language was likely to be my biggest hurdle, but that didn’t deter me from attempting to ask. After being gestured away by a number of bars, I stumbled across a football stadium called “Raden Soedarsono-Pogar". As I was a massive football fan I thought I would check it out. The stadium was relatively big with a capacity of around 12,000 but the condition of the stands and pitch was very poor compared to anything I had seen before in the UK. As I was walking around I heard some indistinguishable shouting from behind me and turned to see a woman gesturing me over. It would be just my luck for me to get in trouble for trespassing or something.

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I was ushered into a dingy looking office somewhere within the stadium, with a middle aged Indonesian man sat behind the desk. “Leicester City” he said pointing at the top I was wearing. I nodded and told him that I supported them. In all honesty I don’t think he had a clue what I was saying, but he sat there with a rather creepy grin on his face. This left me rather confused as to what was going on as it certainly didn’t seem like I was in trouble for anything.

He then started to pass me various sheets of tactics and formations. He prompted me to choose some tactics, to which i chose one looking like make most of set pieces and another that i presumed was a direct style of football. WTF was going on?!? had i randomly stumbled into a managerial job interview? I can only assume he thought I must know a lot about football being from the UK!

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The next thing i knew he was making a phone call to someone and after an awkward 15 minutes the lady that had previously escorted me to the office entered the room and gave me some paperwork. It was a contract to manage a club called "Persebo". This had to be the most surreaI thing I had ever experienced! I was a 21 year old lad from N Ireland, that had just been robbed in the middle of Indonesia and that same day i was being offered a job as a manger of a football club! You couldn't make this **** up!

I signed on the dotted line and that was that I was now the new manager of Persebo

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​
 
Learning the Ropes

The following morning I awoke early inside my stifling motel room. To add to my discomfort the shower was out of order and so I had no escape from the heat. I then had to put my sweat drenched clothes back on from the previous day. Just the first impression I had hoped for when meeting my squad for the first time.

However, when I arrived at the stadium I was surprised to find nobody there, except for the same lady from yesterday, who I believed was called “Putri”. She showed me to a smaller, stuffier office than I had been in yesterday and left me to it. Looking through my e-mails (Thank God for google translator) I found that the club was only Semi-Professional, which would explain why the players weren’t here!

I then began to look through my list of staff and noticed I had no assistant manager, which urgently needed addressing. The main criteria I was after was for someone that could speak English, to act as a translator an enable me to carry out my job until I got a grasp of the language. I then stumbled across a man named “Asep Dayat” who had 2 Indonesian caps and spoke fluent English! Perfect!

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I decided to give him a call and offered him the job over the phone for a measly salary of £20 p/w. He gratefully accepted and said he would be along for training that evening.


That night the squad and staff arrived for training and I was able to formally introduce myself the players through Dayat’s help. I put them through some training drills that I had learnt through my playing days and could see that these weren’t the most gifted footballers in the world, not that I was expecting a huge amount from Semi-Pros. Could I become a player manager?

Over the next couple of weeks I was able to assess the squad’s ability with the help of Dayat, and could begin to work on a formation to get the most out of the team. A 4-3-3 narrow formation, as the strikers seemed to be much more impressive than the wingers. A secondary 4-4-2 formation was also planned, to add some flexibility in the event of injuries/suspensions.

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Transfer funds were very limited and so it was going to be difficult to strengthen the squad to the level I desired, but i had to work with what i had. As my chosen formation required 3 CM’s I knew I would need to invest in some cover and so began to look through my scouts list of free agents. I came across 2 players that fitted my criteria:

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The first player i signed was "Arthur Assa". He looked a very tidy player for this level of football and had the ability to be a key player in my squad. At the age of 31 he would soon be on the decline but i was confident we would get some decent performances out of him over the course of the season.

The second player i signed was "Teguh Angga Firnanda". I managed to sign him on a non contract and so was only getting paid an appearance fee. He i nothing special but should be able to perform at this level.

I wasnt prepared to make to many signings, as this was my first ever managerial position. Although i was also restricted by funds, I was prepared to give the current squad a chance to impress. Come the start of the transfer window in February, I should have a better idea of the players i need and those that are dispensable.

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​
 
Pre-Season

The off season in the Indonesian Premier League was long and it was nearly 2 months before our first friendly came about. This gave me plenty of time to thoroughly evaluate the squad and familiarize them with my tactics and playing style.

Although it appeared i had a lot of free time having completed my transfers early on, and the team only training part time, there was still a lot to do. I had started a studying for my "National C" license, was attempting to learn the language and also had to find some more permanent accommodation and replace my stolen belongings, now that i had a steady income.

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The first friendly was fast approaching and I decided to call Dayat into my office to have a chat about the upcoming games.

"Take a seat Asep"

"Sure boss what's up?"

"I was going to ask if you would be alright taking charge of the friendly matches? Having never managed a game before I feel it would be best for me to take a back seat in these games and observe how its done. I also feel it will be beneficial to watch the game from the stands, so i can make adjustments to our tactics where i see fit for future matches."

"I would be delighted to manage the team in the friendlies boss! But do you not think it would be wise to get some experience for yourself in these friendlies?"

"Great! I did think that myself, but for now i would prefer to observe from the stands and make adjustments ready for the start of the season. I told you before, you can call me Sean you know?"

"Ok. Good plan. Thanks for the opportunity.....Sean"


It was a fantastic preseason for us, going unbeaten in all 5 games; winning 4 an drawing 1. In all honesty i didn't really know the standard of teams that we were playing, but i couldnt fault the lads or Dayat! We looked very impressive, and not too many adjustments were required and i felt that i had a starting line up already picked out for my opening game of the season.

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"Maybe you should become the full time manager" I said jokingly to Dayat after the final match.

We both grinned, but knew there was still alot of work to do come the start of the season despite our pre-season successs​
 
Season Build Up

We had a weeks preparation before our first competitive match of the season, which would also be my managerial debut! The starting 11 had already been selected based on what i saw in pre-season, which meant specific details could be focused on in training, whilst beginning to develop positional partnerships.

In the build up to the season i had began to learn more about the Indonesian Premier League structure and rules;

- There are 4 groups of 12 teams

- Each team plays the other 11 teams in there group twice (22 matches)

- Top 2 teams of each group qualify for second Phase, bottom 2 teams relegated

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The media were predicting Persebo to finish 4th in Group D, which gave me confidence of potentially pushing for a top two place and qualifying for the second stage! Although it seemed i was a huge outsider to win the Indonesian Premier Division Title!!

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Game Day:
Persekap vs Persebo

The first day of the season was finally here and we were kicking off the season with a local derby away to Persekap. The fanbase wasn't exactly big in the division but I could feel a slight buzz of anticipation from the city as the two teams prepared to meet. The media had predicted a close game, with the likely outcome being a draw.

Morale was high amongst the players after our undefeated pre-season and i was hoping to carry this form into our first match. As we ran through our normal warm-up routine i went round and spoke to each player individually, with the assistance of Dayat. I was making them aware of what i expected from them and reminding them that this was a big opportunity to cement a place in the team.


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A fantastic start to the season!

In front of 352 fans and a live TV audience, we comfortably brushed a side Persekap. We bossed the game from start to finish, looking dominant in all areas of the pitch - I couldn't have asked for a better start to the season or my managerial career.

Now to hit the bars and celebrate!

A semi- Professional team being led by a 21 year old lad - What did everyone expect!

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November

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We had to settle for a draw in our first home game of the season. We were perhaps the better side on the day but failed to take our chances. We finally got the breakthrough, when a shot of hit the post and deflected in off the keeper. Unfortunately they equalised midway through the second half and we had to settle for 1 point.

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Arthur Assa made his debut start for the club, scoring a brace and picking up MOTM. It was a debut to remember for him and everyone associated with the club as we comfortable brushed aside Martapura. The bad news was that LB Himawan, suffered a torn hamstring ruling him out for around 3 months.


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What a match! Although a few stern words were said at full time as we nearly threw the game away in the second half. We were looking comfortable at the break but a lapse in concentration late in the second half gave Persewon a route back into the game.It looked destined to end a draw but a mix up with the keeper and defender, in the last play of the game resulted in an own goal! It was a huge relief for the lads as we nearly threw 2 vital points away.​
 
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December

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Another solid victory on the road. 2 goals in 2 minutes put is in a commanding position after 15 minutes and were able to see the game out. We looked in control, even when they pulled one back late in the first half. A 90th minute counter attack sealed the 3 points. We lost 2 players to injury but the physio has assured me they don't appear serious and should only miss a couple of matches.


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Temperatures were beginning to sore as saw off the challenge of Persip, in front of a home crowd. We were missing our 2 starting CB's for this match so was a little worried about our defence, but we held firm as our attack continued to fire in the goals. This result set a new club record as we had gone undefeated in our first 6 matches of the season. Not a bad start to my managerial career!


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A bumper crowd of 8,150 turned up to our match at Persepam. I had never witnessed a crowd like this, from the touchline as all previous matches had set an attendance of around 300. It turned out to be a rather feisty affair, which ultimately resulted in one of our CM's to getting sent off. The game was pretty even and I was happy to come away with a point, especially as we our 10 men had to withstand heavy pressure at the end.



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A straight forward win at home to Persifa. The first half was rather uneventful, but some choice words at half time got the lads going. Once we made the breakthrough in the 57th minute, there only ever looked like one outcome and the result was sealed by a 91st minute counter attack.​
 
Good read so far, looking forward to where it goes. Keep it Up!!!
 
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Since my appointment as manager i have seen very little of the clubs chairman "Amin Said Husni". I wasn't to bothered by it, as in all honesty he made me feel quite uncomfortable. Then at the end of the December he swung by and invited my into his dingy little office. My Indonesian had improved somewhat since the beginning of my journey but i still required the assistance of Dayat to help translate.

​
ASH - "Hi Sean, Thanks for meeting with me today. Take a Seat"

SOB - "No problem boss. What can I do for you?"

ASH - "I just wanted to let you know what a great job you are doing as manager here at Persebo. We are now over a third of the way through the group stage and 6 wins and 2 draws has put us in a very good position of making the top 2 and qualifying for the second stage."

SOB - "I know it has been quite unbelievable! Especially as this is the first time i have ever managed a side errr... I mean first time i have ever managed Persobo". I still dont think he knows that this was my first ever managerial appointment.

There was a long pause, which again made me feel a bit uncomfortable as he just sat there staring at me. Im pretty sure he didn't even blink behind his 2 inch lenses.

SOB - "So was there anything else you wanted to talk about boss?"

He continued to sit there starring at me. Was he dead?!? After about a minute he finally spoke

ASH - "Yessss"



Well that wasn't awkward at all! It was good to know that i had the chairman's backing and was impressed with the job i was doing. Not that i was surprised after going unbeaten in my first 8 matches. I was just pleased to get out of that office and get back to doing my job.
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DanosFC said:
Good read so far, looking forward to where it goes. Keep it Up!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks mate - glad your enjoying it.

Have never attempted an unemployed challenge before, but am really getting into it :)
 
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Great start mate!

Interested to see where you end up!
 
January

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An unbelievable performance from the lads, as we broke both the Indonesian Premier Division and club records for biggest win margin and goals in a game! We got off to a flying start and made the most of our chances in front of goal. I even told the lads to take a breather in the second half, to try preserve there energy for the upcoming midweek game! I just wish every game could go like that!



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The first round of the Indonesian Cup drew us against a fellow Premier Division side in group B. Clearly the tournament isn't very important to the fans as only a measly 81 people turned up to watch. I had to make a number of changes to the team as were just entering a patch of 5 matches in 2 weeks and with the players only being Semi-Professional there fitness wasn't the best. This was the 1st leg, in which they were probably the better side and so I was happy to come away with a draw, which included a very valuable away goal. Hopefully we could see the tie out in the 2nd leg at home.





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More squad rotation was required for the match against PS Galuh Ciamis, which came 3 days later. We made a blistering start to the game as Sasongko seized on an error at the back to score within a minute of kick-off. From then on we controlled the game and was a pretty straightforward victory.



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We managed to see the job through in the 2nd leg of the Indonesian Cup in front of a marginally bigger crowd of 94. In truth i thought the game was going to pose a greater challenge than it did. We managed to score 2 goals within a minute of each other, which gave us a nice 2 goal cushion. The red card in the 72nd minute, could have been a problem but instead we managed to score a 4th goal with 10 men to put us through to the 2nd round!


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My first ever loss as manager! This was always going to be a tough match as we were away to the group leaders, who had only dropped 2 points all season so far. They scored a well worked goal in the first half, but we had plenty of opportunities to level things up. We failed to take our chances in a match that saw Villa 2000 FC open up a 5 point lead over us in the table.


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We bounced back from defeat, by thumping Persekap 4-0. I was delighted to see the team use the defeat as motivation to come back stronger.



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This was a disappointing performance from the lads. I had expected to come away with all 3 points and weren't clinical enough in front of goal. It was pleasing to see us creating chances but we really didnt play to our full ability today and it was another 2 points wasted.


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With only 9 games remaining in the season we are in a good position to achieve a top 2 finish. The games against Persepam and Villa 2000, were going to be huge. If we can beat Persepam then i am confident we will progress to the second stage.

The transfer window is now open and all though i have no money i will be aiming to bring a few payers in on non-contracts. A LB and CM are my priority targets, but will have to see who is available as a free agent. I will also be looking to offload some reserve players to save the club some money.​
 
February


Persebo 2 - 0 PSIM

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PSIM were on a 14 game undefeated run coming into this match! I was expecting a very tough game, but they really didn't put up much of a fight, failing to even get 1 shot on target! This put us in a commanding position going into the 2nd leg.


Persebo 1 - 2 Martapura

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We were dreadful in the first half! The team just didn't show up. I lost my rag at half time and told the guys exactly what i thought of there performance....****! We couldn't afford to throw points away, especially at home when we have Persepam right behind us in the league! We showed some promise in the second half, getting 1 goal back but the damage had already been done! This was my first ever home defeat as a manger... it didn't feel good.


PSIM 0 - 3 Persebo
(0-5 Agg)

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Nearly 2,000 people turned up to watch the second leg of the cup game, to see if PSIM could turn the tie around. They may as well have stayed at home and saved themselves the 4 quid ticket. They played much better than the 1st leg but we were clinical in front of goal, ending up comfortable winners at 3 -0. I honestly don't know how they had gone 14 games unbeaten before our cup tie!


Persewon 1 - 5 Persebo

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An early goal for Persewon got me thinking on the touchline, but a Mawan freekick leveled things up before i had a chance to act. I left them to the original game plan and soon we were all over them. At 5-1 the game had become a bit of a thrashing.



Persebo 1 - 0 Persinga

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This wasn't a particularly pretty game as our captain managed to get him sent off after just 22 minutes! This meant we had to a sacrifice a forward and switch to a 4-3-2. The game was pretty even with us down to 10 men but we managed to get a break through in the 76th minute and hold on to the win. Unfortunately one of my key strikers "Usman" suffered a damaged Achilles tendon, ruling him out for the remainder of the season!


Persip 3 - 6 Persebo

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This match turned out to be a bit of a goal fest, with a total of 9 goals being scored! It was a free flowing game, providing great entertainment for the crowd. Fortunately we had a bit of a buffer as they scored there goals, so i was always confident of getting the result. Although some suspect defending will need some attention before the next game.

League Table

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With only 5 games left to go in the season, I was pretty happy with our position in the table. we are 5 points clear of Persepam and 5 points behind Villa 2000 and still have to play both at home. I would be absolutely distraught if we don't make at least 2nd place and qualify for the 2nd stage from this position!

​
 
During our Monday evening training session, my phone started to ring

"Hello?"

"Hello Sean...It's Amin here" (club Chairman)

"Oh hi boss, how can I help?"

"As you know your contract is set to expire at the end of the season and i was hoping you would renew your contract with us for another season? We have been extremely impressed with the work you have done here at Persebo and would like it to continue."

"That is an extremely generous offer, but im afraid I cannot commit my future to the club at this time."

"Is there anything we can do, to convince you to stay?"

"I feel that i need to move for the good of my career. The clubs resources are unable to fund me beyond my National C coaching license and i feel it will be impossible to grow as a manger without furthering my qualifications. Should we get promoted at the end of the season then i will be open to renewing my contract with the club".

"Very well Sean... You had better get that promotion then! I have sent over the proposed contract for you to look at anyway, let me know if anything changes"

"I will boss"​

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March

Persebo 0 - 1 Persepam
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We were drawn against our group rivals Persepam in the Cup, which meant we would be playing them 3 games in a row. Unfortunately we didn't get of to a great start in the 1st leg, losing 1-0 at home. We created a lot more chances but failed to capitalize. I wasn't to hard on the guys, as i felt if we replayed that match 10 times we would 9 of them, based on that performance.



Persebo 1 - 1 Persepam

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3 days later we met Persepam in the league, with the team hungry for revenge. The league was my primary objective this season, so felt this was biggest game of the season. We had to settle for a draw in the end, which was still a decent result as it meant they had made no ground on us. This result pretty much secured us a top 2 finish.....baring any major disasters!


Persepam 0 - 3 Persebo
(1 - 3 Agg)


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Finally we got our revenge! A great performance saw us turn the tie around as we progressed to the 4th round of the cup!


Persifa 0 - 2 Persebo

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Back to the league and it was another comfortable win. It took 70 minutes to get the breakthrough, but it always seemed the result was coming.




Persebo 5 - 1 Persbul

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This was our penultimate home league game of the season "1st stage" and saw us thrash Persbul 5-1. This result also saw us celebrate a top 2 finish, as we could no longer be caught by Persepam! We were now only 2 points behind the leaders with 3 games to go...one of those games was against leaders, Villa 2000 at home!​
 
April

Persedikab 2 - 3 Persebo

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The 4th round of the cup gave us a good draw, against a side in the division below. I felt confident going into the 1st leg and we raced into a 3 goal lead. Unfortunately we eased off the intensity at this stage, which allowed them to get 2 goals back. This result should still be enough to get us through to the Quarter-Finals


PSGC 2 - 4 Persebo

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I decided to rotate the squad a bit for this game, as we had secured a top 2 place. Despite the changes we still put a decent performance as we overcame PSGC. Unfortunately key midfielder Assa suffered a twisted knee ruling him out for over a month. Good news came in that Villa 2000 had lost, which meant that we climbed into 1st place in group D with one game remaining... against them!

Persebo 3 - 0 Persedikab(6 - 2 agg)

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As expected we comfortably brushed aside Persedikab at home in the second leg, which meant we were through to the Quarter-Finals!!The draw for the Quarter- Final was kind to us yet again, as we were drawn against Persikab. They were another team in the division below us, so felt confident we could reach the Semi-Final of the cup

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Persebo 3 - 1 Villa 2000

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We went into the match knowing that a draw would be enough to win the division, making us a top seed team going into the second phase of the the league. We controlled the game right from the start and was a straight forward victory for us in the end, as Modong bagged a hattrick. A consolation goal at the end made the score look a bit closer than it was in truth.We had done it! We had won the division! I was elated. The job wasn't done yet and i knew we would have to keep playing well if we were going to achieve promotion!

Final League Table


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