Football Season Guide

Cheltenham Town will be looking forward to the new season with plenty of optimism having been crowned Conference Premier Champions in April. The Robins returned to League Two at the very first attempt following relegation from the Football League in 2015. They endured a miserable campaign which ended in an inevitable relegation. They retained faith in manager Mark Yates but is soon seem misplaced and he was sacked in November 2014. The appointment of Paul Buckle as his successor proved a disaster and he was also sacked after just 79 days in charge. Head of academy Russell Milton feared little better and by the time experienced manager Gary Johnson was appointed it was too little, too late. He oversaw a significant overhaul of the squad he inherited last summer and they made a positive start to life in the National League. They led the table for most of the campaign, fending off the challenge of ambitious local rivals Forest Green Rovers, and were crowned Champions in mid-April. They finished with 101 points and scored 87 goals with striker Danny Wright scoring 22 goals and Dan Holman bagging 16 goals after signing from Woking. Johnson will be delighted with his sides’ showing and has kept his faith in his squad for their return to the Football League. He has lost left-back George McLennan but acted quickly to replace him with James Jennings from Forest Green Rovers whilst centre-back Daniel O’Shaughnessy has been added to the squad from Brentford. Johnson’s only concern is between the sticks and he will be hoping to persuade Charlton Athletic to allow goalkeeper Dillon Phillips to return on loan for another season having impressed last time around. If they can continue their momentum from last season they have every chance of making a positive impact in 2016/17.