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Art Vanderlay has taken charge of Conference North based Gainsborough Trinity. His hopes and dreams of one day becoming a football manager have come into sharp focus after a call from Gainsborough. The local supporters are hopefull of successfull seasons which will take their beloved team from the depths of their current situation to the dizzy heights of the premiership. Vanderlay stated, "One step at a time boys. I've had a look at our list and first off show me where the local boozer is as we need to find someone to play in the midfield." Needless to say Vanderlay has his work cut out and time will only tell as to how far he can take the team.
Vanderlay began his hunt for a solid midfield player but soon realised he would require a lot more than the boozer could offer. Two old drunks and a dog with three legs was not what he had in mind for a 'solid' midfielder so he cast the net a bit wider. The clubs scout managed to find a couple of freebys and the the year began OK with a couple of draws, a loss and then a win. The lads were chuffed and the celebrations were very merry, however because of the joy and subsequent hangovers of the first win they went in to loose the next 5 games. Conceeding 20 goals in those games Vanderlay sent the scout out to find someone - anyone - who had a basic understanding of defence.
The rest of the season was a mixture of heart breaking defeats 0-1, 0-0, or the occasional win. Towards the end of the season Vanderlay managed to motivate the team to a string of 4 wins in a row, for a brief moment it looked like they would push for a place in the play-offs until Worksop knock that glimmer of hope on the head.
Final Positon 10th
W17 D10 L15 F56 A51 Pts 61
Notes:
Top Scorer had 8 goals, others with 7 & 6
29,997 in the red
Job offer from Morecambe
Cups suck arse. (all first round knock outs).
(i dind't take many notes this season but more detail in coming seasons).
Towards the end of last season Vanderlay could smell the play-offs. With this in mind he sent the scout out again to try and find as many players as possible. The squad was too thin as players were dropping like 9 pins when the going got tough. The board restricted the wages but Vanderlay managed to secure a few good signings.
The year started well and continued well past christmas, Gainsborough was fighting it out at the top with Altrincham and Worksop with never more than 3 points seperating them. Two youngsters i had picked up were staring, the striker scoring at will and the DM being selected in the Ireland U19 squad.
The season ended an we found ourselves in 2nd missing automatic promotion by 2 pts. The first semi final is something that will go down as a dark dark day in the history of Gaisborough Trinity. First leg at home we go down 2-0 in the first 2 minutes, we managed to hold on till half time with a couple of injuries to key players. We were not out of this i told the boys at half time, that did not make a lick of difference as we started the second half conceeding a penalty almost instantly, 3-0, then as if the gods had predetermined, another penalty a minute later, 4-0. I was shatered, the lads were a mess and we ended the game conceeding another goal. End result 5-0 loss at home and my starlet striker out with a broken leg. The 2nd leg away ended in a 1-0 loss therefore ending our hopes and dreams.
Final Position 2nd (prior to semi finals)
W20 D12 L10 F59 A34 Pts72
Notes:
1 player called up for internationl duty
Top scorer 21
8 job offers
My Assman approached and leaves for St.Albans
38,993 in the red
Cups suck arse (all first rnd knock outs)
(having read that back i realise that i am now talking in the first person, deal with it)
Having come so close last season i decided to throw everything at the coming season. Offers came in for a few of my players and seeing that we were in the red by quite a considerable sum i decided to sell a few of my regular first team. This brought in a fair bit of cash and the board let me use most of it on new players. I got in a couple of coach's and another scout and set about rebuiling the squad for what i thought would be a great season. Judging by the season ticket sales the fans thought so aswell. Last season the total was 1,840 pounds but in the first month we had 4,804 pounds in sales - optomistic buggers.
One of the new signings really caught the imagination of my fans as they were, according to the media report, putting xxxxx's name on the back of their replica shirts. He really did do quite well for me and scored a few goals until an injury ended our roll toward the top spot. I kept throwing money at the problem but to no avail. We were sliding down the table and the wage bill at one point was 1,003 over the budget of 4,403(pounds, i dont have a pounds key, ive got this $).
With 5 games to do it was still mathimatically possible to make the play offs. Until.....3 straight losess ended my dream, the clu was now, get this, 114,162 pounds in the red. I had given my all to Gainsborough but i couldnt continue, there was boardroom mutterings and i saw the writing on the wall.
I applied for a few positions and was told by the board that they were not happy with me declaring interest in other positions.
Final Position 11th
W16 D12 L14 F45 A41 Pts60 (the worst in the past 3 seasons)
Notes:
3rd round replay in FA Trophy (Loss 3-2 Hornchurch)
Top scorer 15
7 job offers (MK Dons & Swansea)
121,837 in the red
Art Vanderlay. 
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