Blue Square Premier Preview: Money, Meltdown and the Race for the League

Twenty-one years after the old club folded, Newport County are back. They arrive in the Blue Square Premier on the crest of a wave, having won the Conference South with a massive one hundred and three points. Manager Dean Holdsworth, who came close to the sack a couple of years back, now leads a club strengthened by its supporters’ trust and ready for the step up. But the division they enter is a curious beast, resembling an extra tier of the Football League more than the pyramid below it, a place of wildly different financial realities.

All life is here. While Newport arrive with momentum, others are staring into a financial abyss. Histon’s troubles are well-documented, with a reported debt of £800,000 forcing an axe to be taken to the wage budget. With a fanbase of around 500, it is difficult to see how returning manager John Beck can steer them clear of the drop. Simply finishing outside the relegation places would be a major achievement.

The Crawley Question

At the other end of the spectrum is Crawley Town, a club that has become non-league’s most unpopular seemingly overnight. Their newfound wealth has been spent aggressively, making unwanted passes at other clubs’ players like a wealthy middle-aged man in a nightclub. AFC Wimbledon will be relieved to have fought off their advances for captain Danny Kedwell, a player probably too good for this division. Crawley’s approach has yielded signings like goalkeeper Michel Kuipers and striker Matt Tubbs, but building a team is not as simple as flashing a gold credit card. Whether the near-universally reviled Steve Evans has the ability to fashion a coherent team from this collection of expensive parts is an open question, as is the matter of whether he should be allowed anywhere near a football club in the first place.

This financial flux is visible across the division. At Forest Green Rovers, local businessman Dale Vince has invested, promising a potential improvement to mid-table stability after they were saved from relegation only by Salisbury City’s demotion. In contrast, Cambridge United remain hamstrung by the rent they must pay for the Abbey Stadium. Even relegated clubs face different prospects. Grimsby Town may need an orientation period but should have enough to make the play-offs, while Darlington, having seemingly stabilised their finances, could enjoy a season of quiet consolidation.

The Weight of Expectation

Luton Town begin another season as the team to beat. Tipped for the title last year, they fell to York City in the play-offs but have held on to striker Tom Craddock and added experienced players like Adam Murray and the intriguing Czech defender Zdenek Kroca. Having tempered the high expectations of their initial drop into non-league, the title remains theirs to lose.

York themselves will be formidable opponents. They were transformed last season, built on a rock-solid defence and the thirty-four goals of Richard Brodie. Their bloody-mindedness will make them one of the most difficult teams to beat. Elsewhere, Wrexham’s biggest battle may again be off the pitch. Talks are understood to be underway that could see the supporters’ trust take ownership, a move that might finally lift the torpor from The Racecourse Ground after years of perpetual crisis. Doubts remain over manager Dean Saunders, but for Wrexham, stability itself would feel like a victory.

It is worth remembering that Kelvin Jack, Darlington's new goalkeeper, was Trinidad & Tobago's first choice for the 2006 World Cup before a last-minute injury ruled him out of their games against Sweden and England.

From the lavish spending at Fleetwood Town to the tight budgets at Altrincham and Tamworth, the division is a study in contrasts. For some, success is promotion; for others, like Hayes & Yeading United at their traditional Church Road ground, survival is the only goal. Which model will triumph come May?