I hope you’ve enjoyed the season; we have had some great highs and some major lows. We’ve managed to score in every home game we’ve played apart from the in the FA Vase when we lost to Blaby and Whetstone. Two particular games stand out for me at home; the games when we beat AFC Mansfield 2-1 and Kinsley Boys 4-0 were two excellent results and performances. We’ve had some great excitement, none more so than when we crashed out of the Floodlit Cup on penalties after conceding an injury time equaliser versus Kinsley Boys and more recently, snatching a point ourselves deep into injury time against Harworth Colliery. On the flip side though, we have had too many inconsistent performances at home and that’s not good enough, as a club we want Walesby Lane to be a fortress that teams fear but sadly this season we have fallen short there. To lose home games against Bentley, Phoenix, Thorne, Westella Hanson, Brodsworth, Clay Cross Town, Real United and Newark Town is simply not good enough and is one of the several areas that need addressing over the summer and the upcoming months to ensure we can get Ollerton Town to where we want to be.
The season started with great excitement with the news that we had struck a partnership with both Mansfield Town and Rainworth MW FC. We had a decent pre-season and got off to a great start with high scoring victories against Glapwell and Bentley but then on the Bank Holiday Monday we were hammered by AFC Mansfield which was then followed by a home defeat from Thorne. Only four games in we were struggling with player commitment for both training and match days and that was the start of our inconsistencies. Our results were up and down but worst of all was in the Notts Senior Cup away at Southwell. It was the lowest point of all my football career. To lose 7-0 and to perform the way we did was totally unacceptable and led to myself and Steve resigning from our posts. Our minds were quickly changed by the support of the great committee here at Ollerton. We then started a transitional period, we lost several players and signed several new ones on but we remained inconsistent throughout October and November, again struggling player commitment on match days in terms of availability.
It was towards the end of November when I questioned how seriously football needs to be taken. My Assistant Manager and good friend Steve Bodle suffered a severe health scare which thankfully he has made a great recovery from and has even managed a few minutes on the pitch recently. Steve’s health problems inspired us to a great home win over Kinsley, where we played some great attacking football to run out 4-0 winners.
With Steve unavailable I asked the Under 19’s managers, Lee Scott and Tommy Watson to help me out on match days and at training. I quickly realised how much they both had to offer. Tommy’s experience and Lee’s coaching abilities were well received by all in around the first team and when Steve returned, he felt the same way so the decision to promote them to first team coaches was made. I can see the benefits of our management team and I’m sure you will all agree there has been a steady improvement since the New Year and I’m sure next season, you will all see the hard work start to pay off.
Our foursome got off to a shocking start with a disaster at Phoenix. Reduced to nine men with sixty minutes to play, we were hammered 7-0 and again some players departed after the game as they were “not enjoying football” etc. It was after that game though that we started to make steady progress. We beat Clay Cross and AFC Mansfield and pushed Westella Hanson close. We also beat Harworth and Glapwell away with the latter being my favourite performance of the season. That was five weeks ago and I have been unable to field the same team since and unfortunately, that defines this season for Ollerton Town.
Plans are already making excellent progress for pre-season, both on and off the pitch. The stand looks set to be put up in the summer and the management team have already met to discuss pre-season and several dates are in place.
I really hope our current squad are willing to stick together. I believe in them and so do Steve, Lee and Tommy and we believe these current players, with a few additions, can compete in 2014/2015. If we can sort out player commitment both at training and match days then who knows what they could achieve. They need to be hungry for success and progress and match the ambitions of the managerial team. Stability is so important in football across all levels, just ask Dronfield Town.
I look forward to seeing you all again next season. As always, any questions then don’t hesitate to come and see us, stick with the lads and keep believing.

Yours in football,

Dave Winter
Manager
Ollerton Town FC.