Season Review 2008/09

Season 2007/08 was a massive achievement for Guildford City. Under new management following the previous season’s 2nd bottom finish, the City soared to the top end of the table to finish as creditable league runners up.

The summer months were a time of intense speculation amongst the die-hard supporters as to the chances of a repeat performance and maybe even going one better by lifting the championship. Only three weeks before the season started though and the club was in turmoil following the resignation of joint-managers Scott Steele and Lloyd Wye. Most of their talented squad followed them out through the exit leaving the club without a manager and with only a handful of players.

Out of all the applicants for the managerial position it was Andy “Rusty” Lunn, formerly assistant manager/coach at Dorking FC and Banstead Athletic who got the nod. Rusty spent the time remaining to him in a relentless search of new players, many of his new recruits having already played under him at his previous clubs.

The first day of the season saw the new look team gain a good 2-2 draw away to Chessington & Hook United. A promising performance almost bringing three points until a late equaliser snatched a draw for the hosts. Four days later and the first home game was against Epsom & Ewell. A truly awful performance saw City thumped 0-4. Unfortunately this was to prove the shape of things to come. A good FA Cup run could have brought in much needed revenue but a trip to CCL first division side Frimley Green saw City crash out in the extra-preliminary round by 0-1. A midweek trip to Egham Town saw City record their first win of the season and a sliver of hope in a good all round team performance. To show that one win does not always necessarily herald a change in fortune City were crushed 0-5 in their next home match by Banstead Athletic, and City were lucky that they managed to keep the score down to five!

On August Bank Holiday Monday City travelled to top of the table Cove FC and won 3-2. A win that astonished the travelling band of City fans almost as much as their hosts. Another draw followed, 1-1 at Horley Town. Spirits were then raised further by a penalties victory in the 1st round of the league cup at first division CB Hounslow United.

On 13th September City faced newly promoted Badshot Lea looking to gain our first home win of the season. Instead we were on the end of a 1-5 thumping. At this point we had played 3 home games, gained 0 points and conceded 14 goals for one scored!

The following Wednesday we at last won at home, albeit in the league cup, beating Egham Town 2-1. Any feeling of wellbeing having won a home game at last, lasted precisely three days. A visit to south London side Colliers Wood United, who were sitting in a midtable position in the league was to produce City’s record defeat. A 0-7 thrashing could have been a whole lot worse, with Colliers Wood taking their foot off the pedal for long periods. To rub salt into the wound they played the last half hour with only ten men after one of their forwards was shown a straight red for stamping on City defender Shane Duffell. City chairman Shahid Azeem was scathing in the local Guildford weekly paper, threatening wholesale changes at a managerial level unless results – and performances – were improved dramatically.

Manager Andy Lunn had already brought in several loan signings from Ryman League clubs, but performances were not seeing any significant improvement. The turning point was the following two Saturdays, both home fixtures. Firstly another possible lucrative cup run was spurned with a 1-3 defeat against Sussex League side Selsey FC in the FA Vase Then another league defeat against bottom side Wembley FC proved to be one too many. Andy Lunn left the club the day after the Wembley debacle with experienced goalkeeper Dave Tidy being given the caretakers role.

Tidy was given a baptism of fire for his first game in charge with a trip to 2nd placed side Bedfont Green. A last minute equaliser saved a point for City in a 3-3 draw. Tidy started on the task building a squad that could compete in this league. Over the following weeks all but two of Andy Lunn’s first choice players would be shown

the door, with only forwards Simon Sheppard and Aneel Azeem (also the only survivors from last season’s team) remaining regular starters. A 0-1 defeat in the Surrey Senior Cup at Molesey FC was followed by yet another home defeat, this time to Raynes Park Vale. However City were 2-1 up at half-time against 10 man Vale and playing some good football at times yet somehow their opponents managed to score 2 goals in the 2nd half to inflict an undeserved defeat on City. Another home game the following week saw City once again go 2-0 up by half-time, this time against fellow strugglers Hartley Wintney. For the second week running Guildford could not cling onto their lead, allowing their visitors to sneak a point right at the death.

On Tuesday 4th November City lost 1-2 at Bedfont FC, but this was followed by the result of the season the following Saturday. City travelled to top of the table Camberley Town, a side unbeaten in the league all season. The hosts were 2-0 up at half time and it looked as though we could be on for a mauling. However our luck changed before a ball was kicked in the second half. The half time raffle’s two prizes, bottles of whiskey and wine was won by two of the large travelling army of City fans. Within 5 minutes of the restart City had hit two goals to come level and came within a whisker of gaining the lead. Our third wasn’t long in coming however and despite an attempted Camberley fight back the 3 points made their way to Guildford. Highlight of the season so far was the noise and singing generated in the Camberley shed-end by the massed ranks of City supporters (all 10 of them!!).

A 0-1 defeat at Spectrum in the Southern Combination Cup with an under-strength line-up was a distraction we could do without before the big one. Big spenders Chertsey Town came to Spectrum on the crest of a slump. Despite spending big time in the summer they had fallen away slightly and at the time of their visit on Saturday 15th November were down in 6th place. Chertsey took the lead twice only to be pegged back twice by City. By the end of the game it was Chertsey who were clinging onto a point and City who were disappointed not to have gained all three.

The backbone of the improved performances were undoubtedly defenders Martin Beard and Matt Burns, midfielders Lee Passmore, John Hamshire and Ant Vine and forwards Matt Graves and Joe Loyza all of whom were brought in by Dave Tidy. Joe Loyza in particular being in a rich scoring vein of form.

Our 3rd round league cup tie at Horley Town gave Tidy a chance to rest some of his new boys and play a team consisting mainly of fringe players with a mingling of youth teamers. A 2-5 defeat looking bad on paper but still an encouraging performance from the youngsters against a full strength opposition.

A 2-1 win at Sandhurst Town had Dave Tidy rage at his team for not putting their hosts to the sword when 2-0 up. A late consolation for the hosts made the win look much more close than it actually was. Chances really must be taken when on offer or disaster awaits - a lesson that came home to City in their next home game.

Ash United are the other CCL premier division side from the Borough of Guildford so local bragging rights were very much at stake for both sides. City fans in particular were keen not to lose their local rivals. A smattering of former City players in the Ash line-up added extra spice to the encounter. The game was played in continual torrential rain, but despite the conditions both teams contributed to a breathtaking encounter. With 89 minutes on the clock and City had just hit an equaliser to make it 3-3 after being 3-1 down, and if anyone was going to get a winner it was City who were in the ascendancy. Immediately from the kick-off Ash amazingly made it 4-3 with what appeared to be the most offside goal ever scored and seemed to have sent the City faithful into the depths of despair. The ref played 5 minutes injury time and with City laying siege to the Ash goal the keeper dropped the ball at the feet of John Hamsher who gratefully stabbed home to make it 4-4!!

A two week lay-off followed, due to Molesey’s continued run in the Vase and our home game against North Greenford falling victim to the south east floods of 13th December. We got back to action at the re-arranged Molesey trip the following Tuesday. A decent first half saw City collapse rather alarmingly in the second half to see us thrashed 1-5.

Spirits were still high for the following Saturday’s trip to Bookham FC, despite a below strength line-up due to a bout of flu amongst some of the squad. Unusually, Bookham had requested a 2pm kick off due to water getting into the electrics of their floodlights. An early lead for City, courtesy of a screamer from Craig Moore, was cancelled out before half time and we went in 1-3 down. Another goal against in the first minute of the second half saw us with a mountain to climb. Worse was to follow. Aneel Azeem, City’s winger, took a fall stretching for a ball and injured his back. With him being unable to move an ambulance was called which resulted in a delay of just under an hour, during which time Bookham must have seen their bar takings soar with City fans drinking away their sorrows. There was talk of the game being abandoned with the light fading fast and, supposedly, no working floodlights. However with a 4-1 lead Bookham were not letting this get away from them and miraculously the floodlights worked when they tried switching them on (it’s a miracle, Hallelujah!!!) City were frankly abysmal. Two further Bookham goals made this one of the most depressing results in an often-miserable season.

On 27th December City hosted Cobham in the last home game of the year. This was our last chance to actually win a home league game before the new year. Luckily Cobham were a club in a similar situation to ourselves and the help of a Matt Grave hat-trick the City triumphed by 4-3. Having lead 3-0 and 4-1, the lads still did their best to keep the fans sweating by almost allowing Cobham to snatch a late draw. The wet spell meant the next game was against Colliers Wood United on Saturday 17th January. A goal from centre-half Martin Beard gained the club a small measure of revenge on the side who had so easily undressed City by seven goals to nil back in September.

The following Saturday saw a large contingent of fans make the short train journey to Raynes Park Vale in south London. However a miserable performance meant a deserved 3-0 win for the home side, Manager Dave Tidy had tried to shake up the side with some new faces for this game. One of the new comers was the imposing figure of Leon White, a truly massive centre forward who had scored a lot of goals for Epsom & Ewell over the last few years. However none of the new boys did anything in this game to suggest they were any better than those we already had on the books. White only played one more game before he was released.

Next up was a visit for championship contenders Bedfont Green. A reasonably good performance from City could not prevent a 1-2 loss. The heavy snowfall of early February meant the next game was a visit from another title contender, Camberley Town, on 14th February. The City’s victory at Krooner Park back in November was still fresh in the supporters’ minds. However the flip side of City was evident on this occasion when they crashed to a humiliating 0-5 thrashing. Camberley were 5 up at half-time in a performance of mind blowing Guildford ineptitude which probably even eclipsed Colliers Wood’s 7-0 annihilation of Andy Lunn’s side. Thankfully Camberley were happy to sit back in the second half and not try to heap even more misery on Guildford, otherwise it could have been much, much worse.

Three days later and a trip to another title chasing side, Epsom & Ewell. Dave Tidy managed to coax a much better performance from his side for this one, and although still a 0-1 defeat, the overall performance was much better than against Camberley (it would hard to get any worse in fairness!).

Next up, a trip to Farnborough FC’s impressive ground, the rented home of Badshot Lea. City played fairly well in the first half, but faded badly after the award of a dubious penalty, eventually shipping three goals for a 0-3 defeat.

On the Wednesday we hosted Egham Town and fell to a 89th minute penalty to lose our sixth successive game. With Guildford 3 points adrift from safety and with a truly awful goal difference, something had to be done to stop our slide to seemingly certain relegation. Dave Tidy decided he wasn’t the man for the job and duly resigned to be replaced quickly by Kevin Rayner, the manager of Croydon Athletic reserves. Rayner had a lot of experience in the south London scene, having also managed Carshalton Athletic in the Ryman Premier. Kevin was a good friend of Dave Tidy, and had helped Guildford out a few times under Tidy’s stewardship with the loan of several players – including the highly thought of goalkeeper Jack Smelt.

Kevin’s debut in charge was the visit of Cove on Saturday 28th February. With several of Tidy’s players having left with the former manager, Rayner started his job of rebuilding. A hard working performance gained the side a creditable 0-0 draw, with possibly Guildford being slightly more disappointed at not winning the three points than Cove.

Next up was a Tuesday visit to North Greenford United. A 1-3 defeat was not unexpected, with Greenford being judged one of the dark horses for a promotion charge. The following match, a visit from Chessington & Hook United on Saturday 7th March was far more important at judging whether Rayner’s drastic surgery was likely to yield points. Chessington were hovering slightly above the relegation pack and was the sort of team City had to start picking up points from. A debut goal from Harrison Carnegie, a diminutive striker signed the previous week gave City the 1-0 win. A win marred only by the late sending off of another of Rayner’s recent acquisitions Tommy Tydeman. Combative defender Tommy would prove to be one of the best of Rayner’s signings with the flaw that his temper would often prove to get the better of him.

Next up were two successive home matches. First up was Sandhurst Town. City fancied their chances in this one, but found themselves 2-0 down at halftime and apparently heading for defeat. Yet an incredible comeback in the 2nd half saw goals from Carnegie and Corey Knight before Danny Elgar thrillingly clinched victory from the penalty spot deep into injury time.

Incredibly City managed a similar feat in their next game a week later when City found themselves 0-1 down against Molesey. Cue a match winning substitution, with new signing Joel Greaves hitting two goals, the second of which with literally the last kick of the game to give City a 2-1 win and send Molesey back to south London absolutely gutted.

Full of confidence City travelled to Wembley and held on to a 1-0 lead right up to the 89th minute. Then in an eerie echo of the previous game, allowed the home side to snatch two late goals (both from a substitute) to lose 1-2. Three days later on Tuesday 31st March Guildford travelled to big spenders Chertsey Town and lost 0-2. Chertsey, who had (allegedly) spent thousands of pounds packing their side with Ryman League players in a bid to guarantee promotion had failed to live up to expectations all season, but still managed to see off City without too much fuss.

On Saturday 4th April City were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Horley Town. City had much the lion’s share of possession and chances, but failed to get the ball in the net. By this game Rayner had managed to establish a fairly settled side. The biggest plus point was a defence who were capable of defending, a combative midfield and a big target man to work alongside a quick and nippy forward. The target man was Lance Banton-Brown. A big fella whose early displays showed a distinct lack of match practice, but who was improving with every game he played.

Another Tuesday night and a visit to Banstead Athletic. Plying his trade between the Banstead sticks was none other than our former manager Dave Tidy. Also in the home side was former City men Hamsher, Passmore, Arnold and Annan. In an awful game of football from both sides, City looked capable of getting something from the game. Unfortunately the ref spotted some pushing and shoving in the City goalmouth and awarded Athletic a penalty. Jack Smelt brilliantly saved Hamsher’s spot kick, but the ref decided Jack had come off his line too quickly and ordered it

to be retaken. This time Hamsher made no mistake. A late equaliser from Banton-Brown was no more than City deserved, although City would have to get more points on the board quickly if the club was to stand any chance of escaping the drop.

On Easter Saturday, 11th April City hosted Bookham. City dominated throughout but just could not force the ball over the Bookham goal line. Another 0-0 draw and City were still in the third bottom position. On Easter Monday and a trip to bottom side Cobham. Cobham were already relegated but they put in a hard working performance to go in at half time 1 goal up – having taken advantage of a penalty miss by Greaves earlier on. Greaves made amends in the second half with two goals; with a third from midfielder Danny Elgar to give City a priceless 3-1 win. This result, along with other results going to City’s advantage lifted the club out of the bottom three for the first time in weeks. Our next home match was against the side immediately below us – Bedfont. City fell behind in the fifth minute and found themselves outfought by the visitors. City fell back into a relegation place with this massively disappointing defeat.

Our much postponed home clash with North Greenford United took place the following Wednesday, 22nd April. United looked a good bet for runners-up spot, having been on a great run that had shot them towards the top of the table. This was City’s last home game of the season and a far better performance than Saturday’s was required from the players if City was to avoid defeat. Although the players certainly rose to the occasion, it was still NGU who raced into a 2-0 lead. Rayner’s side have shown themselves capable of fighting back from deficits however and two goals in a minute got City back level. Guildford were now in the ascendancy and came mighty close to snatching a brilliant win, but NGU just about managed to cling on to their point.

City’s trip to Hartley Wintney on Saturday 25th April now took on massive importance. This was the clubs penultimate match of the season and we needed a win along with other results to go our way. The City players did their bit against a decent Hartley side with a 3-0 victory, and just as importantly, Chessington & Hook and Wembley both lost meaning that City’s survival was back in their own hands.

So then to the last day of the 2008/09 Combined Counties League Premier Division season. A season that had started with high hopes for City fans, but which quickly went sour. Three managers and well over 100 registered players over the season had brought us to Youngs Drive, home of Ash United - the only other senior football club in the Borough of Guildford. Home to many ex-Guildford City players, to name but a few – James Blason, Arjuna Adlam, Scott Cannie, Tony Mukabaa and Lee O’Donnell.

Some of the younger City supporters had decided to walk to Ash from Guildford with the twin aims of raising money for the Sport 4 Life charity and also raising a few pounds for City funds. Their aims received a boost when Ash’s chairman generously donated £100 to the cause.

To guarantee a place above the relegation places City only had to get a draw from the game. They could also afford to lose as long as Chessington and Wembley also both lost. With the great improvement Kevin Rayner had brought to the team hopes were high amongst the support, City probably having close to half the crowd supporting them on this gloriously sunny spring day. Half way through the second half City were 1-1, with Jamie King having equalised Ash United’s opener. At this point Chessington were drawing and Wembley winning at Bookham and Cobham respectively. Had City been able to hold onto the point then we were safe. Unfortunately two of our former players hit a goal apiece to condemn Guildford to defeat. When the results from the other two games filtered through it was bad news. Chessington, against all the odds, had won 2-1, which along with Wembley’s comfortable 3-0 victory at relegated Cobham saw Guildford City slip into that third bottom position on goal difference.

This was a cruel end to a difficult season. Doubly hard to take when the side had picked up considerably since March under Rayner’s guidance. Thoughts went back to those awful thrashings, 5-0 (twice), 5-1 (twice), 6-1, 7-0, earlier in the season. Those defeats contributing heavily to the predicament the club now found themselves in.

So in theory City will have to kick off in Division One next season*, but the club’s small band of loyal supporters will still be there to cheer on the lads come what may.

Guildford City FC website and programme editor