Football Season Guide

Braintree parted ways with the extremely popular and successful Alan Devonshire at the end of last season as the experienced manager decided to seek a new challenge after four excellent years in Essex. He made the modest club one of the mainstays in the division, despite having a tiny budget compared to some of the heavyweights of the division. Braintree’s excellent results and general overachievement were based on superb organisation, team spirit and efficiency in every aspect of the game. Everyone contributed and things were working seamlessly on and off the pitch. It remains to be seen whether the Iron can continue the upward momentum that they have had now the manager who put into practice is no longer here. But the desire of the entire club is to continue following that well-trodden path and aim for mid-table stability in the coming season. The chosen successor is Danny Cowley, a young manager who has excelled at Concord Rangers in the last few years, securing three promotions in the past seven seasons with a very small club that was punching well above their weight. He nearly lead Concord to the play-offs in Conference South last season and definitely deserves his chance in the top level of non-league football. Cowley has been keen to keep up the good foundation laid out at Braintree and definitely looks like a good fit and someone with lots of potential. The worry for Braintree is that they lost some key personnel over the summer. The likes of Ryan Peters, Alan Massey and James Mulley all followed Devonshire to his new club, while one of the best keepers in the league, Nick Hamann, is no longer around too. But the Iron also acquired one of the hottest strikers in the division below, Michael Cheek, who bagged 15 goals for Chelmsford last season. Matt Fry is a great addition too, the former West Ham man one of the four former Concord Rangers players following Cowley to his new club. All in all, Braintree look capable of beating the drop but will find it hard with a new man in the dugout after the stability that Devonshire has provided for a number of years.