2013/14 npower League 2 Results
We obviously had a lot of roster turnover in the offseason but kept the majority of our starting eleven from the year previous. I hoped that continuity would help get us a mid-table finish but the team was full of surprises.
Our first game in the professional ranks was a thrilling 3-3 draw away at Morecambe, a game we trailed 3-1 late in the contest. New striker Aaron Greene led the way with 2 goals, giving us a look at the lethal speed and finishing skills he'd flash all season long.
Our early-season form was absolutely incredible - 13 games undefeated in our League 2 debut, winning 9 games and drawing 4 before consecutive losses to Grimsby at home and Port Vale away. Straight after, we'd go on another 13 game tear with only one loss and that was enough to build up a sizeable lead on the table heading into February.
We'd hit our biggest rough patch in March, losing four consecutive games but a 3-0 home win over Rushden & Diamonds locked up a guaranteed promotion spot then on the last day of the season, we'd win 2-0 away at Bury to finish off the campaign with 92 points, enough to fend off Notts County for the npower League 2 championship!
npower League 2 2013-14 League Awards
Top Goalscorer: Maceo Rigters, Bournemouth - 30
Most Assists: David Serrano, Oldham - 21
Highest Average Rating: Maceo Rigters, Bournemouth - 7.40
Most Man of Match Awards: Maceo Rigters, Bournemouth- 11
Manager of the Season:
NoSkillz, Dover
npower League 2 Player's Team of the Year
GK - Janos Balogh, Bristol Rovers
DL - Rhoys Wiggins, Bournemouth
DC - Andy Iro, Notts County
DC - Andy Graham, Lincoln
DR - James Tavernier, Tranmere
ML - Stephen Pearson, Stevenage
MC - Stuart Duff, Rochdale
MC - John Russell, Rotherham
MR - Liam Feeney, Bournemouth
ST - Maceo Rigters, Bournemouth
ST - David Serrano, Oldham
Kind of strange that League 2 didn't have a Player of the Year category. Rigters certainly would have won it going away, with 30 goals in 38 league games. I'd win the League 2 Manager of the Month award only once (September) but was honoured with the npower League 2 Manager of the Year award, my second year in a row with the major piece of hardware!
Cup Competitions 2013-14
FA Cup -
We had a great season in league play but struggled in cup competitions. We throttled Exeter in the 1st round of the FA Cup but would lose a 2nd round replay to league rival Luton Town to bow out quietly.
1st Round - Dover 5 Exeter 1
2nd Round - Luton 1 Dover 1
2nd Round Replay - Dover 2 Luton 4 (Extra Time)
League Cup
This is the first time we qualify for the League Cup (Carling Cup), solely a competition between the teams within the top 4 levels on the English pyramid.
We'd be humbled early by Brighton in the 1st round.
1st Round - Dover 1 Brighton 3
Johnstone's Paint Trophy
Here's another competition that I got to take part in for the first time. The Johnstone's Paint Trophy is a competition held between teams in League 1 and League 2. We'd run into fierce rival Gillingham and get defeated in the 1st round, just like the League Cup. A tough year in cup ties!
1st Round - Dover 1 Gillingham 3
2013-14 Overall Dover Statistics
Top Goalscorer: Aaron Greene - 24
Top League Goalscorer: Aaron Greene - 20
Most Assists: Aaron Greene - 14
Highest Average Rating: Aaron Greene - 7.30 (43 apps)
Most Man of Match Awards: Aaron Greene - 7
Fans Player of the Year: Aaron Greene
The clean sweep for
Aaron Greene! The new man was spectacular for Dover in 2013-14!!!
2013-14 Dover Best Eleven
GK - Liam O'Brien - 37 apps 0g 6.84 avg
DL - Jamie Reckord - 32 apps 0g 6.87 avg
DC - Luke McCullough - 31 apps 1g 6.85 avg
DC - Oliver Nicholas - 28 apps 4g 7.12 avg
DR - Conor Morrissey - 33 apps 0g 6.81 avg
ML - Ismael Fofana - 37 apps 6g 6.92 avg
MC - Janusz Kedzierski - 34 apps 1g 6.99 avg
MC - Richie Ryan - 39 apps 7g 6.96 avg
MR - Abdeltareck Sakali - 38 apps 9g 7.06 avg
ST - Aaron Greene - 43 apps 24g 7.30 avg
ST - Patrick Cooper - 29 apps 16g 7.27 avg
Other notables: GK Reice Charles-Cook 14 apps 6.65; DL Aziz Deen-Conteh 23 apps 1g 6.79; DR Mark Urquhart 16 apps 0g 6.82; DC David Ogilby 37 apps 0g 6.78; ML Jake Caskey 17 apps 0g 6.75; ST Alexander Rattke 37 apps 20g 7.09; ST Ben Hunt 15 apps 3g 6.79
GK -
Liam O'Brien continues to improve while
Reice Charles-Cook struggled a bit after getting a real chance to run with the job early in the season.
Liam Hogan was loaned out for the season to Sutton United.
D -
The only surprise here is to see young
Luke McCullough in the best eleven over captain
David Ogilby. McCullough got the chance to play much more than expected due to injured star centre half
Oliver Nicholas, who battled with hamstring and ankle issues all year. Young fullback
Aziz Deen-Conteh fared well in a backup role.
M -
Our excellent wing play from
Ismael Fofana and
Abdeltareck Sakali continued and German signing
Janusz Kedzierski fit in capably alongside
Richie Ryan to give us a potent midfield.
F -
We were fortunate to see incredibly inspired play from our strikers in 2013-14. Greene was the star all season long, with his incredible speed and potent left foot causing issues for every team in the league. Young target man
Patrick Cooper forced his way into a rotation and scored 16 goals in only 29 games while our other big offseason signing,
Alexander Rattke, performed equally as well, with 20 goals on his own. Between the three, that's an incredible 60 goals!
Year-End Financials
Our turnover came close to doubling after leaving semi-pro ball for the real thing. Costs skyrocketed equally and we lost over £160K on the year. The great thing to see was that our average attendance more than doubled. We haven't outgrown our stadium just yet but if we keep adding supporters at the same pace, capacity may become an issue.
Closing Thoughts
Despite struggling in all of our cup ties, we shocked the footballing world in our first year in the professional ranks, winning League 2 straight out and gaining the quick promotion to the third level of the pyramid!
We found three incredible strikers and seem to have a lot of strength in the middle of the park especially.
Those take-over concerns that I mentioned earlier would come to a head just after we finished up the season. A second gentleman, Chris Dunphy, would fail in a takeover bid in January but kept at it, eventually making an offer our long-time chairman couldn't refuse. So on May 13th, only 3 days after the completion of our season, Jim Parmenter would leave the club and Chris Dunphy was in, bringing with him two new directors.
Thankfully, I had become "favoured personnel" of the club's supporters and Dunphy would ultimately decide to keep me on despite some rumours to the contrary.
League 1…here we come!