Non-League To Big League Part 5: End Of Season Report

Hello and welcome one and all to the final part of our first season of Non-League To Big League in Football Manager 2024 (using the 2024-25 season extended database). If you haven't seen any of my adventures with Grimsby Borough then check them out by clicking the links below. For now though, let's see how the remainder of the season panned out in Northern Premier League Division One (East). 

League Form

Despite beginning the new year with two consecutive league wins (after a morale-boosting win over local county league side Immingham Town), things took a turn for the worst as we embarked on a dismal run that saw us fail to win any of our next seven matches, picking up just one point and going winless from late January through to mid-March. The barren spell had us nervously looking over our shoulders for a time as our lead over the chasing pack at the bottom of the table looked set to evaporate. 

Thankfully, we managed to arrest the decline with a fine 5-3 win over eventually relegated Bridlington Town which sparked a run of just one defeat from our final seven outings which allowed us to breathe a huge sigh of relief and preserve our status in the division. Impressively, we managed to round the season off with a surprise 2-1 win over Belper Town who were chasing and ultimately landed a play-off spot. 

Highlight

Undoubtedly, the highlight of the second half of the season has to be our 2-1 home win over local rivals Cleethorpes Town. Coming slap-bang in the middle of our impressive end to the season, we took the lead through a Ben Middleton own goal and despite Dan Gallimore pulling an equaliser back we were arguably the better side (just about) and were rewarded when John Murphy (more on him later) netted our winner. 

Lowlight

For the lowlight of the second half of the season (and let's be honest, there were plenty to choose from), I've gone for our away defeat to Carlton Town, a game in which everything went from good to shit in the space of a few short minutes. It all looked like it was going swimmingly when Sam Topliss gave us the lead with a fine strike two minutes before half-time but sadly that was the start of our downfall. 

Firstly, the home side equalised with two minutes of stoppage time played before Tom Jones was sent off with our misery further compounded in the SIXTH minute of first half stoppage time when Carlton scored what proved to be the winning goal. It really felt like we'd hit our nadir at this point. 

Transfer Activity

The beauty of playing so low down in the footballing pyramid is that you're not restricted to working within the transfer windows which can heighten player turnover. In terms of players coming in, striker John Murphy came in from NPLD1 (West) outfit Prescot Cables and weighed in with a few goals (including a hat-trick) which helped ease the pressure on our labouring strikers. Midfielder Alfie Raw came in from high-flying Liversedge and despite being sent off on his debut, became an integral part of the team from midfield. A pair of central defenders also found their way to the FDC in the shape of Oliver Muir who came to us after a spell out of the game (his history revealed he'd not played since 2022 after leaving Merseyside outfit Marine) while Lucas Giacomini came in on loan from Blyth Spartans. 

A trio of Borough players departed us to join Whitley Bay, those being Lewis Collins, Caine Winfarrah and Dean Winnard. Goalkeeper Liam Higton left to join Stocksbridge Park Steels (later to be relegated from the NPLD1) while Callum Lovett and Reece York left to sign for Wisbech Town and Wythenshawe Town respectively. All players leave with my best wishes. 

Star Man

Despite only playing a bit-part towards the back end of the season as injuries and age began to creep up on him, Andy Taylor ended the season as out star man, averaging a rating of 7.10. 

And so it comes to pass that our first season in the save ends with relative mid-table security, let's have a look at our campaign in brief here. 

2021-25 Season In Review

Final League Position: 13th (of 22)

Top Scorer: Andy Taylor (19 in all competitions)

Most Assists: Adam Drury (18)

Highest Rating: Andy Taylor (7.10)

Fans' Player Of The Year: Andy Taylor

Young Player Of The Year: Tom Jones

Average Home Attendance: 227

So there we have it ladies and gentlemen, I'd be lying if I said that this season was easy but it ultimately ended with us defying expectation and finishing clear of the drop zone. Hopefully we can kick on during the 2025-26 season and finish a little higher, who knows maybe we can flirt with the play-off places for a bit longer. 

Pre-season will be up before Christmas with season two starting off properly around New Year's. 

Take care everyone and thanks for reading! Up The Borough!