Review of Season 2007/08
13 May 2008

I write this report wearing the hat of the 1st team manager at the club. It is always the way that players are only really interested in their football and don't know or pay particular attention to what is going on behind the scenes. I was no different and was also, to a certain extent, detached from what went on when I was assistant manager to Neil Whitbread through the reserves and 1st team over the previous two seasons. My third year in management at the club has changed all of that. Pre-season started with the whole of the reserve team forming what was Buckhurst Hill F.C. Matters worsened when Neil decided in mid-October 2007 that he could no longer sustain the time and effort he had put into running the first team having built a good foundation with the limited resources at his disposal. Unfortunately,Neil's departure saw up to 9 players exit the door overnight and ply their trade at several different clubs. This caused a 'knock on' effect when other players left in the following few months. Epping had already played 7 league games by that stage where they had accumulated 6 points. The players left at the club came to the rescue and showed that those words such as 'BELIEF' & 'COMMITMENT' can go a lot further than that of what some of the departing players had to offer. The following 6 league games saw Epping gain just one draw with 5 losses although the side progressed to the quarter final of the Essex County Cup where they lost 1-0 to Brentwood Reserves who were ultimately runner-ups in the tournament. The low point of the year for me came during one of the early rounds of the Essex Olympian League Senior Cup when we lost 1-0 to Writtle from Division 2. I don't seek to take any credit away from them for their win but our performance and team spirit that day was at an all time low. It would have been very easy for the team to throw the towel in but I made it clear that I only wanted players at the club who wanted to show some character. The players duly responded with a bit a fine tuning from the management team that included Tracy Wilkinson and John Delaney. This present crop of players have battled every inch of the way over the last 11 games which has seen them obtain results from 7 of the matches with 5 wins. Those games that we have lost have only been by the odd goal and even then I felt that we deserved something from some of them. I was disappointed in our last but one outing when we lost at home 3-2 to Benfleet when 2 of our younger players showed just how much they have developed in adversity. They are Chris Muir and Cheng Mparupsa who along with Lee Forde can develop towards playing at a higher level if they put their minds to it (as well as getting the right coaching). We went into our last game knowing that we had to get a point in order to ensure our safety. Unfortunately, we were playing Frenford who were on a high having already won a cup whilst looking to finish the league campaign as runners up. I had a direct link into the Bishops Stortford Swifts game as they had to win with us to loose which would have resulted in us being relegated. Again, I was mightily proud of the team's performance as they battled against a strong Frenford side to win 3-0. I closely monitored the goals from the Swifts game which saw them come back from 1-0 down to draw 2-2 after 90 minutes. They scored two injury time goals to win 4-2 but by then we had already secured the points which I believe was thoroughly deserved from our performances over the whole of the season. Epping F.C. continue to remain in the top flight of the Olympian League after 5 years. Many clubs within the Premier Division have more resources than Epping and seek to progress towards Senior football. I am immensely proud of the club's achievements this year. Football clubs are often judged on short term results gained and it is fair to say that Epping have struggled to retain their status. I am frustrated that a club steeped in history and in it's 60th anniversary has not developed over recent years which is something that must be addressed if we are to progress as a club.

Mark Wells