Torry Army: The General Returns

I was 13 when I first fell in love. Not with a person, but a place. That place was Torrevieja, a Spanish seaside town on the Costa Blanca, East Coast Spain. I holidayed there with my family in 1997, and we never returned. We instantly settled in an apartment.

It also helped that the Spaniards were massive on football, my main passion in life. I was spotted by local side CD Torrevieja, a special club in the Spanish lower leagues. Special because it's one of few Spanish sides sub-La Liga that can boast such a passionate ex-pat following, mostly consisting of Brits and Irish.

I made my debut at the tender age of 17 in 2001, the first step to becoming a cult hero in the Torry Army. I was an explosive player- I was ruthless in the tackle, moved like shit off a stick and had thunder in each leg. My fellow countrymen supporters loved it, loved me and I loved them back. I took the captain's armband aged 24 in 2008.

I always had faith in my ability, but I could never have imagined what happened in January 2011. I made my return to England in a £1 million move to West Ham United, the record fee received for a player by Torrevieja. I had a storming debut, scoring twice off the bench and I felt shit hot.

The next game against Birmingham at home would see my highest, swiftly followed by my lowest point not only in my career, but my life. I was chosen to start, something I couldn't imagine in my dizziest of daydreams. But 15 minutes after walking onto to the pitch at Upton Park, I was stretchered back off it, with a shattered knee cap that would force me into an early retirement, shortly before my 27th birthday.

Undeterred however, I took straight to my first coaching course, and within 3 years I emerged with my UEFA C License. And that's where our story begins...

It was during my voluntary role as U14s coach at Dagenham & Redbridge that I got the call to return to my spiritual home. Manager Antonio Pedreño Saura had quit his job, not for any reason understood by the fans, maybe he just wanted to crack on with his career elsewhere.

I probably wouldn't have known had it not been a club that meant that much to me, but this was a club that ever since I left, I followed wherever I was. The minute I saw the news I was on the phone to the chairman, Jonay Garcia, to hand in my verbal application.

The interview flew by, although it felt like more of a formality than anything else, as I got a call 3 hours later. It was Sr Garcia telling me to be at the ground the following morning. The usual meet and greet ensued once I arrived as everyone except my assistant, Adrian Sanchez (who had been here since the start of last season) had only just started.

Niceties exchanged, and info passed on regarding the players, I headed onto the pitch to meet my squad.

*conversations in Spanish will be expressed in English for the benefit of the majority of readers, including myself as my Spanish isn't what it once was in real life

"Good morning everyone. As most of you will know, I'm Josh Townend, former CD Torrevieja captain and West Ham midfielder, now your new manager. As a follower of the club, I'm familiar with pretty much all of you, although not personally. That's what we'll get down to over the coming year."

"Expectations. I expect you to play with desire, with your heart on your sleeve. We're gonna have a good crack at promotion this year so I expect you boys to impress me. We'll start with a nice and easy 11 v 11. Let's see what you lads have got"

Pre-season fixture 1: FC Puente Tocinos vs CD Torrevieja @ Municipal Torresol de Puente Tocinos

The first few days were spent watching the players in action, playing 11 v 11 using the diamond formation I had devised. I know they say the first few days of pre-season should be spent on fitness, but given my recent 3-year stint back in England, I've had no means of watching them play.

Our first fixture of pre-season was away at FC Puente Tocinos, two levels below us (I say levels instead of leagues because there are seemingly more leagues than players just below our league). They're based in Murcia which was handy for us- they're only a half-hour coach journey away and we should still be able to beat them playing for just fitness.

The players had to be all kitted up and ready to go when we got there because all there was to the site was an artificial pitch and a small open stand, possibly 6 rows high at the most. It was nice to see a mini bus from the English-run supporters club Torry Army, there were roughly about 10 of them there to watch us.

Torrevieja first half XI: Oscar Fornes, Jorge Carmona, Alexis Egea, Rafa Candela, Eddy (c), Martin, Sergi, Borja Cortes, Rafa Gomez, Gonzalo Llamas, Ramon Carrasco

Torrevieja second half XI: Marco Morales, Vicente Boix, Alexis Egea, Rafa Candela, Jose Maria Berna, Mati, Sergi, Manu Amores, Branimir Cipetic, Cesar Ortiz, Dani Lucas

We started the game on top, and seemed to hold our diamond shape well. We threatened from an early corner which centre-back Alexis Egea headed on to the bar before it bounced over. We had another couple of half chances before our first goal arrived.

When it came, it was the man I hope to be able to rely on for goals this season, out-and-out striker Ramon Carrasco, who at 36 years old is older than me, but one of my players nonetheless. The goal came after some good work down the right by Jorge Carmona who delivered a perfect cross to the middle of the penalty area. Carrasco's chest control was brilliant and he buried it with some skill.

We continued to look dangerous and came close again after a wayward header from their centre-back gave Sergi a free header at goal. He was denied by a brilliant save from their keeper.

We were asking all the questions and got our second goal a little easier than we should have. A throw-in reached Carrasco and the defenders were caught watching in awe. He was given bags of time and space to turn and fire home for 2-0.

The second half gave an early indication of which was the best XI, as we looked far less dangerous without Carrasco, although that's not to say we didn't create any decent chances. We couldn't find a third and were left to settle for the two goals bagged by Ramon Carrasco in the first half.

FC Puente Tocinos 0-2 CD Torrevieja (Carrasco 26,36)
Attendance: 69 (roughly 10 Torrevieja)

Pre-season fixture 2: CD Torrevieja vs Olimpic Xativa @ Vicente Garcia

I walked into the stadium feeling quietly optimistic. We looked sharp during the previous game and even though there was a worrying lack of depth, the wheels appeared to be in motion with regards to recruiting reinforcements.

We had managed to attract former Montpellier centre-back Guillaume Dumast on a trial until the end of pre-season. He hasn't played for a team since 2008, but having taken the nagging word of one of my better scouts, I figured why the hell not.

Torrevieja starting XI: Fornes, Carmona (Buix 45), Egea (Candela 84), Dumast, Eddy (Berna 73), Martin, Sergi (Amores 61), Cortes (Mati 70), Gomez (Cipetic 70), Llamas, Carrasco (Lucas 19)

Xativa are a league above us, although you wouldn't be able to tell on the basis of the opening proceedings, as we created numerous chances during the early exchanges. We made a much better job of possession than they did and I was pleased with the way we knocked the ball about.

Despite the 0-0 half-time scoreline and losing Ramon Carrasco to an early injury, I felt encouraged by what I had seen and asked for more of the same in the second half. As we were playing stronger opposition, I elected against fielding a completely different XI, instead just substituting those who looked particularly tired.

The breakthrough finally came and it deservedly came for us. Substitute Vicente Boix (right-back) whipped in a delicious early cross from deep which was met spectacularly on the half volley by Dani Lucas (replacement for Carrasco) into the top corner to send the Torry Army barmy.

We didn't just do well on the ball, but off it as well. We defended well and there seemed to be a strong resistance against Xativa's attacks. The defence was brilliantly led by none other than our trialist Guillaume Dumast who rightly picked up the Man of the Match award after the game.

CD Torrevieja (Lucas 56) 1-0 Olimpic Xativa

Attendance: 328

The first two friendlies set the tone for the other and final two fixtures in our pre-season game, which saw us win 2-1 away at 8th tier side Ceuti Atletico and 2-0 at home to another 8th tier outfit in Horadada.

Particularly impressive were trialists Alex Escobar (centre-back), Guillaume Dumast and Souni Nabil (central midfielder)- who all earned themselves permanent contracts with the club, meaning that we could now play them in competitive games in the season ahead. Our two new centre-backs were particularly welcome, given we only had two other centre-backs to choose from. Having freed up some wage budget releasing players we don't need, I ambitiously offered a contract to former Cardiff right-back Miguel Comminges, response still pending at the time of writing.

It was therefore only natural that I spent the week leading up to our season opener at home to Talavera full of optimism. We had won all of our friendlies, looked dominant in all of them, and Ramon Carrasco had been in scintillating form for us.

I also had family in Spain, my parents didn't move out of our apartment in Torrevieja even when I moved back home for three years. I therefore only saw it fitting to pay them a visit before our campaign got underway.

My mother was your run-of-the-mill office worker, specialising in the broad field of admin, therefore able to work for practically anyone. When we moved to Spain, she found a job at a property law firm, dealing with holiday homes for British tourists which would suit her nicely given that she couldn't yet speak Spanish. Once she had a fluent grasp of the language, she went onto work for an insurance company.

My father was a language teacher, but Spanish was one language he couldn't speak. He taught German to ex-pat English school kids, but left once he was fluent in Spanish, and he went onto teach English in a local Spanish school.

When I got there, there was a cup of tea waiting for me and my parents dying to chat as I sat on the sofa.

"So Josh" Dad began "How's the job?"

I wasn't going to lie, the pre-season had gone better than I could have imagined "Yeah it's really good" I said "The players are buying into what we're trying to do and I'm feeling pretty confident this year"

"Have you heard about Tom?" asked Mum.

Tom was my brother, four years younger than me. He wasn't much of a footballer, but a damn good writer. He grasped Spanish literary techniques really fast when we were younger and was now a journalist for a popular Spanish football magazine.

"Got his own column on Marca hasn't he?" I said.

"They've given him a column writing about the lower leagues" Dad explained "Centrarse en Las Ligas Menores, Spanish for Lower League Focus"

This suddenly peaked my interest. I knew he had a column in Marca but I didn't know what the column was about.

"So he might be pestering me at some point then" I joked.

"Well he did say he's going to try to get some material on you as soon as possible. He's already been to Terrassa, Las Palmas and Jerez. He's dying to get a piece on the team who he grew up near and his brother is currently managing"

I was excited. This was a big moment for our club, publicity in the country's most reputable football magazine. "Tell him I'd be honoured" I said.

From that moment I didn't think about anything else. Didn't take in much of the chit-chat, I was genuinely excited to have my own brother come around and get some publicity for us. I was onto our press officer right away as soon as I walked into work the following day.

It's been fun...