The 2007/8 season won't be a campaign that Wivenhoe Town fans will hold on to with any great affection.

To say that it was disappointing would be an under-statement, with a year of struggle culminating in the Dragons dropping out of the Ryman League.

Even before a ball was kicked, it was clear that the season would be a tough one at Broad Lane, after they lost their manager and almost entire first-team squad in the summer.

New boss Malcolm Price was handed the unenviable task of rebuilding the team from scratch, but Wivenhoe made the predicted poor start, occupying the league's bottom spot almost from the first whistle and early exits from cup competitions made the job even harder, denying Price of much-needed income.

Defeat followed defeat, however, their bunch of young players were rarely completely over-run and they picked up their first point in their 11th outing of the season with a 1-1 draw against Wingate and Finchley.

Sadly, though, that was as good as it got under Price and he opted to move aside for Richard Carter in November.

There were immediate changes in playing personnel as the new manager looked to stage an unlikely bid for survival.

As the weeks wore on, Carter dipped into his contacts book further and further, with players such as Lee Townrow, Michael Brothers and Stuart Nethercott adding experience and loanees such as Danny Hart bolstering the ranks.

New faces came in almost on a daily basis, but time was not a luxury that Carter had and, if players failed to quickly match-up to expectations, they were shipped out just as rapidly.

While the team rosta was turning around like a carousel, it took a while for things to change on the pitch, though, and the Dragons had to wait until early January for the season's first win - 2-0 against Brentwood Town.

Things were still tough, but three back-to-back victories in February lifted hopes that survival may be possible.

However, that run wasn't followed up and the Dragons needed results elsewhere to fall their way to survive on the last day of the season.

Sadly Wivenhoe's defeat of Waltham Forest was an irrelevance and relegation came as a bitter blow, however, while prospects may seem gloomy, there is hope for the Dragons in the emergence of players like Lee Underwood, Adam Hampson, Joe Nightingill and James Cole.

Carter has managed to sign some promising youngsters on contracts in preparation for their promotion bid next season as well as aiming to take the club forward off the pitch and the Dragons fans will be looking forward to the challenge ahead.