Waterloo! The Hawks: A Journey

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Welcome to Havant & Waterlooville

'Waterloo, I was defeated you won the war' - ABBA.


Welcome

Welcome to 'Waterloo! The Hawks: A Journey' my first career thread on this page. I have been inspired, I suppose you could say, by a few people on this site that have tempted me to follow in their footsteps and document my own save. This save will be with Havant & Waterlooville, a side that interested me as I tend to stay closer to home and manage more Northern sides. Hopefully you can all enjoy the updates as much as I will enjoy playing and sharing my games with you.

Introduction

Havant & Waterlooville currently ply their trade in the Vanarama National South, the sixth tier of English football after recently regaining their status in the division after being relegated to the Southern Premier League in the 2015/16 campaign. Whilst the club have never played above this level, the club, who are nicknamed the Hawks (which explains the title of the thread) are most famously remembered as the club who led Liverpool 2-0 in the FA Cup 4th round in 2007 before going on to lose 5-2 to end a historic run in the cup.

In more recent years, beside the recent relegation and promotion from and to this division, Havant have narrowly missed out on promotion through a playoff semi-final defeat to Boreham Wood, the eventual winners. The man who led them to the playoffs was none other than Lee Bradbury, who still remains in charge today at Westleigh Park, a ground with a capacity of just over 5,000.

This season, the board are expecting a top half finish upon their return to the league - can Bradbury and his squad deliver?

The Squad

It's a common theme amongst the Conference South to have a large amount of ageing players and that's exactly what we have here, unlike the North which does have it's share of ageing players, but also tends to have a balance of youth and experience. As you can see, we will need to invest a little bit of cash into our back four as we don't have a single recognised full-back in the ranks and other areas are low on depth, so expect a lot of arrivals in the Summer. Wes Fogden will be a key player for us this season and Matt Tubbs brings a wealth of Football League, as well as Conference experience with him and will be a dangerous threat to many this campaign.

Thank you for reading the beginning to a long, long career...



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[NathanITFC]

Looking forward to this! Matt Tubbs will score goals for fun in this league. Brian Stock's mental stats must also be very good?

 

[BallyC7]

I'm in total agreement with Nathan - Matt Tubbs should be a real force in that league! Also, I reckon James Hayter still has a lot to offer down at that level, even at the age of 38!

 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Looking forward to this! Matt Tubbs will score goals for fun in this league. Brian Stock's mental stats must also be very good?

Thanks mate as I am! I've always been quite a fan of Tubbs since he was at Salisbury terrorising defences in the Blue Square Conference Premier... far too long ago that. Stock does have some incredible mental stats, you're quite right. 16 leadership, 15 vision and decisions... all his stats are above 11 beside a few. It'll be a shame if I can't get him into the team, he seems a good player.

I'm in total agreement with Nathan - Matt Tubbs should be a real force in that league! Also, I reckon James Hayter still has a lot to offer down at that level, even at the age of 38!

Hayter was brilliant at Yeovil, I remember him being quite a strong part of their rise to the Championship - he didn't have the best of times last season but hopefully it was just a blip.

 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

CLUB NEWS

This was something I weren't expecting to see as I was continuing along in pre-season. Definitely something I'll have to keep an eye on! It hasn't affected my transfer business yet but I'm making sure I get any deals done in the next few weeks before a possible embargo is placed.​

 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

CLUB NEWS

We're a few games into the season and there has been further development in the takeover saga. A businessman is willing to part a good bit of cash to buy out the club, hopefully he does it - 170k is quite a bit! In the mean time, as I expected, we have been placed in a transfer embargo but I managed to finalise my last deal just before the previous game so I am not affected by this at all. ​

 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

This Summer promised to be a busy one and that's exactly what it proved to be. The main issue was addressed in terms of a lack of full-backs and wingers, whilst depth was also added to the rest of the squad.

From: Bangor City

Cost: Loan

I must admit, I think this deal is a poor one looking back. We managed to find better options in defence and he is now just another face in the squad, considering we can't terminate his loan either.

From: Bala Town

Cost: Loan

The second of our loan deals from a Welsh side, Irving is definitely a better deal than that of his fellow Welsh-league friend. He'll be deployed more as a full-back than a center-back, but his versatility will be key in times when fixture congestion comes around, in which it definitely does in these depths of the English game.

From: Free Agent (previously at Spurs)

Cost: Free

I am very pleased to have got Armani's signature after having fought off National League opposition in Solihull Moors. The winger provides the pace and basic attributes of a winger you want at this level and should enjoy a successful season with us.

From: Free Agent (previously at Wealdstone)

Cost: Free

Personally this is our signing of the Summer. Harriott is an all-round talented midfielder who has experience at this level with spells at the likes of Hayes & Yeading and Hemel Hempstead to accompany his most recent spell at Wealdstone. At 24, he still has potential to develop and will provide a bit of youth and freshness in the side.

From: Exeter City

Cost: Loan

The 20-year-old provides further depth to the center of midfield, as well as a solid option at that. He has had a successful loan spell at Weston Super-Mare in the past so again is not trying untested waters here this campaign.

From: Free Agent (previously at Brentford)

Cost: Free

Depth was low in the full-back positions as you know so it was only sensible to bring in the youngster to bring an option to the table and someone to step into the role in the future.

From: Maidenhead United

Cost: Loan

Rene Steer was a key player in Maidenhead's title winning season last year and so to be able to get the Englishman on loan until the end-of-the-season is a good piece of business in my opinion. There will definitely be competition in the left-back spot with the deals done this window and it can only be healthy.

From: Yeovil Town

Cost: Loan

Originally when I brought Tomlinson in I thought he would be a squad player, but he is highly rated amongst the staff at the club and so has tempted me to support his cause a little more. For a player at his age, he definitely has the attributes to do well this season.

From: Bristol Rovers

Cost: 3-month loan

I planned on bringing him in for another season-long-loan however I had already reached the limit allowed within the season so I have been forced to reduce his spell to one considered as a 'short loan spell.' I plan on extending this when it is closer to expiring as he is another player that versatile and will most likely be my main right-back this year.

From: Free Agent (previously at Aldershot Town)

Cost: Free

The final deal of our Summer was the free signing of experienced defender Luke Oliver. Having spent the majority of his career in the Football League with Bradford and making 38 appearances in the past two seasons with Forest Green Rovers and Aldershot, he will be a rock at the back in what was previously a very poor back-line.​