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At last, a saviour was found, in 34 year old Colchester Centre back Simon Clark, an experienced head with some 240+ league games under his belt. He would be on the bench for the trip to Yeovil, and coach Pointon would have to find his playing boots again in Perkins' absence. Fortune-West started the game as he left the last one, with a goal inside five minutes, but this tie was a much more difficult proposition. Yeovil were level before half time, and it was the man at the other end of the pitch, Jason Batty, who earned his man of the match award by keeping the score that way throughout the second half.

Conference Game 33. 9th March 2002.
Yeovil 1 Stalybridge 1 Davies 39 / Fortune-West 4

A poor performance by Woods against Yeovil, and a match just three days later, made me think about changing the midfield again. Time to try Bushell in the holding role again, and Parr in Bushell's place. Woods wood be on the bench just in case it all went horribly wrong. Simon Clark would get a debut at the expense of Williamson, marginally the lesser of my central pairing. The visitors Woking were struggling just outside the relegation zone, so they would be battling for every point they could get. The plan was to hit them hard and early.

The plan went wrong. Off all people to let me down, one of my coaching staff, Pointon, got himself sent off as early as the 3rd minute, so McNeil had to be sacrificed for Williamson, who would have to get used to playing out of position. Woking were intent on hitting us hard as well, although they were concentrating on Fortune-West, and it was from one of a series of freekicks for this offence that Crookes popped up in the box to open the scoring. The referee gained some credit for himself as he evened up the score by sending off Woking's left back to make up for his horrendous dismissal of Pointon. It wouldn't stop me complaining at his performance though. An injury to Peacock was not the best way to end the first half.

The second half was much quieter, Fortune-West making the keeper work with a couple of well taken headers, but the score remained the same, and Batty took his second man of the match award running, although debutant Clark probably deserves a mention as well.

Conference Game 34. 12th March 2002.
Stalybridge 1 Woking 0 Crookes 28 (Stalybridge's Niel Pointon Sent off, 28. Woking's Steven Clark Sent off, 42)

No change in the table, as only the leaders out of the top 7 failed to pick up points. As I filled in the paperwork for Pointon's red card appeal, the physio came in to my office to tell me Peacock's twisted knee would probably keep him out for the rest of the month, but at least Perkins would be back for the weekend.

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In Saturday morning's big game, 3rd Place Doncaster hammered 1st Place Stevenage 5-1 at Broadhall Way, opening up the top of the table a little. We had a trip to the Yorkshire coast to play Scarborough, and a couple of changes were necessary. Perkins would replace Pointon whilst Stuart would come in for the injured Peacock.

I can't actually bing myself to talk about the game, even now. Suffice it to say that there will be some big changes before the next game as not one player played to the standard I expect.

Conference Game 35. 16th March 2002.
Scarborough 4 Stalybridge 0 Dickson 19 Windross 50 Pattison 78 Blunt 84(pen) (Stalybridge's Matt Williamson Sent off, 83)

Matt Williamson earned himself an official warning for his cynical challenge, sending off and subsequent 3 match ban.

Those changes for the visit of Morecambe saw Bushell and Woods restored, Steele replacing Stuart and Peters appearing on the bench again. Disappointingly, we threw away more home points. Morecambe got the early goal, and even with them down to 10 men it took us until 67th minute for Bushell to equalise with his 10th of the season. Fortune-West couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo, although he did set up the goal. Peters came on in search of the winner, but it didn't come and Perkins picked up another injury in stoppage time.

Conference Game 36. 23rd March 2002.
Stalybridge 1 Morecambe 1 Bushell 67 / Quayle 8 (Morecambe's David Hall Sent off, 23)

Other results meant that Leigh RMI became the first club to be relegated from the conference. Perkins, like Peacock, was suffering from a twisted knee, which would keep him out for two weeks.

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Totally out of the blue, 11 new players turned up for training on Monday morning. After asking a few questions, and making a few deductions, it became apparent that they had all graduated from the club's youth system. All at the same time. It must have been a good year for breeding football genes in Cheshire! Of course, whether they turn out to be any good remains to be seen. To be totally fair, all eleven were offered contracts, although some negotiation was necessary to accomodate them within our wage structure.

This unexpected period of administrative work distracted me from the small matter of an away trip to 4th place Boston United. The autograph book was required again to capture the signature of Leicester's Lee Marshall, but the real problem was who to play in defence. Perkins was injured, and Pointon and Williamson were both suspended, meaning a recall to left back for the almost forgotten and transfer listed Andrew Scott. With no defenders left to put on the bench, young keeper Peter Brown, one of our youth system products, occupied the seat.

Fortune-West continued with his goal drought, but he did manage to set up Cameron for an all too rare goal from the winger. From then on it was always going to be a case of hanging on, which we did, for almost three quarters of an hour, but Boston were stronger and they got their equaliser almost out of nowhere. Batty won man of the match, which gives another indicator of which way the pressure was being applied

Confernce Game 37. 30th March 2002.
Boston Utd 1 Stalybridge 1 Laurie 60 / Cameron 16

To end the month, Forest Green are the second side to bow out of the Conference. At least we're not in their position.

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The Conference Awards kick off April, and Jason Batty is honoured with a place in the Select XI, whilst good news comes in the form of a clean bill of health for Perkins and Peacock. So it was full strength for Farnborough's visit, but it still set out looking like the same old story. Big Leo missed a couple of chances before getting on the end of a poor goalkeeping clearance. All of us on the bench held our breaths whilst he controlled the ball and struck it, and then breathed a sigh of relief as he scored for the first game in five. More hanging on ensued, and as expected, an equaliser came in the second half. But the difference this time was self belief, presumably from Leo's return to form. Cameron scored an excellent solo goal to retake the lead, which went a long way to earning him his first man of the match award, and just as I was preparing to substitute him, McNeil slotted a third home. Credit to Matt Woods, too, who controlled the midfield for large parts of the game.

Conference Game 38. 6th April 2002.
Stalybridge 3 Farnborough 1 Fortune-West 27 Cameron 56 McNeil 62 / De Souza 54

Doncaster's win against challengers Dagenham & Redbridge means that not only are they 6 points clear at the top of the league, but also we cannot mathematically finish any higher than 2nd. Preparations start here for another season of Conference football!

The Easter weekend means another game on Monday, and it's a tough one, away at Stevenage. As usual, Cameron can't manage two games in such a short period of time, so Stuart comes in. The defence are struggling for fitness as well, but I don't really have any options there. It didn't matter really, as this was to be the Steve Bushell show. Numbers eleven and twelve of the season for the club captain, supported by Matt Woods who kept things tight behind him again. Man of the match to Bushell.

Conference Game 39. 8th April 2002.
Stevenage 0 Stalybridge 2 Bushell 57,70

A training injury to Crookes demonstrated our continued weakness in that department, whilst a 1-0 win for Doncaster, live on Sky, on Saturday morning sealed a return to League football for the South Yorkshire side. Demoralised second placed Dagenham & Redbridge visited the Bower Fold, and probably found out about their fate on the way up north. Cameron's return marked the only change. Could we make it two out of two against teams above us?

It started well. We had the earliest chance and the opening goal, both falling to Leo, but with 15 minutes of concerted Dagenham pressure inbetween. And rather than crumbling, we built on the lead, with two excellent second half goals, including a first for Simon Clark. Excellent performances right across the park, by Perkins, Clark, Cameron and Bushell, but Leo took the Man of the match award, again.

Conference Game 40. 13th April 2002.
Stalybridge 3 Dagenham & Redbridge 1 Fortune-West 25 Clark 62 Bushell 84 / Hill 90

The win took us up to 6th, at least temporarily, whilst Halifax would be rejoining the ranks of the Conference.

Carrying on our defensive problems, Steve Heaton picked up a training injury. He would miss what remained of the season, although we may get Crookes back for the last two games, especially as our penultimate game is postponed 4 days due to Nuneaton's progression in the Trophy. With the other games completed, a win against Nuneaton would see us move up to 5th.

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Of course that meant beating Nuneaton, and we didn't really get anywhere near that. In fact we were stuffed again. Despite good play from Bushell and the two wingers, we couldn't convert any of our chances. At the other end, our defence looked tired.

Conference Game 41. 1st May 2002.
Nuneaton Borough 3 Stalybridge 0 Ryan 45 Walker 56 McGregor 74

So there was not much left to play for when relegated Leigh came to Stalybridge. With nothing to lose, I made a few changes. In came Scott, Crookes, Murphy, Courtney and Parr. Parr it was who had the ball in the net in the first half, but the goal was ruled out for offside. But in the second half, Woods stepped up and fired a sweet freekick past David Felgate. Courtney added a second, set up by Fortune-West who claimed the man of the match award again. That guy is so popular, it's not like he really did anything else!

Conference Game 42. 4th May 2002.
Stalybridge 2 Leigh RMI 0 Woods 52 Courtney 65

Finishing with a win is always good, and this handed us 7th place. The Chairman was pleased, especially with the £80k prize money. Hereford, the former league club, were relegated from the conference.

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<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">STALYBRIDGE CELTIC 2001/2002 Player StatsClub Goalscorers:-----------------1. 17. Leo Fortune-West (10th in Conference)2. 16. Matthew McNeil (18th in Conference)3. 13. Steve Bushell (31st in Conference)4. 11. Gerard Courtney5= 4. Andrew Cameron5= 4. Matt WoodsClub Assists:-------------1. 11. Richard Peacock (18th in Conference)2. 8. Steve Bushell (29th in Conference)3. 7. Winfield Steele (51st in Conference)4. 6. Matthew McNeil5= 5. Andrew Cameron5= 5. Leo Fortune-WestClub Average Ratings:---------------------1. 8.26. Leo Fortune-West2= 7.19. Steve Bushell2= 7.19. Matthew McNeil4. 7.17. Jason Batty5. 7.07. Gerard Courtney</pre>

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Personal notes on Close Season happenings:

1st June
Andrew Scott left the club when his contract expired.

Andrew Scott (Stalybridge 1/8/01 - 1/6/02) Played 8 Goals 0 Assists 0 Man of the Match 0 AvR 5.88

4th June
My first Bosman arrives - Centre back Rob Cousins from relegated Forest Green. Hardly a major coup.

7th June
Simon Clark returns to Colchester after putting in a series of good performances for us.

Simon Clark (Stalybridge 9/3/02 - 7/6/02) Played 9 Goals 1 Assists 0 Man of the Match 0 AvR 7.00

19th June
The supporters club voted Matt McNeil the player of the season. Batty and Perkins both have release clauses (that I was unaware of) activated in their contracts, because we didn't get promoted! Which fool agreed to that?

24th June
A second Bosman arrives, 24 year old Dutch striker Sergio Ommel from Bristol Rovers.

27th June
Kenny Munro arrives on a Bosman from East Fife,

30th June
Gary Hart arrives from Brighton on a Bosman.

1st July
Wayne Allison arrives from Tranmere, Matt Hocking from York and Lee Collins, also from York

Mark Stuart retires from the playing staff.

Mark Stuart (Stalybridge 1/8/01 - 1/7/02) Played 27 Goals 2 Assists 3 Man of the Match 0 AvR 6.70

6th July
Friendly vs Halifax.
Munro, Hocking, Cousins, Hart, Collins and Allison make their debuts. Fortune West scores two in the first 20 minutes, but Halifax get one back in the second half. Hocking and Allison are most impressive of the new players.

7th July
My two coaches hang up their boots.

11th July
Friendly at Hampden Park vs Queen's Park
Big changes as fringe players and youngsters come in. Not an awful lot to learn from this game, although youngsters Clemence and Brown were promising, whilst Mark Peters picked up an injury. 0-0 the final score.

12th July
Dean Harris, a promising left winger spotted by Spencer Field, joins the club.

20th July
Friendly at Rock Stadium, Dumbarton
More or less what I consider my strongest team out again, but we went down early to a surprisingly strong team. I stuck with my first choices for more than half an hour, but eventually I had to bite the bullet and make changes. Still no luck until tactics were switched to 4-3-3 mid second half. Two goals came, for Ommel and Williamson, both substitutes. Impressive were Hocking, Allison, Williamson, Woods, Ommel and Heaton.

21st July
Doncaster invite us for a frinedly on the 28th. Having no better plans, and knowing that we must be at their standard to achieve this seasons unspoken aim, I accept. In the mean time, my youth facilities are going mad, throwing out another two players.

28th July
Friendly at Belle Vue, Doncaster
A hard, fast paced match, which is probably what we needed at this stage, but it cost us two injuries. Only time will tell how badly that will affect the start of our season, as Peacock and Collins get crocked. We lost the game 2-1, and the formation I played with last season seems to have been sussed. A switch to 4-3-3 again seemed to work better though.

Collins will miss 3 weeks, and Peacock 2.

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So here we were again. a home friendly against Accrington, and with a team unbelievably different from the one who won 5-0 last season. Only 5 of the first eleven remained, and some big money players (by conference standards) had replaced them. However, that does not mean that things went well. In the death knell of my favoured formation, the once great minnows took the lead and held out for the whole first half. A Switch to 4-3-3 at half time, and goals from the big boys, Fortune West and Allison, sorted things out.

Right, 4-3-3 it is then. Lets get going!

Friendly. 3rd August 2002.
Stalybridge 2 Accrington 1 Allison 66 Fortune-West 85 / Tolson 21

So the big day approaches, and Dagenham & Redbridge, a strong side who nevertheless caused us no problems last season. Yet with the big guns from League football, Fortune-West Allison and Ommel, up front, we couldn't hit the back of the net. Fortunately, neither could they. And we did outplay them. Crookes took the man of the match, but my personal vote would have gone to the opposition keeper.

Conference Game 1. 17th August 2002.
Stalybridge 0 Dagenham & Redbridge 0

Fitness problems (already) mean Salt, Courtney and Collins come in for Cameron, Ommel and Bushell as we take the short trans-pennine trip to Halifax. The Conferences newest entrants from above are also amongst the favourites to go back up. They also have Steve Kerrigan, a potent striker in the third division, and expected to be highly placed in the conference scorers list this year. So it's up to my own potent scorers, Fortune-West and Allison, to show him the way.

With such attacking prowess on display, maybe 4-3-3 was a mistake away from home, a lesson I can probably learn for the next match. With all those heavyweight strikers on display, who should pop up to open the scoring? Gerard Courntey, a player with only one full season behind him. Halifax were stung by the opener, and it took them 15 or 20 minutes to react, but for the last 10 minutes of the first half they applied immense pressure, and an equaliser was inevitable. The source, Kerrigan, was no surprise either. Scoring just before half time is always a bonus, so it was really no surprise that Halifax added to their lead soon after the break through Kerrigan again. With our midfield getting overrun, I was forced to switch things, and Courtney was sacrificed in favour of Woods and a more solid midfield outlook. The trick worked, as an equaliser soon came with ex Brighton forward Hart opening his account, but it was only temporary as Halifax got a winner before shutting up shop for the last 20 minutes.

Conference Game 2. 20th August 2002.
Halifax 3 Stalybridge 2 Kerrigan 45,50 Harsley 71 / Courtney 11 Hart 62

Shooting was a problem. We created more chances than Halifax but only 50% were on target, whilst they hit over 95% on target ratio. We sit in 17th with only a point to our name, playing catch up already.

Another youth player joins the setup, and it's really getting quite crowded out there on the training pitch. I am going to have to have a cull at some point soon, as the wage bill is now nearly £12k per week.

Still trying to sort out some sort of consistency, Munro and Perkins switch flanks, whilst Peacock, Cameron and Ommel all return. But it doesn't work, and with Dover getting an early goal we're floundering. I must admit to feeling a little panicked, as there is obviously so much expectation in the crowd. I switch us to our old formation, but that doesn't change things before half time, so at the break I switch things in a bigger way. Frantically rushing round the dressing room, I try to sort out a sort of 4-4-2, with the emphasis on the wingers getting forward and crossing the ball. Allison is sacrificed for the extra midfielder, Bushell and yellow carded disappointment Peacock is swapped for Hart. The best I can say is that at least we didn't concede any more. We put enough crosses in the box, but Dover keeper Trevor Wood was having a brilliant game and claimed man of the match

Conference Game 3. 24th August 2002.
Stalybridge 0 Dover 1 Thew 9

Desperate.

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Glenavon and Mansfield are competing for the services of Leigh Bradley, one of the youth system products who my staff don't reckon will make the grade. I try to persuade the lad to go to Glenavon, as he's less likely to come back to haunt me that way!

I gather the players before our midweek trip to Morecambe, who are struggling as much as us at this early stage, to discuss our start to the season. Surprisingly, many of them claim that they are lacking in match practice, a fact I find hard to believe given our pre-season. At least it gives me hope that there is a reason for our current dismal performance, and that therefore there is a chance of improvement. It must come soon though. We discuss formations, and it's clear they prefer the old formation, so it's back to that. I do try a little tweak though, with Hart (who I hold out much hope for to be one of the best players of the season) moving into the middle. This leaves no room for Bushell at the moment, but I suspect the club captain will get his chance.

Morecambe have obviously been spying on our lack of fitness, and try to run us off the park early on, but it's our turn to get the lucky break, as the referee awards a penalty for barging on big Leo. The man himself thankfully steps up and converts for his first of the season. Our luck doesn't even hold to half time, as a freekick for a foul by Collins allows Morecambe to equalise. Heads are down in the changing room. What do we have to do to buy a bit of luck? I try my best to inspire the lads, but it's difficult at best. The game degenerates into a midfield battle in the second period, and irony of ironies, it's a freekick that lets Leo's head put us back in front.

Conference Game 4. 28th August 2002.
Morecambe 1 Stalybridge 2 Gouck 40 / Fortune-West 12(pen),69

After the match, Leigh Bradley comes and thanks me for his advice. He's off to Glenavon, and has packed his bags already. I wish him all the best, and tell him I'm sorry we couldn't keep him on. I really think that given a few years he might have made it at this level. Hopefully, of course, in those few years we will be above this level so it's probably better for the lad that he goes. It's more money for the club as well, in the long term anyway. We get £5k up front with £10k more appearance money! Don't laugh, it's a weeks wages!

What must Mansfield be thinking, being beaten off by an Irish side to sign an English player?

Only one change for the visit of Hayes, with Heaton coming in for the drastically out of form Perkins. Hayes have amongst their ranks one Keith Brown, and if that is the standard of all of their defence they will be quite difficult to break down. Cameron opens his account with the first goal of the game, getting on the end of a set piece delivery from Heaton, but Hayes are level just three minutes later. Fortunately, it appears the big man has found his touch again, as he puts us back in front in time for the break. Enjoying the feeling, he gets up onto the end of a Collins chip in injury time and all of a sudden we are cruising.

Only Allison is disappointing, so Ommel replaces him at the break. With Ommel now providing extra ammunition from the left, Leo is on the hunt for his hattrick, and he only fires a couple of blanks before getting it. This is the sort of performance the fans were expecting! Easing back, Bushell and Woods come on. Ommel comes close on a couple of occasion to opening his account, butthe Hayes keeper is up to it. Perhaps a little disappointingly, we concede late on, but the result is still an enormous improvement. Leo takes his second Man of the match award of the season, and has snuck on to 5 goals already!

Conference Game 5. 31st August 2002
Stalybridge 4 Hayes 2 Cameron 20 Fortune-West 42,45,49 / Currie 23 D.Warner 90

The result rockets us 9 places to 8th in the table, and I suppose we can't be disappointed with that at the end of the first month. You always seem to get a little bad news after a game though, and it's during the warm down that the physio informs me that Collins has twisted his knee. We could miss the influential midfielder for 3 games.

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Almost forlornly, the head of the youth production line comes to me at the start of Novemeber, to tell me that he has another player who has graduated. I wince visibly. Surely he knows we can't afford to keep taking these players on? I'm getting to the stage now where I don't even pay any attention to them, just pass them onto my coaching staff and ask them to report back when they've had a good look. I have more pressing things on my mind, as it's that time of year when we are expected to turn out on a monday night. Not only turn out, but turn out all the way to Margate. Of course, Collins misses the game, and any regular follower of my career will know that Cameron wouldn't be fit either. So in come Woods and, perhaps somewhat more surprisingly, Winfield Steele. Ommel starts instead of Allison as well.

The game starts with the home side attacking. For some reason all teams seem to think they can attack us off the park this season. The match turns out to be a somewhat stifled affair. The Margate attackers are stifled, on the few chances they break through the defence, by a man of the match performance from Batty, whilst our strikers are stifled by their inability to hit the target with any frequency. Higlight of the match is probably the amusement caused by Margate having a midfield combination of Carr and Barr, and a defender called Lamb. Yes, it was that dull.

Conference Game 6. 2nd September 2002
Margate 0 Stalybridge 0

Cameron back is the only change for Nuneaton's visit, and he's in the mood with an excellent run and shot in the first minute that opens the scoring. Two minutes later, and Leo's in there again from a corner. What a start. Things quieten down for a bit, but the first half scoring isn't over, as Ommel finally gets his first for the club on the half hour mark. There's time for 4-0 before the break as well, from that man Fortune-West. Scout Spencer Field has identified winger Jason Peake as a potential threat, and Woods does a great job in the first half of marking him out of the game. Over 2200 fans cheer as the referee blows for half time. I'm lost for words, as I can't really see a single area in which we can improve!

Leo waits all of six minutes before completing his hattrick and the inevitable man of the match award, but other than that the second half is a bit of an anti-climax!

Conference Game 7. 7th September 2002
Stalybridge 5 Nuneaton Borough 0 Cameron 1 Fortune-West 4,39,52 Ommel 30