The King of Non-League Football

Non-League football is always something that has been close to my heart. Being a supporter of Non-League side Barnet (currently in the Conference - 6/4/15) so non-league football is my habitat. Unlike the Premier League, players aren't on £100,000 per week, lucky if on £600 a week and many more on even less. Its a far world from the dream of the top flight.

Knowing a manager of a non-league side personally (Steve Bateman - Aylesbury FC - In real life) via my dad, he has taught me a lot about football and I'll be honest; he's a great coach. He always demands extra from his players, and his presence in the dressing room is next to none. If he tells you to do something, you do it.

So after admiring him a non-league coach, I knew I wanted to be a coach, so now I'm hunting for a job, a number of jobs in the seventh-ninth tier of football were available. I had the opportunity in July 2014 of an interview with Grays FC. I turned it own because I wasn't ready to make the step up to coach.

I decided to continue with coaching my local teams youth side (which I actually do in real life) and it's a job I enjoy. But I saw a job come onto the market in early November 2014, and when I saw it knew I had to take it.

East Thurrock United, currently standing at 13th in Isthmian Premier Division after their long serving manager John Coventry joined higher division yet local based side Concord Rangers. I went to the interview, I remember it still now, it was a couple of weeks ago now; yet I still remember the sweat dripping from my forehead and the excitement buzzing inside of me; this was my opportunity.

I walked out of the interview full of confidence. I got my response less than week last in an email from the club's chairman. He told me he'd like to offer me job. So I headed from my home at the time in Hertfordshire to Thurrock and signed a contract which would make me their manager on a deal until the end of the season.

And so it began, on 13th of November 2014; I, Lloyd Debenham was the manager of East Thurrock United. I didn't tell the board this, but I told the players what my true aims were. I wanted to revamp the squad with numerous new faces and aim for the playoffs. But I did say however that no players will be leaving the club, as with a busy fixture list, a big squad is necessary.

I had two issues though, my club captain was out until March/April with a very serious knee injury, and my replacement to sign him said he was retiring from football in January. So I will have to replace my new signing in January. It's a shame really cause this lad is very talented, and only 28 years old. But he expressed to me that family is key to him.

And I also go by that, family is all you have. I want to make my family proud of me by taking over non-league football. I have no ambitions to managing in high leagues, I want to be a legend in Non-League football. I want to become The King of Non-League Football.

good luck

@Seni: Thanks Seni!

East Thurrock United football club are pleased to announce the appointment of Lloyd Debenham as club manager until the end of the season. This appointment comes after the resignation of John Coventry who has joined Conference South side Concord Rangers.

Debenham doesn't have the largest reputation in football. Yet has worked with a number of youth teams going to age groups as low as under 7s as high as under 13s. He has a large number of coaching qualifications under his belt and that impressed the chairman and directors.

When speaking to the chairman he told us: "I believe Lloyd is the right man to lead us forward as we want a long-term manager who will stay and build a strong squad at the club. His contract is until the end of the season and we will see how much progress he makes over the short period time and we will review his contract in May".

Debenham told the club website: "East Thurrock are a good side that I believe are making good progress. They finished fifth in the league a couple of years ago which shows they are really settling into the league, especially them only being promoted a few years ago"

"There is a great foundation to build on and I feel as though I am the right man to do so. There are some quality players at the club and I feel we can use them to push us up the league table and also help us grind some points out of the fixtures"

When questioned about his ambitions and aims for the season he commented: "Well the club are currently sat at 13th in the table after 18 fixtures and so far that is decent progress; however I do feel as though we can be punching right above our weight. We were protected by legal experts to finished near the bottom end of the table but I feel it so we can go much further...

The board have told me that they would be happy with a mid-table to top half finish, however I have also told them as well as the players that we are capable of making the play-offs. If we recruit well and also get good results against the teams around us and there is no reason why we can't achieve that. The gap between us and the play-offs is thin and if you get a few good results in a row then you can really push up the table".

The new manager has also brought in three new players ahead of the beginning of his reign. These are former Swansea trainee goalkeeper Ashley Elsey, French midfielder Ladjie Soukouna and the soon retiring, former Tamworth defender Michael Townsend

Debenham will make his managerial debut at the weekend as his side travel to Dunstable Town who were promoted into the division last season. The new manager believes that this is the perfect opportunity to get some points onto the table and start making the progress that both him and his players are aiming for.

Good luck

Good Luck!!

Thanks Wellsy and Zap!

Hi all,

I was very excited about this save, in fact I was loving it. I got as far as August 2015 but for some reason, there was a problem with my database. The second season never started, no league fixture....I spoke with numerous people about resolving the issue, but I have had no luck.

I will however be continuing as I have enjoyed my return to FMScout. That new story will be posted hopefully later today or at some point tomorrow. Apologies about this and another thank you for your continued support.

Thanks everyone,
FM-LD

2015-04-10 05:10#211419 FM-LD :

Problem

Hi all,

I was very excited about this save, in fact I was loving it. I got as far as August 2015 but for some reason, there was a problem with my database. The second season never started, no league fixture....I spoke with numerous people about resolving the issue, but I have had no luck.

I will however be continuing as I have enjoyed my return to FMScout. That new story will be posted hopefully later today or at some point tomorrow. Apologies about this and another thank you for your continued support.

Thanks everyone,
FM-LD

Shame that you couldn't get this story to take off, especially since it's through no fault of your own, I always love a non-league story though and I hope that your next story will be similar.

Would you mind disclosing how the end of your first (and last) season went, as far as league positions etc.?

Yeah, here's the league table:

http://i60.tinypic.com/29c8acm.png

We did really well being up to 3rd in January/February but then we went on a really bad run of seven or eight games without a win and nearly lost my job.

I rebuilt the squad in the summer with the majority of players rated as Leading players for our division or good players for the division above us.

Its a shame the story is over and because of recent comments, instead of doing the story I was originally planning. I will be doing a LLM Road to Glory save. Keep your eyes peeled people!