Football Season Guide

Aldershot dropped out of the Football League at the end of last season and endured a torturous summer in which the whole existence of the club was put in serious doubt. The Shots have been living outside their means for the last couple of years and the disaster of relegation opened the Pandora box with a lot of debts that have not been known being revealed. Suddenly Aldershot were put in administration and there was a genuine threat that if no buyer is found, the club will be wound up and become the latest victim of unreasonable spending. Yet, with just a couple of weeks of the pre-season left, Aldershot were actually saved from a local consortium and can finally start planning for things on the pitch and the matter of at least consolidation in the new division. At the moment, though, Aldershot look like the most serious relegation contender given the automatic ten-point deduction placed on them for entering administration. Andy Scott is staying on having failed to save the sinking ship at the end of last season and the former Brentford boss will have an unenviable task of moulding a side over the course of the season. Almost the entire squad from last season have moved to pastures new while striker Craig Reid was sold to Southend only ten days before the start of the season. Brett Williams and Jack Goodman, a couple of young unproven players from Reading and Millwall, are the only two official signings at the moment and it will be a frantic week in the run-in before the new season as Scott tries to bring in new players. Aldershot should not be written off too quickly as they may well overcome the deficit and come out fighting but they really have a massive task at their hands at the moment and with so much going on off the pitch, they look certainties for relegation right at this moment.