West Bridgford F.C: Out of the Shadows

[killakerr]

Introduction

It’s late May 2022 and a small Greek restaurant in West Bridgford is celebrating with a firework show. As Nottingham Forest celebrate their return to the top-flight of English football, things down the road look a little more bleak - and I don’t mean Meadow Lane.

A 30 minute walk (or 9 division drop) from The City Ground will lead you to the Regatta Way Sports Ground. Home of West Bridgford F.C. Founded as a junior team in 1990, before the formation of the senior team in 2011. Located in the United Counties League Division One, the club recently turned down a promotion due to insufficient facilities. Be it jealousy or stupidity, in 2022 a goal was set: become the biggest club in West Bridgford.

Goals

Get out of the United Counties League Division One for the first time.
Play a positive brand of football.
Overtake Basford United and become Nottingham’s biggest non-professional club.
Overtake Notts County and become the cities number two club.
Topple Nottingham Forest and become the biggest club in the city.
Build a stadium bigger than The City Ground.

 

[killakerr]

22/23 Season Preview

The media are predicting 11th. The squad isn't a great a selection right now, but I can't imagine the other 20 clubs in the division are fairing much better. At this level, the pre-season prediction doesn't mean much, but the board are expecting a mid-table finish. In a 21 team division, you can't finish more mid-table than 11th. A quick break down of the rules of the United Counties League Division One (as I can't imagine many of those reading this know them).

21 teams
40 games (teams play each other twice)
First place is automatically promoted to County Leagues
2nd-5th compete in a Promotion Playoff
Promotion Playoff winner will compete in the Promotion Playoff Final, with the winner promoted to County Leagues

August is the opening month of the season and it's packed with 9 games, including an FA Vase first qualifying round. We'll be in two cup competitions this season. In addition to the FA Vase, we'll be competing in the United Counties League Challenge Trophy. It's quite a pain to type, so I'm both expecting and hoping for an early elimination in that one. Hopefully we can hit the ground running. For the most part, the opening season is all about avoiding the sack and getting to know this level of the pyramid better. There's no transfer windows, no contracts, so expect a lot of player movement throughout the season. Fingers crossed we don't lose anyone too important.

I've also noted the team currently has no nickname, so please suggest some ideas as we all (hopefully) fall in love with West Bridgford F.C.

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by killakerr

[killakerr]

August 2022

Quite the month! At times, some brilliant football, with the opening two games making me think it could be a cake-walk. The two draws were hard earned, but to only lose twice in a packed month, with such a small squad was a great achievement for us. The 7-0 drubbing in the FA Vase can't be ignored. We were battered from start to finish, but it was all about resting players. Was it the right call? I'm not sure, but we were running on empty come the end of the month, going all out in the cup wasn't really a priority. The 5-2 defeat was heartbreaking. I'll let the screenshot do the talking:

Nico Butroid is the stand-out player thus far, chipping in with five assists (and five yellow cards). He's the only consistent run out too. The squad lacks any kind of natural fitness and stamina, so we're in a constant state of rotation. With September looking a bit more friendly to the players legs, I'm hopeful we can charge forward with this form. We've formed a backroom team. It's not a good one, I'd even say it's a bad one, but it'll do the job for now. We'll look to try and fill out the squad to allow for a more consistent line-up, but for now, we are top of the league. Let's see how long it lasts.

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by killakerr

[Raycast]

I lived in WB for many years, Looking forward to seeing how you get on.