Tamworth are going back to the Conference North after spending the last five seasons in the top level of the non-league football. The Lambs have been flirting with relegation in previous seasons but had just enough to escape. The expectations were that Dale Belford would look to build on his success in steering the team to safety at the end of the previous campaign and he embarked on a pretty extensive squad overhaul in the summer. His son, Cameron Belford, was one of the best signings on goal while experienced campaigners like Justin Richards, Wayne Thomas and Toni Capaldi were expected to provide leadership and quality. However, it was a rather disappointing start of the season and the Lambs were soon dragged into the lower regions of the table. They seemed pretty sound defensive but struggled in midfield and attack in these early games. They claimed just one win in nine after securing an opening-day victory at Salisbury. There was the occasional good result but the team was constantly changing due to injuries or decisions of Belford. That hindered the overall progress and fluency and Tamworth really struggled to put together more than two good performances together. They claimed a couple of scalps in the FA Cup and went down valiantly at the hands of Bristol City on the threshold of the profitable third round. They also enjoyed a good run in the FA Trophy, making the last eight, but these distractions seemed to make the players oblivious about their predicament in the league. The The results really took a plunge from December onwards with goals very hard to come by and the defence not holding up as well as it used to earlier in the season. Belford kept on signing new players and the squad continued to be constantly alternated but the results did not get any better. In fact, Tamworth really dropped into the mire due to a run of of just two wins from 15 games from November to March. They lifted their hopes a hit with a win over direct rivals, Aldershot, but the players remained mostly uninspired and lacking in the required quality. A single point gained from the following eight games eventually sealed their fate as a loss at Southport officially confirmed their relegation with a few games to spare. There can be little doubt that Tamworth were one of the four worst sides in the league over the season but they had some decent players in their squad and only the peculiar decisions of the manager and the overall underachievement saw them go down. The team is big enough to come straight back up but it will be a tough challenge to return to the Conference Premier in short time.
