Football Season Guide

National League

England

National League

2013/2014

Tamworth

In

Jake Jones (mid), Walsall), Kaiyne Woolery (mid), Maidstone), Richard Peniket (att), Fulham), Jack Evans (def), Gillingham), Richie Baker (mid), Barrow), Cameron Belford (gk), Bury), Deqwon Ebanks (att), Birmingham), Jordan Rose (def), Telford), Tom Eckersley (def), Accrington), Justin Richards (att), Oxford), Toni Capaldi (def), Oxford), Jose Veiga (gk), Workington)

Out

Adam Cunnington (att), Cambridge), Richard Tait (def), Cambridge), Peter Till (mid), Solihull), Tommy Wright (att), Harrogate), Tony Breeden (att), Leamington), Michael Wylde (def), Alfreton), Danny Lloyd-McGoldrick (mid), Sam Oji (mid), Tom Marshall (def), Marcus Kelly (mid), Forest Green), Scott Barrow (mid)

Tamworth start the new season with basically a completely new team and hopes of more comfortable finish than last year. The Midlands outfit needed to wait until the last week of the campaign to confirm their survival and it was definitely a nervy campaign that took its tall on manager Dale Belford and the players. The former goalkeeper now had his first pre-season with the team as a first-team manager and was definitely eager to start anew and bring the players of his own choice. One of them is his son, Cameron, who will be the number one keeper after his release from Bury. He is actually a pretty good keeper for the Conference level and a step up on Tony Breedon from last season. Richie Baker is expected to be the leader in midfield after joining from Barrow while the forward line was boosted with the signing of Justin Richards. He is an experienced goalgetter and was one of the top players at League Two in his position an year ago before injury struck. He can thus be a very useful and important capture that will fill the void left by Adam Cunnington, who along with former skipper Richard Tait, joined Cambridge. These are the two major departures while Marcus Kelly and Scott Barrow are going to be missed as well. The squad is now mostly filled with young, unproven players, who will be hungry to show their worth and step up to the plate but it is difficult to ascertain how the Lambs will do in terms of results and they may well face quite a struggle again.

Target

It could be a tough season ahead for the Lambs who lack presence in midfield and lost their two best players in the summer. Staying up will be a big achievement but they may well finish in the bottom four.