Well, as you can probably gather I'm no longer at my original club. In fact, this save is now in its 12th season.
I started at Lewes in the Conference South, as I live in Brighton and Lewes was the closest Conference South side.
I'll feed you bits at a time so that it's not a complete overload of information. I'll start with the first 4 seasons. Welcome to The Dripping Pan. :thup:
Season 1: 2006/07 (Lewes - Conference South
So we begin, in the Conference South. No cash and not a great side, but 3 free transfers (2 strikers and a defender) in particular helped me to climb to fourth after some good form in the last 10 games or so.
The play-off semi was tense 0-0(A), then 2-0(H). We were in the play-off final, only to meet our bitter rivals Eastbourne Borough. A 1-0 win was enough, and we charged into the Conference National!!! Woohoo!!
The FA Cup and FA Trophy were both disasters, going out at the earliest possible opportunity, clearly enabling me to concentrate on the league.....
Position 4th Pld42 W22 D8 L12 F66 A46 Pts74
FA Trophy: 2nd QR Ware 0-3(H)
FA Cup: 2nd QR Havant & Waterlooville 0-1(A)
Season 2: 2007/08 (Lewes - Conference National)
Still have no money, so I've been having to deal solely in free transfers. Also, it seems no one worth having wants to play for Lewes, so it's been tough.
However...we overperformed, and after being hot favourites to go down, we stayed out of the relegation zone all season and finished 14th!!
For the FA Cup and FA Trophy, see last season. Damn it!!
Position 14th Pld46 W15 D16 L16 F48 A43 Pts61
FA Trophy: 1st Rd Forest Green 0-0(H)...replay 1-4(A)
FA Cup: 4th QR Cambridge 0-1(H)
Not bad....2 seasons and yet to win a cup game!!
Season 3: 2008/09 (Lewes - Conference National)
Still no money, so still only free transfers. My players have been surprisingly accommodating with their wages though, so our financial situation is gradually getting better.
After last season's heroics, and with some erm "top quality" free transfers, I was optimistic for a push into the top half........after 10 games, we had 5 points, and had scored 3 goals. SH*T!!!
After such a bad start though, we pulled ourselves out of the relegation zone, and hovered around 18th for most of the season......only for one of my strikers to hit a total purple patch in the last 2 months of the season, and drag us up to 11th!!! I was shocked, as I'm sure was every one of our 500 regular attendees!!!
Still no joy in the cups. Now it's 3 seasons without a single cup victory.
Position 11th Pld46 W18 B12 L16 F52 A43 Pts66
FA Trophy: 1st Rd Stevenage 1-2(A)
FA Cup: 4th QR Rushden 0-1(H)
Season 4: 2009/10 (Lewes - Conference National)
The money situation is starting to look a bit better......the players have been accommadating with some low wages, so we've got about £200k in the bank now.....only a £10k transfer kitty though.....stingy sodding board!!!
Some decent looking free transfers came in, so things were looking good.
However, after a good start and briefly hitting 2nd after 3 games, we plummetted down the table, only stabalising at 18th. The situation was soon rescued though, and we spent most of the season in mid-table before finishing in 12th. We're doing ok, but it would be nice to push on into the top half!!!
The FA trophy was a catastrophe, with Eastbourne getting revenge for the play-off final in 2007!! The FA Cup though saw a stunnning run to the 3rd round, including a 2-0 victory against Bristol Rovers, which is clearly the highlight of my time in charge so far. The 3rd round saw us travel to Championship side, Derby. The cash rolled in, doubling our back balance, but we were utterly thumped 6-0. Still though, it was worth it!! Makes up for the complete lack of cup success from the first 3 seasons!!
Position 12th Pld45 W17 D11 L18 F48 A49 Pts62
FA Trophy: 2nd Rd Eastbourne Borough 2-3(A)
FA Cup: 3rd Rd Derby County 0-6(A)
Lewes, Grimsby and Beyond 
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