Football Season Guide

Cheltenham Town have seen an integral figure leave the club for a second successive summer. 12 months ago it was manager Michael Duff who departed for Barnsley. This time around it is striker and leading goalscorer Alfie May who has left to sign for Charlton Athletic. The former felt like a significant blow and yet his successor Wade Elliott kept the Robins in League One, against all the odds. They will be hoping their repeat the feat without May’s goals, and whilst the loss of their talisman was widely anticipated, it will still take some getting over. Rob Street has been given the rather unenviable task of replacing him. He signs from Crystal Palace following loan spells at Newport County and Shrewsbury Town Goalkeeper Luke Southwood played a big part in their survival and his loan from Reading has now been made permanent. Elliott will be relying on a small squad again however, with one of the smallest budgets in the division. Elliott had a very tough act to follow in Duff and following an embarrassing F.A. Cup exit to Alvechurch in November, had a very difficult task in getting the fans back onside. The Robins form improved after Christmas and it was enough to keep their heads above water. Despite that Elliott still hasn’t fully convinced everyone and will be looking to build on the experience in his first year as manager. It remains to be seen what the impact will be of Director of Football Micky Moore’s move to Shrewsbury Town. It will be another challenging campaign regardless.