Second Season in League Two Going Strong

Just over halfway through my second season in League Two with Havant & Waterlooville and things are going incredibly well. My team is top, 3 points ahead of second, and 7 points clear of 4th. It looks promising that this season I shall win promotion to League One, and all of the signings that I made at the beginning of the season are doing me proud. I mainly concentrated on defence, and brought in a new goalkeeper also, but it’s actually one of the two forward players that I brought in that has made the most difference to the team.

Dan Crane was a player that scored a lot of goals for the club in the Blue Square South, but when I won promotion to the Blue Square Premier I sold him on as his wages were just getting too high for me to handle. Three years in Wales with Llanelli and Dan Crane has developed to become an even more impressive forward. I bought him back for twice what I sold him on for; he’s definitely been worth the investment though, and has already scored 15 goals in just 23 appearances.

Craig Mackail-Smith was the other forward that I brought to the club at the start of the season, and whilst he started off brightly; he had a 10 game spell where no goals were scored, and his confidence therefore suffered. He’s scored 6 in 22 appearances, Dan Crane has been by far the best summer purchase though, and should continue to be an integral part of the team next season if we are indeed promoted to League One.

It’s probably a little early to be thinking about life in League One just yet; hopefully the team will continue to perform though, and still be in the top 3 come the end of the season. I wouldn’t say no to a place in the play-offs, I’d rather get the job done without having to take part in the play-off lottery though, so here’s to hoping that no major injury issues spoil my ambitions, and that I do indeed get the points required to gain promotion.

End of Season Disappointment

After an excellent first season in League Two; I was hoping to make my way into the Play-Offs and fight for a place in League One. Sadly my Havant & Waterloovile team finished just outside the play-offs in 8th, and we’ll therefore be playing our football in League Two again next season.

A couple of players are set to leave in the summer, most of the squad will be staying though, and hopefully a couple of new players will be brought in to join them. I’m confident that my team can make the play-offs next season, and if I am able to increase the quality a tad with my summer signings then there’s a possibility that we could even achieve automatic promotion next season.

Havant & Waterlooville can be a League One team, and next season I will be looking to take the team up another level.

Life in League Two With Havant & Waterlooville

Life in League Two with Havant & Waterlooville was never likely to be easy; the majority of my players are still part-timers, we were given a transfer budget of just £450, and the wage budget is pretty minimal also. Two thirds of the way through the season and I’m 6th in the table though, and fighting for promotion to League One.

Last season I beat off Rushden & Diamonds and York City to win promotion via the Blue Square Premier play-offs, and it now looks as though I’ll be heading into the League Two play-offs also. Whether or not I’ll make it to Wembley again remains to be seen, it’d be brilliant to take Havant & Waterlooville up another level though, so hopefully I will indeed make it all the way to Wembley.

The players that I have in my squad have mostly travelled up with me from the Blue Square South, and there aren’t any players that look out of their depth either. I’ve got a few loan signings in to provide a little extra in midfield/attack, and the three players that have been brought in are doing a mighty fine job for the club. I’ll be looking to sign them up on a permanent basis come the end of the season, and hopefully I’ll be successful in securing their signatures.

The media prediction was that I’d finish 24th in League Two with Havant & Waterlooville this season; there’s no chance of that happening now though, and I’ll instead to be hoping to finish in the top 7, once again earning a place in the play-offs.

Back-to-Back Promotions for Oxford

Having achieved promotion to League Two via the Blue Square Premier play-offs in the 2012/13 season; I was pleased to once more gain promotion the following season. Oxford had not been expected to achieve promotion from League Two; due to some strong performances from frontmen Luke Hobbs and Vince Asante though, the team was therefore able to move up the league and actually finish the 2013/14 season as champions.

For the second season running Chris Carruthers was named Fans Player of the Year, and in addition to this I also managed to win the League Two Manager of the Year award. Loanee Luke Hobbs finished the season as Oxford’s top scorer with 21 goals, with Eddie Johnson contributing 12, and Vince Asante finding the net 16 times in 31 appearances.

Eddie Johnson had been the club’s top scorer with 31 goals in the Blue Square Premier promotion season; with attacking options covered for the League Two campaign though he therefore dropped into a central midfield role for much of the season.

Loan players and free transfer signings played a huge part in Oxford’s success, with experienced goalkeeper Matt Glennon joining from Huddersfield, Rudolf Skacel signing for free from Burnley, Adam Prince being released by Wigan, and Jamie Guy signing on a free transfer from Shamrock Rovers in the January transfer window in order to increase the options in attack. All players that signed for the club performed incredibly well throughout the season, and it was the exciting free transfer signings and on-loan attacking duo that sealed many of Oxford’s 88 points for the season.

It all went right down to the wire, and with one game to go Oxford and Port Vale were level on points, with Port Vale having a distinct goal difference advantage. Oxford’s final game was against Grimsby, Port Vale meanwhile had to play Kidderminster Harriers who had already been relegated. Eddie Johnson put Oxford in the lead after just 14 minutes, Port Vale went ahead just three minutes later though and it looked as though any Oxford victory would ultimately count for nothing in the title race. Kidderminster pulled one back before half time though, and sealed victory in the 68th minute of the match. Vince Asante scored two more goals for Oxford providing a 3-0 final day victory, and we therefore won the league by a clear three point margin.


With Wrexham having won the league the previous season with Oxford left to secure promotion from the Blue Square Premier via the play-offs; the roles were reversed in League Two, and Wrexham, finishing in seventh, went on to win the play-off final on penalties against Chesterfield.

Not only did Oxford win the league in the 2013/14 season, but also had a supreme cup run which took the team to the 4th Round of the FA Cup. The most satisfying win in the cup run was a 4-0 3rd Round demolition of MK Dons at the Kassam. The Dons were floundering in the league at the time, and with Oxford thriving on all fronts we were really able to show up the supposedly superior team from two leagues above.


For me, Luke Hobbs was the absolute star of the season, and he’s therefore been brought back on loan from Bristol City for life in League One. More signings have been made, the squad has again been strengthened, and Oxford will now look to do as strongly as possible in League One.

Can I now achieve my third promotion in three seasons with Oxford United? I certainly believe we’ve got what it takes to put up a serious challenge, and will now be looking to dominate as many League One matches as possible.