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There are a myriad clubs competing at a myriad levels, striving to achieve something, week-in-week-out. Whether it’s to beat their local rival twice in a season, to finish above them come the end of the campaign, or loftier achievements such as league survival or ambitions to move the club forward and on to a higher level of competition; the appetite for the challenge, the will to win, drives them all. These elements can be lost in the mind’s eye of fervent support when it comes to the elevated level of existence the “bigger” clubs experience. We sometimes take for granted the ability to “dip into the transfer market” to make those three changes the club always needs to be competitive. There’s a whole wide world of football out there; and I’m just talking about the English game.
What some of us supporters wouldn’t give for a bit of financial stability, a manager who knows what he’s doing and a “star player”. Of course, that first element is pretty much a given if your club have reached the promised land of Premier League football. A division so awash with money, the financial disparity between it and the Championship calls for parachute payments in the face of the fans’ nightmare scenario of relegation. That monied cushion helps to alleviate the pressure of fat wage bills and falling attendances, making the bitter pill of relegation that much easier to swallow over a three year period.
There are some managers for whom the idea of keeping an eye on the financial footing of the club who employ him are beyond his remit; suffice the odd occasion when a bit of simple maths makes apparent the need to ship one or two players in the transfer market to enable the purse strings to be loosened for that all-important addition to the squad. The further down the League pyramid we go the more important such skills are. Gary Johnson and his Cheltenham Town are no different.
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)
Dagenham and Redbridge’s nine year tenure in the Football League was halted at the end of the 2015/16 season and so the spectre of relegation and optimism of promotion exchanged glances through The Daggers and The Robins. Some parallels may be drawn between the two; teams for whom the idea of playing in the Football League were mere pipe dreams when they were first founded. It is not only the step-up which is massive, it’s the attempt at sustainability afterwards too. While Dagenham & Redbridge are mere fledglings when considering the time of their formation, Cheltenham Town can trace their founding back to 1887. Competing at “local football” level, this Gloucestershire club became a professional outfit in 1932, once they moved to their ground at Whaddon Road and joined the Birmingham Combination League. Subsequent years saw them join the Southern League, Western Section in the 1935/36 season and compete at or around this regional level for a further 50 years.
Upon winning the Southern League Premier Division title in the 1984/85 season (scoring an impressive 83 goals in 38 games), Cheltenham made their first step up to national level – then known as the Alliance Premier League, now to be called (more fittingly) the National League. A seven year stint at this level ended with relegation, with the next five years seeing the Robins finish runner-up four times and third once. Changes to promotion and relegation permutations meant the top two would be promoted in the 1996/97 season and the team who’d pretty much dominated the Southern League Premier Division for the past five years got their reward under the stewardship of Steve Cotterill. All those years of hard work to make the ascent to national level had clearly held them in good stead, with those five seasons back at a lower level proving Cheltenham Town were moving in the right direction as a club and were – with no disrespect to the other teams in that league – too good a team to be competing at that level.
With only the National League Champions being promoted in the 1997/98 season, Cheltenham were unlucky to miss out on promotion, finishing second in their first season back. Compensation that season came in the form of victory in the final of the FA Trophy, yet another historic milestone in the club’s history. They made sure of promotion the following season, finishing as Champions and ascending to the Football League for the first time in their history. A truly historic moment for any club, especially one that had competed at non-league level for 111 years. Under Steve Cotterill, Cheltenham demonstrated their abilities to compete at this level with two top ten finishes in the first two seasons at League Two level (then known as Division Three). A fourth placed finish in their third campaign garnered a play-off spot and a final at the Millennium Stadium.Mr Cotterill’s men, once again, showed their ambitions to compete at a higher level, beating Rushden & Diamonds 3-1 and winning promotion to League One (or Division Two as it was known).
This proved to be a bit of a turning point for Cheltenham, with Steve Cotterill moving to pastures new and their first season at the highest level of competition for the club ending in relegation. Some could suggest it was a step too far, but a period of rebuilding at League Two under John Ward saw promotion achieved via the play-offs in the 2005/06 season, beating Grimsby Town 1-0 at the Millennium Stadium. Once again, survival was key, but the Robins finished no higher than 17th in the subsequent three seasons in League One, ending with relegation under Martin Allen in the 2008/09 season. Both Keith Downing and Martin Allen failed to maintain the stability the club needed. This was found under the tutelage of former Cheltenham Town player Mark Yates, who, after a season of consolidation, took them to the play-offs two seasons in a row.
Once again, that somewhat fleeting notion of sustainability was dealt a harsh blow as Cheltenham struggled in Mr Ward’s fourth season in charge. Cheltenham have had seven managers in the last ten seasons, but amongst that are the tenures of John Ward and Mark Yates. The only real season of chop-and-change had been the relegation season of 2014/15, with no fewer than four changes over the season. The Robins are clearly a club for whom continuity and sustainability are important watchwords. They are prepared to give a manger time to create a competitive team. When changes are made, historically they have been undertaken during the close season. John Ward left the club for Carlisle towards the beginning of a season, while his assistant around the same time the following season to join him at Carlisle. Both changes undertaken by the individuals, not the club.
Cheltenham Town’s sixteen year journey in the Football League had ended and the time to take stock and go again was of paramount importance. They’d shown the ability to survive and be successful in the third and fourth tier of the football league, with average crowds of around 4,500 in the League One seasons, down to a modest 3,000 to 3,500 when things weren’t going so well (oh, what Dagenham & Redbridge wouldn’t give for those kinds of numbers). The need to select the right man for the job, one for whom management at this level was proven, was of the utmost importance if this team from Gloucestershire were to demonstrate they were worth a place back in the Football League.
Gary Johnson was sacked as Yeovil Town’s manager in February 2015, with the club propping up League One. This was his second stint as Yeovil manager, having been been in charge when they made the move into the Football League for the first time in their history in 2003. His four years and four months at the helm of this particular non-league outfit garnered an FA Trophy win, National League champions title and League Two champions title. Here was a manager for whom the ability to build a competitive team using lower league and non-league talent was second nature. That first period in charge saw Mr Johnson sign 31 players without spending a penny on transfer fees, with only one player joining in his third season in charge for the princely sum of £15k. A total of 22 players were moved on, while a further five were sold. With two sales of “undisclosed” amounts, the other three brought in a total of £350k. In addition, the club released from contract a further 17 players. If there’s one thing Gary Johnson demonstrated in his first time in charge at Yeovil, it was the ability to spot a bargain and the sensitivity towards a club’s need for financial prudence.
Time and again Mr Johnson had made wholesale changes to clubs he managed, creating competitive squads on a shoestring. His four and a half year stay at Bristol City – while not only guiding them to Championship football through automatic promotion, but also sustaining their Championship status – saw him sign 27 players as free transfers or free agents and move on 32 players to enable the balancing of the wage bill. His activity in the transfer market witnessed the purchase of five players for a total of £4.04m and the sale of two players for a total of £3m. The club also released 11 players from their contracts during this time. Thirty two players in, forty three players out. A truly remarkable set of numbers, demonstrating a skill to balance the books while still maintaining competitiveness in one of the toughest leagues in Europe.
A second go at the sharp end at Yeovil reveals similar transfer activity without a single penny being used in transfer fees, in or out. The season of upheaval at Whaddon Road culminated in Mr Johnson being appointed in March 2015, but the die had already been cast. Languishing in the lowest position in the Football League, the remaining seven games saw one win, one draw and five losses. The time for rebuilding and the hope of an immediate return to Football League status would start in earnest. In his own inimitable style, Mr Johnson set about plumbing the pool of lower league talent, bringing in no fewer than 12 players towards the beginning of the season as free agents or free transfers, with a further two joining in January 2016. Only one of these players required a fee. Eleven players were moved on, with teenage prospect Luke Thomas being the only player with a fee attached. Derby County paid for the 16-year-old. In addition, Cheltenham looked to the loan market, signing five players through the course of the season, two of whom were goalkeepers.
Dillon Phillips had been a fine addition to the squad, keeping 16 clean sheets in the 36 games he played. Unfortunately, the loanee shot-stopper from Charlton sustained an injury in March 2016 which halted his season and a replacement in the form of Jon Flatt – on loan from Wolves – played out the 10 remaining games. With a defensive unit involving five players signed at the beginning of the season, Cheltenham went on to concede only 30 goals in their first season back in the National League. A midfield which included 6 players signed in the summer contributed no fewer than 33 goals and 28 assists over the course of the season; the stand-out player being 22-year-old Jack Munns, who scored eight and provided 13 assists in the 31 starts and 11 substitute appearances he made. Yet another free addition, this time from Charlton Athletic.
Cheltenham scored a total of 87 goals in the 2015/16 season and it’s no surprise to tell you that another of Gary Johnson’s summer signings – Danny Wright on a free from Kidderminster – was another success. In the 43 games played, Mr Wright scored 22 goals and provided 10 assists. At 31, he averages a goal every three games in a career going back to 2007/08. Starting at non-league Histon, he has scored wherever he’s played and is a proven goalscorer at National League level. Clearly, you only get better with age, as he has career best figures for his first season at the Robins, scoring a goal pretty much every two games. But the goals didn’t stop there.
Dan Holman established his goalscoring record at non-league Braintree, scoring 24 goals over 2 seasons. A subsequent move to League One Colchester saw him loaned out to four different clubs over an 18 month period. Here was a great example of a player who did not fit into the plans of a particular manager. Joe Dunne left Colchester two months after signing Mr Holman and the new incumbent, Tony Humes, did not see him as part of his ongoing plans. Periods at Wrexham, Aldershot and Dover were short and non too sweet, with only 16 starts and five goals to show for it. A half season loan spell from the beginning of the 2015/16 season at Woking in the National League, together with 26 starts, saw Mr Holman given a chance to establish himself and Woking reaped the benefits. Fourteen goals from 26 games is nothing to be sniffed at.
Another change at the helm for Colchester saw John McGreal take a caretaker role after Humes was sacked in November 2015. This change at the top did nothing to advance Dan Holman’s Colchester career, as he was allowed to sign for Cheltenham in January 2016, . It is remarkable to think that a club languishing in the relegation zone of League One, on a run of nine defeats in a row, still cannot see fit to give a proven goalscorer (albeit at a lower level) a run in the side, just to see if their fortunes can be turned. Colchester’s loss was clearly Cheltenham’s gain. Dan Holman started 18 games after signing for them and bagged 16 goals in the process, while providing two assists.
Gary Johnson’s knack of signing the right players at the right time and building a competitive team are to be cherished. Cheltenham Town finished the 2015/16 season as Champions of the National League, scoring the most goals and conceding the least, with a winning margin of a whopping 12 points from second placed Forest Green Rovers. They only lost once at home and five times in total. Reminiscent of their sojourn back to the Southern League Premier Division, maybe the Robins have progressed to being a well-established Football League team and are just too good for the National League. These kinds of suggestions should be made with caveats though.
The clear gulf between them and the rest of the teams in that particular division is built on the foundations intrinsic to the club’s apparent ethos. They are willing to give their managers the time and support required for providing a sustainable solution to competitive football. The need for shrewdness when considering squad improvement strategies are foremost. They are a team who may occasionally “punch above their weight”, so-to-speak, but will be a club for whom ongoing Football League status, rather than out-and-out success at all costs, is desired and eminently achievable. Let’s hope Cheltenham Town have continued success under the guidance of Gary Johnson, his staff and the players. In an age of football, when the apparent attitude is to “throw enough money at it, surely something will stick and we’ll get results”, the Robins are a breath of shrewd and sustainable air.
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