Braintree Town all set for National League campaign

And Iron fans will be wondering which version of history is about to repeat itself.

The club’s two experiences of promotion to the National League premier division were markedly different.

In August 2011, after a 1-0 defeat in their first match, they shocked everyone in the division by beating Grimsby, relegated from the Football League only a year earlier, 5-0 in their second outing.

(Image: JON WEAVER)

That set the tone for the season as they realised they were not going to be out of their depth, racked up more impressive wins against former Football League teams and secured a top-half finish.

In August 2018, on the other hand, they failed to win any of their first ten matches and floundered for the rest of the season, ending up second from bottom.

The difference reflected their form the previous season.

In 2011, they had led the National League South for most of the season and finished seven points clear.

In 2018, they finished sixth, 17 points off the top spot, and became the first team to go up after missing automatic promotion by more than four places.

And that is the ominous bit. The exciting finish to last season when three extra-time victories saw them through the play-offs could not disguise the fact that they finished fifth, 14 points off champions Yeovil.

(Image: JON WEAVER)

But this year there has been a different approach. Whereas Brad Quinton, manager in 2018, kept most of the team that had earned promotion, his current counterpart Angelo Harrop is working with an almost completely new squad.

It is unclear how many left because they were not able to fit in with the requirements of the new full-time training programme and how many left for other reasons.

Tom Blackwell is the only regular from last season who has been offered a contract this time, together with Dominic Odusanya, who only joined at the end of February, and Reggie Lambe, who spent much of the time towards the end of the season on the subs’ bench before scoring the spectacular winner in the play-off final at Worthing.

Some will be harder to replace than others, notably the bedrock trio at the back.

(Image: JON WEAVER)

Jack Sims, who had an outstanding season in goal, has gone to Sutton after their relegation from the Football League, Joe Grimwood has been snapped up by Barnet while Ben Tompkins, on a year’s loan from Luton, has been released by the Hatters and is now, somewhat surprisingly, at Hemel Hempstead, who missed relegation from the National League South by one place.

Aaron Blair, leading scorer and the supporters’ player of the year, has moved to Maidstone, as has Shaq Coulthirst, captain Baris Altintop has moved to Larne in Northern Ireland, one-time captain Alfie Payne is at St Albans, Jayden Davis, who scored the play-off semi-final winner at Chelmsford, has gone to Eastbourne while Freddie Sears has opted for Isthmian League Chatham Town.

To replace them, Harrop has brought in a mix of youth and experience.

Perhaps the most notable under the latter heading are the strikers Inih Effiong, 33, from Dagenham and Redbridge, and John Akinde, 35, from Colchester, whose combined height and strength suggests a different approach from last season where the much less imposing figure of Blair was often left to plough a lone furrow up front.

(Image: JON WEAVER)

There is experience too at the back where 35-year-old Jamal Fyfield has joined from Boreham Wood but he is likely to be joined by the much younger Gibraltar international Louie Annersley, 24, who spent last season at Dundalk, and George Langston, 21, who moves up from Eastleigh.

Shouldering the heavy responsibility of replacing Sims in goal is 20-year-old Jacob Knightbridge, on loan from Oxford United.

Harrop has looked closer to home for Chay Cooper, a 23-year-old forward, and Marley Miranda, 21, both from Colchester, and Callum Power, 28, from Southend.

It is never wise to read too much into pre-season friendlies but four defeats out of four in the home matches against higher-placed opposition fielding sometimes fewer than half their first team players is not a good omen.

(Image: JON WEAVER)

There were times when they looked alarmingly open at the back and it is telling that they managed only one goal in the four matches – gifted to them by a misplaced back pass.

This year’s fixture list is not so daunting as in their first season at this level, when they faced five former Football League clubs in their first seven matches (they beat two and drew with another) but after Oldham, they face Yeovil, a Football League team in 2019, followed by Aldershot, whose Football League days are a little further behind them (they came down in 2013) and Solihull Moors, fifth last season, before Ebbsfleet (19th), Hartlepool (12th), Woking (17th) and York (20th) offer some possible light relief.

By the time they reach Barnet, last season’s runners-up, in their ninth match, we may have a good idea which way their season is heading.