Football Season Guide

Alfreton Town were finally rewarded last spring for years of patient building and improvement by securing promotion to the top level of non-league football that was due for some time now. The Midlands team missed out on a few occasions recently but was always one of the best teams in the Blue Square North and last year the big objective was finally met as The Reds finished top of the table being unquestionably the best side in the division. Nicky Law will now be relishing the chance of pitting his side against much better teams and will be feeling confident that his men have the necessary quality to compete well. Law has managed to build a really compact and well functioning side and will bank on the momentum generated from last season's promotion at the start of the new campaign. The biggest blow in the summer was the loss of 30-goal striker Liam Hearn who refused to sign a new contact and joined Grimsby. Law managed to bring Chris Senior as a replacement but he is not such a prolific goalscorer and other players will be expected to come up with goals in the upcoming campaign. The defence was definitely strengthened though with Greg Young and Leigh Franks looking like excellent acquisitions. The manager will hope that the players do not become overawed by the superior opposition and play their brand of solid and effective football, focusing on their strengths. The highlight of their pre-season was an astounding 14:0 win over a Sheffield Wednesday youth side but the manager is highly unlikely to get too excited and will just want his men to be prepared as well as possible for what will surely be a much more challenging season.