Billy Holland admits Enfield Town have been “thrown in the deep end” after we were handed a tough opening start to the new league campaign on our return to Step 3.

Town begin their campaign with trip to the wonderfully named Dripping Pan to play divisional big-hitters Lewes on Aug 8 (watch this space for details of possible coach travel)  followed by a pair of home fixtures against heavily resourced St Albans – now home to Ollie Knight – and Ramsgate and then a visit to promotion contenders Brentwood, who lost in last season’s playoff — both hugely ambitious clubs.

“Those first four games are very, very difficult,” said Billy who continues to develop his squad for the long campaign ahead.

“We certainly haven’t had it easy as far as August is concerned. They are all big boys, along with Chatham. Brentwood almost got promoted and with the players they’ve signed, and their budget, they’ll be right up there.”

“Lewes may have had a bad season by their own high standards last season but I can’t see them replicating that. All four August opponents will be at the top end of the table. Ramsgate sacked their last manager because he didn’t spend enough! We’ve certainly been chucked in the deep end so it will be sink or swim. But we’ll take the first five games or so and see where we are.”

AW

Enfield Town 1 Leyton Orient 4

Report by Andrew Warshaw
Image: Keith Drew

Once again, forget the scoreline. Billy Holland deliberately chose this quality of opposition  for our first home pre-season friendly to check on how Town would fare without the ball.

And in the main, it worked well as League One Orient, four divisions higher and fielding a significant chunk of their first-team squad, put us to the test by enjoying large swathes of possession on a sweltering evening.

At least that was the story of the second half. In the first we more than matched our lofty opponents and if anything had the better chances as Billy once again selected an almost totally different eleven in each half as he continued to monitor our development.

Watched by a crowd of over 700 – our next game is not for another 10 days – Town actually went ahead within the first 20 minutes with a typically clever Sam Youngs header, getting on the end of a left-wing cross and re-directing the ball across goal.

For the second game in a row, Luke May-Parrott, if somewhat light in stature, showed why he could be a significant goal threat once he has built up his sharpness. He could and should have put Town further ahead when clean through, only to be thwarted in a one-on-one by the Orient keeper, and had a couple of other half-chances.

It was also encouraging to witness Town’s movement on and off the ball as well as their use of both flanks as several of the triallists did their chances no harm at all.

Orient equalised through Armando Dobra heading into the break and as expected totally dominated the second period after also making wholesale changes.

Charlie Wellens, son of the manager, put them in front, Phil Chinedu extended the lead with an unstoppable drive and with the very last kick of the game, Orient completed the scoring from the penalty spot.

With Mickey Parcell out with a slight knock, Eli Ackeson not required on the day, the goalkeeping position still to be decided and and the much-touted Junior Moses yet to make his Town debut, there are plenty of positive signs.

Talking of which, some home supporters clearly identified one of the trialists as a certain quality centreback from our Step 2 campaign. Nuff said, except to reveal that whether or not he re-joins the club, having originally mooted at retirement, will hopefully be decided in the next few days. Boy, that would be some coup. Watch this space!

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Haringey Borough 3 Enfield Town 3

It’s a needless exercise trying to reach any conclusions after one pre-season friendly but there were plenty of positives to take away from our visit to Haringey Borough on Saturday.

Scorelines are pretty much irrelevant right now. More important is to see who might and who might not form part of the squad come early August.

Billy Holland admitted as much after playing virtually two totally different elevens in each half.

Certain players will have caught the eye, among them the trialist right fullback, one of only two to have played both halves, Finlay Corrigan in front of the back four and pacey winger Luke Deslandes.

Up front there was plenty of promise from the tall George Nunn, who displayed commendable hold-up play, and the technically impressive Luke May-Parrott, who already looks like he could become a fans’ favourite and scored two of our three goals – the first a well-timed flick from a corner, the second from the penalty spot. Our third was netted by the evergreen Sam Youngs (who else?) from close range after being teed up by Deslandes. For the record, Sam also missed a sitter by his own high standards!

Defensively it’s fair to say we looked somewhat shaky at times but things are still largely experimental.

One notable factor was the sight of Billy Leonard playing in a central midfield role which is in fact his natural position and seems to be where he will line up for us next season.

Another was the unavailability of much-touted new signing Junior Moses and skipper Mickey Parcell. Junior is away for just a week or so while Mickey is likely to be available for the visit of Orient on Friday evening – our first pre-season home friendly — when the management team will be focussing primarily on how we fare without the ball.

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By Andrew Warshaw

With our first pre-season friendly taking place at Haringey Borough on Saturday, Billy Holland’s recruitment drive is in full flow as he plots a course ahead of Town’s return to Step 3.

With only three of last season’s playing staff remaining — skipper Mickey Parcell, evergreen record appearance maker Sam Youngs and Billy Leonard – our new manager gets a chance to watch his emerging squad in a match situation for the first time, some of whom have followed him from Waltham Abbey.

Arguably the most eye-catching acquisition among the new recruits is leftback Junior Moses, signed from Cockfosters down the road and one of the standout players in their recent FA Vase final at Wembley.

Only 19, Junior’s performance caught the eye of several clubs higher up the non-league pyramid but Town managed to get a deal over the line.

A former trialist with AC Milan, Junior posted 19 goal involvements from left-back last season and also impressed when Cockfosters upset Town in the London Senior Cup.

“Junior is a real modern full back – high energy levels, and his attacking mindset really matches up with how we are trying to,” said Billy.

Junior was so keen to join Town that he apparently turned down the offer of a contract at a Step 2 club. “I knew he was way better than Step 5 but it was difficult because after the Vase a lot of clubs came in for him,” Billy explained.

“He asked whether I could match this and match that and although the answer was no, I told him that what I could do is put him in the shop window, use his strengths and improve his weaknesses. Plus the style of football we want to play.”

Among his former players, Billy has brought in attacking midfielder Amrit Bansal-McNulty, a product of Queens Park Rangers’ academy who gets fans off their seats and last season earned a spot in the Isthmian North Team of the Year.

While Billy has been unable to persuade more than three of last season’s National League South squad to remain, he is focussing on the positive.

“To be honest I’m happy with the three I’ve got. People need to realise  that when a club goes down from a higher division, the budgets are not going to be the same. Players think they belong at a certain level so they are all going to be looking for similar money regardless of whether a club is relegated under their watch. It’s so good to have Mickey and Sam with us and see how positive they are.”

Gavin Macpherson’s successor at the Dave Bryant stadium doesn’t seem at all fazed by the fact that some of the new recruits have had limited success at Step 3.  Or that clubs at the same level as Town have outbid him numerous times for prospective additions to the new-look squad.

“Enfield Town has got a big name with great fans but I don’t mind players going elsewhere for more money. Some of these clubs will offer players the world in pre-season, then have to let them go.  I’m not going to offer players something I can’t back up. What I will say is that we’ve been working very hard behind the scenes to bring in the kind of player who suits our style of football.”

Training started a couple of weeks ago ahead of the pre-season fixtures which come thick and fast before the new Isthmian Premier League campaign gets under way in August.

“The home friendlies may look like a tall order but they are deliberately designed to see how we do when we haven’t got the ball,” Billy explained. “When teams have more possession than us, how do we react? We are trying to drill into the boys that we are going to come up against big-name teams with big budgets and who will sometimes control games. It’s something I want the boys to get used to in pre-season.”

While the search for a number one goalkeeper could be decided by the time we play Orient next Friday, at the other end of the pitch Billy has brought in two strikers in George Nunn and Luke May-Parrott. “They can both drop in or play in behind so that helps with rotation,” said Billy. “I’m not one who just plays a no.9 who you play long to.”

It seems like a really early start at Haringey – promoted back to Step 4 at the end of last season — but, again, that’s a deliberate strategy. “We are embarking on a whole new system, a whole new way of playing,” said Billy. “I want all my players to understand quickly what I’m asking of them.”

Many thanks to Billy Holland, his staff and the players for sparing their time to meet the fans at our 25th anniversary celebration event last Saturday at the Dave Bryant stadium.

Thanks too to the Boys from Bazooka Joe for a live evening performance but especially to Enfield’s new mayor, Emma Supple, who took time to tour the ground and meet with supporters, volunteers and directors.

The Mayor also drew the lucky winning ticket numbers for the raffle which raised over £220 for the club.

Yesterday’s raffle at our 25th anniversary event raised over £220 but two lucky winners failed to collect their prizes.

Would the owners of ticket Pink 37 and Pink 117 please come forward to claim a bottle of champagne and a Lionesses football book respectively. You have until next Saturday, July 4.

Contact Andrew Warshaw on andrew@warsh.co.uk with your details

We are delighted to welcome centre-forward Luke May-Parrott to the club.

23-year-old Luke joins us from Maidenhead United, though is best known for his recent goalscoring exploits with Hashtag United, where he scored 46 times in 112 appearances to become their record non-league goalscorer. Prior to this, he boasted an equally impressive record with local side Woodford Town, netting 51 goals in 91 appearances.

Welcome, Luke!

We are pleased to welcome Declan Rydings to Enfield Town FC.

The experienced central midfielder is the latest player to follow manager Billy Holland to the Dave Bryant Stadium from Waltham Abbey, featuring over 170 times for the Abbotts over the past five seasons and being voted their Supporters’ Player of the Season last term. Prior to his time at Capershotts, he had played for Millwall, Billericay Town, Trafford, and West Didsbury & Chorlton.

Welcome, Declan!

We are very glad to welcome forward George Nunn to Enfield Town FC.

George started out with local side Crewe Alexandra, before progressing through the academy setups at Chelsea and Derby County. The 6ft 3 forward – who is adept as a striker or across the front line – has since represented the likes of Mickleover, Hampton & Richmond, Cobh Ramblers [Rep. of Ireland], HK [Iceland], as well as neighbours Cheshunt, where he scored four times last season.

Welcome, George!

We are pleased to welcome defender Edwin Mensah to the club.

Centre-back Edwin has previously worn the shirts of Merstham, Braintree Town, Hendon, and Hitchin Town. He rejoins boss Billy Holland after four positive years together at Waltham Abbey, where he made over 100 appearances.

Welcome, Edwin!