The beginning of the start...?
When your target is survival anything more is a victory
parade: -
the 2001/2002 season
reviewed
PRE-SEASON
There couldn't be a better reflection of the chaos the
club was in than the confused looks of the City faithful who turned up at
Ellwood for the first pre-season match in July. Notes were compared and after
much scratching of heads most fans had identified at least four players. But who the
hell were the rest of these people? Will Steadman was called over as one of the
few people anyone knew the name of. Poor Will was able to add the odd name but
knew precious little more about his new team mates as the rest of us. Burnsie impressed
everyone with a bit of a professional warm-up, but as the match started even the most
optimistic were wondering if next summer we'd be making regular trips to
grounds very similar to this as we followed City through the Hellenic. Some good
pre-season moves may have given some hope, but with little comparable opposition
from an uninspiring fixture list there was an air of trepidation as the season
loomed.
AUGUST
First up was a visit from Redditch, and bets were being taken on the scale of
City's defeat. However it turned out to be one of those days where you start to
believe in what a bit of heart and effort can achieve as every player scrapped
and fought their way to a famous 2-1 victory. Our relief was enormous and the
celebrations would have shamed a cup win. Defeat at Gresley suggested life would
not be straightforward, but then another impressive performance in a 1-1 draw
against newly relegated Clevedon suggested we could expect more than crumbs from
the campaign. As well as effort, we even came close to playing what looked
a little like football. The battle was just beginning though...
SEPTEMBER
The month opened with the beginning of City's FA Cup run - and what a great
game it was! A draw at Cirencester looked winnable, and now more than ever we
desperately needed cash from a cup run. It wasn't to be though and it was a
defeat that seemed to break the fragile confidence of some of the young City
squad.
A few days later and there was further embarrassment as the City faithful
watched our lads taken apart by Shepshed and ended up with a painful 5-1 
defeat.
Steve Jenkins fought a valiant one man battle but it couldn't disguise that our
players had learnt a painful lesson. We had a chance to gain some quick comfort
with an early return to Cirencester, a match played in the strangest of
atmospheres as most were transfixed and numbed by the TV news coverage in the
bar of New York's twin towers crumbling to the ground. The ref managed to put
all this out of his mind as he turned an entertaining game into a running brawl,
his pettiness extending to a complaint that cost City yet more money at the
FA.
In the strange way that football goes City then went to Weston and out of
nowhere produced a 1-0 win, mainly thanks to a last minute long distance
spectacular from Andy Hoskins. That was but brief respite though as worse was
yet to come as Bedworth arrived at Meadow Park. Our players were forced to stand
and stare as the Greenbacks produced a stunning display of passing football to
see us end the match with a humiliating 7-1 defeat. Matters weren't helped as
Burns' lost his rag and got red carded. Things weren't really cheered up much by
a home draw against fellow strugglers Rocester. This was back to the walls time
and we knew we were in a relegation fight with a load of players who despite
their efforts didn't look good enough.
OCTOBER
If September was bad October didn't look like it held anything better as
further defeats to Weston and Evesham saw us fail to score and drop to 20th, one
place and one point off the relegation trap door to the Hellenic and despair.
However behind the scenes the manager was working to turn things around and two
new players emerged to lift the spirits, defender Darren McCluskey and attacker
Luke Prince. At an early season relegation battle against Swindon Supermarine
McCluskey opened the scoring against the club he'd just left and Gary Marshall
showed every ounce of grit to grab a crucial winner. Before the month was out
City had grabbed another critical win against Warwick and had salvaged some
pride with a 2-0 revenge win at Shepshed. Confidence was picking up and while
16th was not the things of which dreams are made it looked a whole lot better
than bottom.
NOVEMBER
These had been points achieved against lower quality opposition and City
were quickly brought crashing down to the ground with a 4-1 Trophy exit at
Cambridge City and another 5-1 mauling at Bilston. City's keeper crisis was
getting worse too as the recall of Matt Taylor by Newport County saw Adam
Bennett signed from ICI Fibres. Fans were still dubious when fifth 
keeper of the
season Matt bath arrived from Whitminster, but straight away you could tell he
had an extra bit of quality and that was one less position to worry about.
Despite this further defeats to Evesham and Mangotsfield were enough to have us
looking over our shoulders again. This was a City side that was beginning to
show real battling qualities though and a lot of hard graft got us a well earnt
win at high-flying Sutton Coldfield. The real lift came with the news with the
return of a City legend - Baylo was back, tempted from Clevedon to help his old
club. A fulfilling 4-2 derby win over Cinderford seemed to herald a new optimism
about the club and suddenly it was hard to imagine us not surviving the
season. Oddly enough this turnaround also coincided with the news that
chairman Tracey Newport was to stand down and be replaced by former director
Colin Gardner. Tracey had not exactly endeared himself to fans and his recent
legal difficulties had embarrassed the club. Colin has a proven record in
fundraising and getting things done - this may be City's biggest win of the
season, maybe longer.
DECEMBER
As was fast becoming traditional after last year's flood we lost most of
December to heavy pitches. But when we did get back on the pitch we enjoyed a
good Christmas with wins either side of the festive day against Gresley and
Clevedon. As seems to happen routinely in football Karl Bayliss went back to the
club he'd just left and scored a brace to help us to a 3-1 win. The other goal
came from Luke Prince who was starting to look like a very good player indeed,
having the crucial unexpected x-factor that can turn a game in a moment. Even a
drab and bone chilling 0-0 match at Warwick lifted City into the top half of the
table and could not take away the feeling that 2002 would not be as bad as 2001
for Gloucester City.
Back
to top
JANUARY
The new year started Ok-ish, we were now a classic mid-table side that was
tricky to beat but not always having the quality to get hold of the game for any
period of time as draws against Sutton Coldfield and Redditch suggested. A win
against Supermarine was the only victory of the month but it was the two games
against promotion chasing Halesowen and Chippenham that showed how far the side
had moved on from September. Halesowen won 2-0, but only after a lot of hard
work and Neil Griffiths giving an accomplished defensive performance. Chippenham
were held 1-1 and Dave Wilkinson suddenly did look like a midfield general as he
threw himself around and Steadman blocked everything that came his way.
FEBRUARY
The unkind fixture computer and even more miserable weather insured we only
played two games in February. There were reasons to keep cheerful though as we
held a talented Solihull side 1-1 with Luke Prince dominating the game. Better
was to come as we took advantage of a Bilston side in turmoil to dish out a 5-1
victory that matched what they had done to us at Queen Street. Star of the show
was Andy Hoskins who got all his rewards for a season of hard work in one game
as he hit four, including two real belters. Who said he couldn't score at this
level?
MARCH
If that match suggested our old problems resurfaced as we went to Bedworth,
hungry to avenge that 7-1 drubbing. Things looked good as McCluskey scored, but
they then went on to put a few players back in their places as they cruised to a
4-1 victory. So we'd improved by three goals then?
Things were evened up as we beat Stourport 2-0, with a goal from Lee Smith - his
first since September, and some relief for a sometimes unfairly harangued
teenage striker. However City then went into a spell of poor performances,
perhaps suffering mid-season blues with little to play for. Players largely felt
their reputations had been restored and relegation warded off, but promotion
well beyond reach. Further problems were caused by constant speculation about
Luke Prince whose magical form disappeared despite his loyalty in rejecting a
string of tempting offers from elsewhere. The month tailed off with three
consecutive defeats, including a 4-0 footballing masterclass from
Solihull.
APRIL
April saw us continue our poor run but results hid a great improvement in
form. Only a Lee Smith super fluff from close range saw us lose at Chippenham as
the imperious Matt Bath saved a spot kick. At Halesowen we took a sadistic
spoilers delight in holding out 0-0 with ten men behind the ball to stop the
Yeltz clinching promotion against us, all be it delaying the inevitable by a
week. However we had to wait until the last two matches of the season to get any
more wins, thumping Atherstone 4-1 to sign off at Meadow park with a pleasing
victory. A final day victory at Rocester saw us break the 50 points barrier and
finish in 14th place.
There were
disappointments in the season, especially our failure to progress a round in any
cup competition. However this was not a season that was ever going to bring any
conventional glory. This was a campaign about guts and graft, one where our
players came of age and earnt the right to play at a level some of them didn't
think they were capable of. Our new manager Chris Burns had done a phenomenal
job in building a team from the handful of players he inherited. Things looked
better for next season as the changes off the pitch suggested much of the
previous turmoil could be forgotten. we even have a chairman who is trying so
hard to make money we have the prospect of Meadow Park as a concert arena this
summer. Despite the season not looking as successful as the previous one on
paper, it is a neglected fact that our gates have edged up. This has to be down
to the new found spirit at the club. Considering the very real possibility of extinction and/or relegation
that greeted supporters in July the spirit born in the club is now really
exciting and for the first time in a long time - I'm looking forward to next
August !
