Well where do i start, it was an unbelievably chatoic summer, even for sky blue fans, doubts cast over the existence of our once great club and after 19 minutes of the opening day at Crawley, we feared the worst, a 10 point deduction, playing 35 miles away and 2-0 down to a side expected to just about survive relegation.. it was bleak, very bleak. At that point i turned and said to my friend 'we'll be relegated by March'. I had kept hope for so long with my team. my club and my city, but back in August any hope was quickly diminishing.
What followed over the next 10 months was simply astonishing. The team showed grit, determantion and resolve, and for the first time in a long time the players out there were playing for the shirt and were proud to be doing so. A 5-4 ( yes 5-4) victory over Bristol City sparked the start of this unlikely revival. The 2000 that watched at sixfields would have enjoyed this game, although the majority would have gone home unhappy as the away fans outnumbered the 'home' fans in a pattern that would rightly continue throughout the season.
By September, the 10 point dedcution had gone and we were off the bottom after another victory, this time cruising to a 2-0 victory over colchester. With that, hope returned and the belief kicked in that staying up could happen. But this was just the start for us. A victory over Gillingham later that month moved us out of the relegation zone and we started to climb the table.
A 1-1 draw away at eventual champions Wolves was an unbelievable result, as were the next two. A 1-0 victory at Walsall took us to within 3 points of a play off place, all this after a remarkable 3-1 victory over early pace setters Leyton Orient.
The players were giving us that belief yet again and there was a growing optisim with everyone involved with the club. The team were playing with a confidence, not seen for years, and had the best strike partneship in England with Leon Clarke and Callum Wilson.
A 7 match unbeaten run was halted emphatically with a shock 5-1 home defeat to Tranmere Rovers and then a 3-0 defeat at home to Rotherham. Still though, belief was not gone as on the following saturday, 7000 sky blue army inavded stadium- mk to see debutnat chris maguire scored two magical free kicks to give the sky blues a 3-1 victory. Fellow debutant chris dagnall also got on the scoresheet that day.
Draws with Crewe and oldham and a 2-1 defeat at Swindon over the festive period dropped the sky blues back down the table, although we progressed in the fa cup after beating Hartepool in a replay, and a 2-1 win away at championship Barnsley.We then pulled out a dream draw. Arsenal Away.
We lost that game 4-0 but gave an extremely good account of ourselves. Quickly though we came crashing back down to earth, Leon Clarke left for Wolves and we sruggled to string any results together and were quickly looking over our shoulders at the relegation zone after 3 defeats in 4 games in February.
We found ourselves playing catch up in March playing 8 games, winning only 3.
April arrived and we needed to secure our status in league one which we did succesfully after drwas with Bradford, Oldham and Wolves. A 2-1 defeat at Sheffield United on the final day meant that we failed to win in our last seven games, but did manage a seemingly impossible task. We had no ground, a 10 point deduction and a thread bare squad, but we avoided what everybody though was inevitable, relegation to the fourth tier.
On the whole it was a season of more downs that ups but the football that was played was some of the best in recent memory. The players and the manger were hailed by fans and rightly so.
It will again be a tough summer, but again we need to stand united as this season has proved that in the face of adversity you need to stand up and be counted.
Have a brilliant summer all.... and see you next season. PUSB!
