2010/11 Blue Square South Results
My first season in charge was incredibly successful. Our first league match was a tight 1-0 win away at Woking, with our only goal scored by 17-year old substitute ML Jake Marsh. We'd win our first six league games in succession and actually go 10 games before our first league loss, a 2-1 defeat to Chelmsford.
We'd actually lose our next game as well but then go on another tear, playing 12 games without a loss.
When all was said and done, we'd only lose four games all season in Blue Square Bet South play and we'd win the league in convincing fashion, gaining promotion to the Blue Square Bet Premier.
Blue Square Bet South 2010-11 League Awards
Top Goalscorer: Manny Williams (Havant & Waterlooville) - 23
Most Assists:
Paul Caffrey (Dover) - 19
Highest Average Rating:
Olly Schulz (Dover) - 7.53
Most Man of Match Awards:
Olly Schulz (Dover) - 10
Player of the Season: Graeme Montgomery (Ebbsfleet) - 29apps 9g 10a 7.21 Avg Rating
Manager of the Season: Ian Baird (Eastleigh)
I was short-listed for the Manager of the Year award but fell to Baird. During the season, I was fortunate to win the Manager of the Month award three times (August, December & January)
We would set a couple of league records in 2010/11 that still stand as of 2020:
- Most Team Points in One Season: 98 - Dover
- Most Team Goals in One Season: 85 - Dover
Cup Competitions 2010-11
FA Cup -
We started off in the 2nd qualifying round of FA Cup play, drawing division rival Ebbsfleet at home, defeating them 1-0. We'd defeat lower league side Folkestone in the next round before drawing one of our bitter rivals Margate in the 4th qualifying round. We'd battle to a bore scoreless draw at Margate before the replay at home, where we defeated them handily 4-0 to advance to the 1st round proper. There, we'd lose a tough match against League One side Brentford, falling 3-2. A pretty solid run.
2nd Qualifying Round - Dover 1 Ebbsfleet 0
3rd Qualifying Round - Folkestone 0 Dover 2
4th Qualifying Round - Margate 0 Dover 0
4th Qualifying Round Replay - Dover 4 Margate 0
1st Round - Dover 2 Brentford 3
FA Trophy
The FA Trophy is a knockout competition held between all of the clubs in the top four levels of the National League System, equivalent to levels 5 through 8 in the English Football League System. We'd start off in the 3rd Qualifying Round, defeating Thurrock 4-0 at home. We'd follow that with decisive wins at home over Maidstone and Forest Green before hitting our first snag in the 3rd Round proper. We'd draw against Darlington away but come away with a great 3-0 win at home in the replay to move on. A 5-2 win over Bromley led to a two-leg semi-final set against Wrexham. We'd destroy them 5-1 at home in leg one and eased to a 1-1 draw in the second leg, giving us a spot in our first ever Cup final, drawing Gateshead as our opponent.
In easily our biggest match of the 2010/11 campaign, we'd defeat Gateshead 2-0 at Wembley Stadium in front of 22,000+ fans, getting goals from wingers Ismael Fofana and Abdeltareck Sakali to win the FA Trophy!
3rd Qualifying Round - Dover 4 Thurrock 0
1st Round - Dover 3 Maidstone 0
2nd Round - Dover 3 Forest Green 1
3rd Round - Darlington 1 Dover 1
3rd Round Replay - Dover 3 Darlington 0
4th Round - Dover 5 Bromley 2
Semi Final Leg 1 - Dover 5 Wrexham 1
Semi Final Leg 2 - Wrexham 1 Dover 1 (Dover wins 6-2 aggregate)
Final - Dover 2 Gateshead 0 (at Wembley Stadium)
DOVER WINS 2010/11 FA TROPHY
Overall Dover Statistics
Top Goalscorer: Ben Hunt - 23
Top League Goalscorer: Adam Birchall - 15
Most Assists: Paul Caffrey - 29
Highest Average Rating: Olly Schulz - 7.58 (49 apps)
Most Man of Match Awards: Olly Schulz - 15
Fans Player of the Year: Olly Schulz
2010-11 Dover Best Eleven
GK - Ross Flitney - 26 apps 0g 6.87 avg
DL - Nicky Nicolau - 34 apps 0g 7.04 avg
DC - Olly Schulz - 49 apps 13g 7.58 avg
DC - Rob Gillman - 46 apps 5g 7.06 avg
DR - Matt Fish - 43 apps 1g 7.00 avg
ML - Ismael Fofana - 50 apps 11g 7.02 avg
MC - Paul Marney - 51 apps 1g 6.87 avg
MC - Paul Caffrey - 50 apps 6g 7.19 avg
MR - Abdeltareck Sakali - 51 apps 15g 7.12 avg
ST - Adam Birchall - 49 apps 20g 7.14 avg
ST - Ben Hunt - 51 apps 23g 7.13 avg
Other notables: GK Liam O'Brien 30 apps 6.82; DL Tom Wynter 26 apps 0g 6.82; ML Jake Marsh 44 apps 7g 6.85; DR Sam Long 25 apps 0g 6.80; ST Kofi Poyser 25 apps 11g 6.98; MC Jon Wallis 49 apps 6g 6.79; ST Elliott Charles 2 apps 1g 6.95
Schulz was a force in the air, as attested by his 13 goals, most of which came on set pieces using his head. My forwards were very productive and I even got 11 more goals from ST Kofi Poyser. Young GK Liam O'Brien was a slight disappointment in his first year and was outplayed by the veteran Flitney but otherwise, our preferred starters were our best players this season.
Year-End Financials
Turnover - £680,551
Expenditure - £717,567
Net Transfer Spending - £0
Total Wage Costs - £513,775
Profit/(Loss) - (£37,016)
Bank Balance - £14,886
Average Attendance - 939
Closing Thoughts
We had an incredibly successful season, winning the league in dominating fashion, getting through to the 1st round of the FA Cup before falling to a League 2 team and finally, lifting the FA Trophy for the first time at Wembley Stadium in front of a huge crowd.
We'll hope to fare well next year at the top level of semi-professional football, the Blue Square Bet Premier League!