Football Season Guide

Ebbsfleet are back in the Blue Square Premier after an year in the lower level and they will be looking to establish themselves and stay clear of relegation trouble this time around. The Fleet surpassed the expectations last season when bouncing straight back up, something that few teams in the lower leagues are able to do in the first year, but the solid foundations laid by the excellent Liam Daish has paid dividends at the end of the campaign. Ebbsfleet managed to beat more wealthy and powerful clubs in the battle for promotion by playing simple and effective football and rising to the challenge when needed. The best example of that was in the play-off final in the Blue Square South when the high-spending Farnborough were tipped as favourites and moreover played at their own ground but lost 4:2 and it was the Fleet who were celebrating at the end. It was monumental for Daish to keep the squad intact and he largely did that as only Ashley Carew rejected a new deal and preferred a contract with Cambridge United. Signings have been far and few but Joe Welch could be excellent addition between the stick while Liam Marum has the quality to score goals at this level and will be hungry to bounce back after a bad year. The team's biggest strength will be in midfield where Giannoulis Fakinos developed into a fine schemer and controller of games in the latter part of last season and will look to build on that. Callum Willock was reborn last season with Ebbsfleet, scoring a lot of goals, and the veteran striker will also be very motivated to be a success. Overall, Ebbsfleet are much better placed to stay up this time compared to two years ago when Daish had to build a squad from scratch a week before the season and the campaign was a big struggle. Now the group has been together for an year, experiencing a winning feeling, and this settled nature of the team should keep them in a good stead.