The White Shirts of Dover

Pleased to say I have Ryan Burge (CM), David Fitzpatrik (RM) and Ricky Miller (CF) all in the running for the player of the year award. I gave my vote to James Alabi of Chester.

Shows just how well the squad did this season!

So we finished the season with another unbeaten month. Winning the league against Eastleigh, with 3 games to spare!!


We finished up on a joint club record tally of 104 points and won the Vanarama National League by a clear 10 points, having only lost 4 games all season. We are unbeaten in the league in 2018. What an incredible effort from the lads!

CHRIS BALL AND RICKY MILLER CLEAN UP AT AWARDS CEREMONY

Tonight was the annual Vanarama National League awards ceremony as there were no shocks as Dover Athletic's Chris Ball won Manager of the Year, with striker Ricky Miller also picking up two awards for Top Goalscorer and Vanarama National Player of the Season.

All three awards were well deserved as Dover have enjoyed an amazing season, winning the National League by a clear 10 points. Some pundits quoted as saying 'this title was wrapped up back in January and Ball and his men never looked back'. For a team that was expected to labour in mid table this season, Ball really has been the catalyst to take Dover Athletic to the next level and into the football league for the first time in their history.

BALL REWARDED FOR EXCELLENT SEASON WITH NEW CONTRACT

Chris Ball today penned a new contract with Dover Athletic Football Club which will keep him at the club for a further 2 years. Ball saw his wage hike to £1,200 per week and will see his salary increase by another 15% should he achieve the unimaginable and get Dover Athletic promoted again next season!

Chris Ball was quoted outside Dover's training ground this afternoon saying "I'm pleased the chairman has trusted me with this opportunity to continue building on the great things I have started at this football club. I firmly believe we have a strong squad and with the right additions, there is no reason why we can't avoid getting involved in a relegation battle next season. We will be setting our sights high as we always do and see where it takes us. One thing's for sure, we are going to enjoy the ride".

END OF SEASON STATS

TEAM STATS (LEAGUE ONLY)...

Average Attendance: 1352 (14th in league)
Average Attendance By Capacity: 20% (19th in league)
Stadium Sellouts: 0
Highest Attendance: 3891
Lowest Attendance: 1004

Average Possession: 55.11% (1st in league)
Passes Completed: 21276 (2nd in league)
Pass Completion Ratio: 75% (1st in league)
Dribbles Per Game: 18 (1st in league)

Shots on Target: 232 (8th in league)
Shots on Target Ratio: 43% (5th in league)
Goals: 85 (2nd in league)
Goals From Corners: 12 (1st in league)
Goals From DFKs: 3 (8th in league)
Goals From IFKs: 4 (15th in league)

Goals Conceded: 32 (lowest in league)
Goals Conceded From Corners: 4 (8th lowest in league)
Clean Sheets: 22 (1st in league)

Headers Won: 62% (2nd in league)
Crosses: 187 (1st in league)
Crosses Completion Ratio: 11% (14th in league)

Tackles Won: 742 (1st in league)
Tackles Won Ratio: 69% (12th in league)
Fouls Made: 767 (2nd in league)
Yellow Cards: 78 (7th in league)
Red Cards: 2 (18th in league)


PLAYER STATS (ALL COMPS)...

Most Player Of The Match: David Fitzpatrick (RM) & Ricky Miller (CF) - 7 (2nd in league)
Distance Covered Per Match: David Fitzpatrick (RM) - 14.48km (1st in league)

Average Rating: Ricky Miller (CF) - 7.32 (52 appearances)
Ryan Burge (CM) - 7.30 (41 appearances)
Jordan Sanderson (CM) - 7.23 (34 appearances)

Top Goalscorers: Ricky Miller (CF) - 33
Ryan Burge (CM) - 9
David Fitzpatrick (RM) - 9

Most Assists: James Caton (LM) - 16
Ryan Burge (CM) - 10
Ricky Miller (CF) - 10


Most Yellow Cards: Jack Parkinson (DCM) - 12 (18th in league)
Most Red Cards: Bondz N'Gala (CB) - 1

COMPETITIONS...

Vanarama National League: Winners
FA Cup: 4th Round (lost to Derby County)
FA Trophy: 3rd Round (lost to Eastleigh)

PLAYER AWARDS...

Fan's Player of The Season: 1st; Ricky Miller (CF), 2nd; Ryan Burge (CM), 3rd; Jordan Sanderson (DCM)

Goal of The Season: James Caton (LM) (vs Southport)

Signing of the Season: Jordan Sanderson (DCM)

Young Player of the Season: Jordan Sanderson (DCM)

Manager's Player of the Season: Ryan Burge (CM)

Manager's Most Improved Player of the Season: Sam Magri (CB)

Manager's Special Award: Loui Fazakerley (RB) - for some cracking performances at RB when I was looking at potentially replacing you at the start of the season. Ended up playing 52 games in all comps and chipped in with 8 assists and an average rating of 7.10

ENGLISH COMPETITIONS 2016/17

Premier League: Winners; Liverpool, Runners Up; Tottenham, Third Placed; Arsenal

Relegated; Sunderland, West Brom, Hull

Championship: Winners; Brighton, Runners Up; Newcastle, Playoff Winners; Wolves

Relegated; Rotherham, Cardiff, Brentford

League One: Winners; Millwall, Runners Up; MK Dons, Playoff Winners; Charlton

Relegated; Northampton, Bristol Rovers, Shrewsbury, Chesterfield

League Two: Winners; Plymouth, Runners Up; Doncaster, Third Placed; Mansfield, Playoff Winners; Notts County

Relegated; Accrington, Cheltenham

National League: Winners; Dover Athletic, Playoff Winners; Lincoln City

Relegated; Braintree, Bromley, North Ferriby, Solihull Moors

FA Cup: Winners; Manchester Utd, Runners Up; Derby County

EFL Cup: Winners; Huddersfield, Runners Up; Liverpool

Community Shield: Winners; Leicester, Runners Up; Manchester United

Checkatrade Trophy: Winners; Sheffield Utd, Runners Up; Millwall

FA Trophy: Winners; Lincoln City, Runners Up; Dag & Red

DOVER ATHLETIC PREPARE FOR LIFE IN THE ENGLISH LEAGUE TWO

Dover Athletic started their preperations for life in the 4th tier of English football, by turning professional today! Dover chairman Jim Parmenter stated "This is a proud day for Dover Athletic football club. We have secured the right financial backing from new sponsors and hope that with the investment we are putting into the club, our fans can enjoy many successful years to come in the world of English football. With Chris Ball in charge, we feel we have an excellent backroom team to take this club to even higher heights and turning professional today is just the first step on that ladder to the top!".

Parmenter also confirmed that to comply with league rules, Dover Athletic will be increasing their stadium capacity at Crabble Athletic Ground by 1000 seats and will be increasing the staffing budget to allow manager Chris Ball to bring in a Director of Football and two extra coaches now that the club have gone full time.

Chris Ball was a guest on today's edition of Football Focus on BBC1. Ball was in high spirits clearly still enjoying the success of Dover's excellent performance in last season's Vanarama National League. Ball lead Dover to a first ever National League title by a clear 10 points, and is now gearing up for their first ever season in the English League proper.

Ball was asked about his plans for this season. He confirmed that in the first instance, he will not be having a huge clearout of players to bring in a whole new team. Ball was quoted as saying "This team did me so proud last year and I'm not just going to turn my back on the guys that got us here. Yes there will be some additions to the squad but they will be exactly that, players joining the squad and not replacing the guys that were so solid for us last year."

When asked about dipping his toes into the transfer market, Chris Ball confirmed that he will be looking for some bargains along the way. "We are going to be looking at players who are out of contract and been released by their clubs. There is some fantastic young talent out there from some big Premiership and Championship clubs at the moment, and these lads might not yet be ready to play at such a level. However, we can give them an opportunity to come here, play regular football and make a name for themselves and I think that's got to be an appealing proposition for any young footballer looking to make his name in the game. As a club, the Chairman has invested a lot of money into the stadium and turning the club professional this year, so I understand there is not a lot of money for me to go splashing out on new players and I respect that. But Brede and I will be looking at our options and seeing who we can get to come here for next year."

Ball also confirmed that he has brought on board Director of Football, Alan Hill, this week. Alan joins Dover after a short tenure last year at Forest Green Rovers, but Ball believes he will be a fantastic addition to his backroom team. "Alan is here to help us look to the future. His role is specifically to manage my scouting team and set the right assignments for them, as well as finding and making offers for young players for the future. Alan will be entrusted with some of the transfer budget set aside for younger players to secure our long term development at this club, but I will reiterate that I will have the final say on all incoming and outgoing transfers at this football club. Players for the senior team will still be brought in by myself and all the day to day management of this club will be undertaken by me".

Chris Ball seems like a man who knows exactly what he wants from his players and his staff at Dover Athletic and whatever he is doing, he seems to be doing right at the moment. With only 4 league defeats to their name last year, you can't knock this guy and what he has achieved with only 1 year in charge. We wish Chris and Dover the best of luck for what is sure to be a tough season for The Whites, with all major pundits predicting them to finish dead last in League Two this season.

BALL TALKS PRE SEASON

Chris Ball today confirmed that Dover Athletic have 6 pre season friendlies booked and explains his reasoning behind the team's he has approached.

10/07 - Chesterfield Home - "Chesterfield were relegated from League One last year so people will expect them to be one of the leading contenders in our league this year. I'd like to get my team out there to gain experience against what should be one of the better teams in our league this year"

14/07 - Deal Home - "Deal are a local club based only a couple of miles up the road. I've been to see them play a couple of times and I like the way they move the ball around for a lower league team. I also think it's important to keep a relationship with local clubs and will be looking to set up an annual friendly with Deal"

18/07 - Oxford Home - "Oxford actually approached us. They're actually a club we are looking to emulate so I thought this would be a good friendly. In the past 8 seasons, Oxford have gone from non league football to finishing 3rd in League One last year. This will be a good test for my boys"

22/07 - Fleetwood Home - "Fleetwood are our senior affiliate so this is a perfect opportunity to see if they play any of their talented youngsters against us that might be worth us taking on loan this season"

26/07 - Crystal Palace Home - "I wanted to bring a big Premiership club to our ground so the fans can come down and hopefully see some big household names on show. It should be a good day for ticket sales and will be a welcome boost to the club's bank balance prior to the season starting"

29/07 - Enfield Town Home - "Our final pre season game so I didn't want anything too strenuous for the lads. This should on paper be a comfortable win, but I'll just be looking to play some good passing football and get the boys focussing on one final push for fitness and team cohesion before we kick off the season"


As far as training goes, Ball said "we'll have some new faces coming in over the coming weeks so I'll mainly be focussing on team cohesion and match tactics prior to the season starting. Then I'll probably get the boys more focussed towards fitness once the season actually starts. Match preparation for the league will be predominantly dependent on the advice of Brede - I trust his judgement as Assistant Manager".

Great season for you and Dover there. Good luck in League 2, following this one as it's nice to see a team from Kent doing well!!

TRANSFERS UPDATE

So I did my usual pre-season squad evaluation and identified some areas of the squad where I would be needing some extra players. We had some players leave the club, contracts were up and I took the decision not to renew.

OUTGOING...

Aswad Thomas (LB) - Contract Expired
Joe Healy (LM) - Contract Expired
James Hurst (RB) - Contract Expired
Richard Orlu (CB) - Contract Expired
Ricky Modeste (CF) - Contract Expired
Ross Lafayette (CF) - Contract Expired

INCOMING...

Lukas Nmecha (CF) - Free Transfer
Jake Sheppard (RB) - Reading (Loan)
George Green (CM) - Burnley (Free)
Niko Hamalainen (LB) - QPR (Loan)
Tom Davies (CB) - Portsmouth (£14.5k + £11.5k add ons)
Joe Pigott (CF) - Free Transfer
Andrew Eleftheriou (RB) - Free Transfer
Steven Hewitt (CM/CDM) - Free Transfer


Lukas Nmecha was released by Man City. Young talented striker so I snapped him up right away. I was desperate for cover at RB so brought in Jake Sheppard on loan and Andrew Eleftheriou is only 19 and impressed my scouts on the trial day so I brought him in for the U23's squad with a potential to loan out. Tom Davies became available from Portsmouth and with better stats than all my current CBs, I took the opportunity to get him in to bolster the defence. George Green was released by Burnley and looks like a brilliant young attacking midfielder that I could nurture and feel confident he will become a very good player at this level.

MILLER ON THE MOVE?

Dover Athletic's Ricky Miller has been the subject of speculation this week, with increased interest coming from last year's League Two playoff winners Notts County.

Having recently lost Jon Stead and Shola Ameobi to free transfers, County manager Kevin Nolan is keen to bolster his strikeforce before the start of the season and Miller seems to be his preferred choice.

It was possibly only a matter of time before the bigger clubs came sniffing around Miller who scored 33 goals in all competitions last year for Dover, picking up the National League Top Goalscorer award in the process.

The National League Player of the Year said he was flattered to be linked with the oldest club in English football league history but reaffirmed his commitment to Dover Athletic, stating that he loved playing under manager Chris Ball. When asked about a potential move to Notts County, Miller said "I'm happy at Dover. I love playing for the club. We have a great bunch of lads and one of the best manager's at this level. I think we can achieve great things here and all the time I'm part of this team I'll do everything I can to help us move forward".

This is sure to come as music to manager Chris Ball's ears, as he'll be keen to hang onto his main man up front.

PRE SEASON RESULTS

A mixed pre-season really. We beat the teams we were expected to beat, and lost the games we were expected to lose. My main concern was how poorly we played in the games against Oxford and Fleetwood - only creating 5 and 7 chances in both of these games whilst our opposition created in excess of 20.