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MD- Similar to both Harrow Hill efforts and my past Phoenix Sports story- this one begins with a wee bit of editing. I brought Holyhead Hotspur into Conference North in place of Hucknall. Before bringing them in, I removed the half-dozen players on contract with the squad, so I begin at the same place as those efforts- no players, no staff, no funds. The main difference between this one and the current Harrow Hill story (Another Harrowing Misadventure) is that Harrow Hill is operating under the Ages Challenge restrictions and Holyhead will not be. Hope this one turns out as much fun as the Harrow Hill story and is entertaining as well.
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I figured I was whiling away my time as Manager of Holyhead Hotspur- until something better came along. The club hadn't been good enough (yet!) to earn its way into the Welsh Leagues and there seemed little that could change our current state. All of the players had left- refusing to renew their contracts, leaving me with only those ambitious amateurs that were willing to play for a match or two. Because of the poor weather during the summer, everything seemed bleaker- if possible. I remember walking out to the tip of the Point several times and wondering about what seemed to be my wasted prospects. My hopes dashed many times before, I was not expecting the ray of sunshine that changed both the club and myself- Raven Treader.
With Hucknall's sudden disappearance from Conference North as punishment for financial improprieties by their Board, the opening was in place. Why we were selected to fill it is a matter of much conjecture and even now I don't know the real reason- it may have been past relationships with one of our Board, it may have been convenience, but whatever the case both the club and I were thrust into both a dream and a nightmare at the same time. The chance was wonderful, but I was caught offguard and left scrambling to try and cobble together a club to play in Conference North.
12.7.05
I quickly managed to assemble a staff, though the only available ones willing to throw in their lot with me were just as unknown as me. Mark Bradshaw signed on as my Assistant Manager. Mark had previously been a scout- but he has fine awareness of tactics and I need his valuable insight on player evaluation. Our coaches will be Ray Newland, Andrew Mockler, Jason Treeby and Gavin Hall. Rob Harris will work as our Physio. Our Scouts will be Rob Campkin, Spencer Field, Bob Pearson and Dave Colley.
12.7.05
Our first player signings were a pair of center defenders- 19 year old Rob Walker, released from the Oldham youth program and 20 year old Adrian Bristow, who was let go by the Swindon youth program. These two youngsters are as good a place as any to begin building the base for a club that can stay up.
***
13.7.05
More signings for us as we continued to fill out the club. I hoped to have a fairly complete club for our first friendly against Marine on the 17th. The second round of signings brought us 17 year old center defender John Sutton, 24 year old versatile attacker Jamie Horsley, 19 year old leftback Karl Vernon, 20 year old center midfielder Lloyd McGowan, 19 year old center midfielder Aaron Nowacki, 24 year old rightback Stewart Morris and 21 year old center midfielder Andy McGregor. This was Sutton's first professional contract, while the others were released from various clubs youth programs.
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15.7.05
We likely won't quite be able to field a full squad for our first friendly- I am finding it difficult to sign a keeper I like- but we were able to add 22 year old versatile wing player Carl Murkin, 18 year old forward Thomas Byrne and 18 year old defender Ian Burns were the most recent signees.
Thank you avstwentyone- I appreciate the kind words If you look closely, you would find that Dave Colley, Spencer Field, Rob Campkin and Bob Pearson appear in many of my stories over the years- they are the best scouts you can hire as a small club just starting out.
***
17.7.05
I must admit I was left a bit stunned as we easily defeated Marine 4-0 at The New Oval in our first friendly. My expectations were a lot lower than what we achieved. Thomas Byrne scored a brace, while Jamie Horsley also added a goal. David Harris, one of our 'graymen' amateurs who stuck around, played well at leftwing to earn a contract offer (over Mark Bradshaw's objections). Carl Murkin was MOM and surprised me with how well he played on leftwing.
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23.7.05
As we readied ourselves for our 2nd friendly- hosting AFC Telford- we now have a full squad on hand. The additions during the week included the surprising signing of promising 18 year old center defender Mark Roberts. Roberts was drawing interest from the likes of Birmingham and QPR, so it was pleasing to get him under contract. Also joining us were 22 year old forward John Mann, 24 year old forward Paul Wheatcroft, 19 year old forward Scott Hayhoe, 24 year old winger/forward Ben Woods, 23 year old winger Jamie Ougham, 18 year old winger Michael Tuohy, 20 year old rightwing Soloman Henry, 23 year old leftback Mark Studley, 18 year old center midfielder Christopher Gilligan and 18 year old center midfielder Lee Davidson. We also managed to get three keepers under contract- 24 year old Paul Nicholls, who likely will be the number 1 keeper, and 26 year olds Andy Love and Luke Weaver. This will likely draw to a close our initial signings as we are close, but still under, the weekly wage budget and now I will let the scouts do more of the work in rooting out players.
24.7.05
Our second friendly wound up a scoreless draw with AFC Telford, but overall I was happy enough with our play. We showed good ball movement and had many quality scoring chances- but failed to put most of them on goal. Defensively we showed good coverage and shifting to cover with player's challenging- what I hoped to see.
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25.7.05
The signing of Mark Roberts turned out to be very temporary- but it was a hugely important financial windfall for the club. West Brom and Birmingham both came calling about purchasing him and I managed to hammer out a deal with West Brom that gives us 100K right now and 10K a month from them for the next 24 months. Considering our payroll is only 2500/week- for the moment we are well set to cover expenses for awhile. The Board was well pleased at this turn of events and now will allow me up to 50K for transfer funds and boosted the weekly wage budget up to 3400/week- at least until our balance sheet changes. With the sale we are in much better shape overall than I expected us to be before the season began.
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30.7.05
We lost our third friendly- our first road effort- to local rival Amlwch 1-0 at Lon Bach. We played well enough to deserve better, but failed to finish well. They victimised us late in the second half when Carl Murkin missed intercepting a cross and Ian Blake was right at the far post to put the shot away past Andy Love.
5.8.05
Our friendlies closed out in impressive fashion as we had six different players score in a 6-0 rout of Runcorn at the New Oval. Tom Byrne, John Mann, Andy McGregor, Jamie Ougham, Paul Wheatcroft and Carl Murkin all notched goals in the win.
***
7.8.05
I have settled on our starting lineup as we host Stalybridge to open our Conference North season.
GK- Paul Nicholls
DR- Stewart Morris
DL- Mark Studley
DC- Rob Walker
DC- Adrian Bristow
MR- Ben Woods
ML- Michael Tuohy
MC- Andy McGregor
MC- Christopher Gilligan
SC- John Mann
SC- Tom Byrne
Sub- Jamie Horsley
Sub- Carl Murkin
Sub- Aaron Nowacki
Sub- Andy Love
Sub- Ian Burns
***
10.8.05
There were a few final signings as I tried to dress out the club's depth. James Pike is a 22 year old forward that my scouts liked a lot. Since I wanted one more forward for the rotation- I went with their suggestion. 22 year old Jason Osborne came from the Derby youth program and becomes our only true leftwinger (that is left footed at least). Another suggestion from our scouts led me to sign 21 year old center midfielder Danny Walsh. We should have enough depth to handle the midweek matches now. Last to sign was 22 year old center defender Michael Merrick. Merrick was highly recommended by my scouts after his release from the Norwich youth program.
13.8.05 Holyhead Hotspur (4) Stalybridge (0)
I couldn't have asked for a finer debut from the boys. We struggled a bit in the first half and missed a golden chance to gain the lead in first half injury time when Carl Murkin's penalty kick was saved by Paul Pettinger. We managed to shrug off the struggles in the second half and John Mann earned MOM honours as he scored a hat-trick in his debut for us. Carl Murkin set up Andy McGregor beautifully for the other goal as our fans at The New Oval celebrated our surprising win.
17.8.05 Harrogate (1) Holyhead Hotspur (2)
We had to hang on a bit at the end, but we played well enough to take a 2-0 lead and then converted it into a road win. Paul Wheatcroft had an excellent debut for us and his finishing was the difference. Following a scoreless first half, Wheatcroft put away a loose ball that bobbled to him while unmarked in the area. He proved he has a sense about being in the right place as he made it a brace seven minutes later, again on a poor clearance by the home side. Lee Nogan drew a goal back with a header past Paul Nicholls on a corner from Lee Philpott. We played solid defensively after that and Jamie Ougham earned MOM honours for his work up and down both wings in the match, as he moved to leftwing after an early injury to Jason Osborne.
20.8.05 Holyhead Hotspur (0) Leigh RMI (1)
It was a closely played match, but a header by Chris Simm, as he outleapt Mark Studley at the far post on a cross, was the goal Leigh needed to hand us a humbling defeat late in the second half at The New Oval. We didn't really deserve a better result as we were misfiring on passes all match and squandered many decent scoring chances through our poor ball management. Paul Nicholls had done well to keep us even, but he was nursing a slight leg injury and he couldn't come up with the save we needed on the header. Leigh defender Francis Duku earned MOM honours. John Mann suffered a gashed head late in the match and will likely miss a couple weeks healing.
***
23.8.05
We have signed five promising 16 year olds in hopes of bolstering our non-existent player development system. Joining us are rightwinger D'juvane Davidson, forward Mekel Hackett, forward Paul Jenkin, leftback Liam Brady and midfielder Lewis McGugan.
30.8.05 Hyde (2) Holyhead Hotspur (1)
They handed us an own-goal early on to give us the lead, but we gave it back when we failed to defend their crosses as they scored on two headers past Andy Love to earn the win. Paul Jones deflected a cross from Ian Burns past Tim Mullock, but that was the only thing we could by him. Scott Hayhoe missed close three times and one of those in the goal would have been dearly welcome. Neil Tolson got them even by slipping his marker on a free kick and dumping a header past Love. The match winner came in first half injury time when MOM Steve Brackenridge showed up Karl Vernon's short-comings clearly by leaping over him to deflect a cross past Love.
We looked to have a good chance after Alex Mortimer was redcarded in the second half, but our passing was again suspect in missing the chances we needed to have an opportunity to equalize.
***
3.9.05
A couple more free transfer reinforcements were signed- thanks to scout's reccommendations. 22 year old forward John Connors and 19 year center midfielder Michael Payne will join the club. They are mostly depth at this point, but might make solid contributions.
From the Fringe- Holyhead Hotspur 
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