The lowest of lows are what makes the highest of highs feel so good in football and without these emotions, football would not be the game we all love and follow. The past week fans, players, volunteers, and everyone connected to Banbury United endured both ends of the spectrum of emotions as Banbury bid for their survival in the National League North. The lows of a home defeat to 22nd place Gloucester City led Banbury staring at the relegation zone and in freefall with only 2 wins in the last 14 games causing Mark Jones to part ways with the club last Thursday. With no manager, 3rd in the league visiting and only 3 home wins in 423 days, no Puritan expected what was to happen next and here at Spencer Reds we delve into 3 massive factors that have given the Townenders hope, belief, and adulation.
Craig McKay
Interim manager Craig McKay quoted on Puritans Radio “I first want to put on record what a great job, what a tough job it was for Mark Jones – he brought me to the club, and I’ll forever be grateful for that and at no point did that dressing room ever stop running for him.” I also want to start this blog by sharing my gratitude to Mark Jones for his services and unwavering commitment to the club by forming a competitive National League North squad alongside forming a pathway from the u18s to the first team and as a fanbase, we thank him for all his hard work.
Following the departure of Mark Jones as manager, Assistant manager, Danny Nicholls, elected to leave the team as well, leading the club to turn to 1st team coach Craig McKay and goalkeeper coach Liam Shea to manage the team for Saturday’s fixture. This saw two kinds of loyalty in football which are both admirable in their own manner, Danny left in respect of Mark Jones, the manager who brought him into the club but Craig felt he owed it to the players as they have created those existing relationships thus didn’t want to let the players down just like the players haven’t let McKay down in his 2 game interim tenure as the club experienced back to back wins for the first time since October.
McKay has never been in the hot seat of the dugout before nor has had a high-level playing career, so fans did not know what to expect come 3pm Saturday. Since then, the fans have been taken aback by the way Craig conducted himself as well as displayed his capabilities in the dugout at this level. With the fans overarching joy across the games, two standout moments from Craig during his 4-day tutelage have made me yearn for him to stay around this football club for a long time.
Firstly, you could have forgiven McKay and Shea for sticking to the fundamental tactics of the season so far due to the limited turnaround tasked upon them, but McKay wanted to tweak stuff and start to make his mark on the team which was evident to see from the first whistle, the game and tactics felt different. Banbury started on the front foot, always looking to be progressive with our passing and running and taking the game to 3rd place Scarborough. This buoyed the crowd into life creating a feeling of hope that we could see a positive result and the feeling of joy heightened when Lawson D’ath slotted home. The game was a tale of two halves but with McKay showing tactical accruement throughout, the first half proved that the squad was capable of flair, guile and attack-minded football in contrast to the second half which enabled players to show passion, heart, fight, and desire through a solid rigid shape which led to minimal big chances for Scarborough to create. Not only did Craig's tactical knowledge stop there, but his due diligence on Darlington also led Banbury to perform another strong home performance ready for the torch to be passed on to Kevin Wilson. Despite having no training session between the two games, Craig complied game documents for each player after extensive research of footage on Saturday evening of Darlington when his family went to bed alongside utilising his contacts in the game. “I spoke to Tope Obadeyi and Jonathan Greening (Scarborough’s Manager) who was kind enough to lend some of his time to me as they’ve played them 3 times this season”. This attention to detail in preparation became evident during the games, highlighting the impact of Craig’s ability to produce thorough research and tactical knowledge to give us the best chance of winning games.
Secondly, not only did McKay's on-the-pitch tactics impress me but his post-game interviews also captured my attention as he possessed an air of confidence, assertiveness and trust in himself and his players that they have the capabilities to turn this around. One quote stood out for me during his post-game interview on Tuesday evening “I Made a beeline to Ronnie and said you got to give me Tuesday night”. The confidence Craig McKay has installed in himself through his 20-year coaching career managing at Southampton and Oxford United academies. Craig's confidence in himself has become infectious in the changing room as the squad thrived on the belief and trust Mckay provided them creating further unity in the dressing room after a turbulent few days for the players. With the 6 points secured, the togetherness of the players and fans reunited as the overarching feeling of joy was reciprocated between all involved sparking that special connection of what non-league football is all about and why we love the game. Overall McKay’s tutelage led fans to leave the ground with a spring in their step as what they’ve watched was a side that played for the badge in parallel with fans applauded the differnt game plan that was devised in a short amount of time.
Kevin Wilson
Not only has the club been boosted with the belief of survival by earning maximum points under McKay but the club can also breathe fresh optimism as the club have appointed Kevin Wilson as manager, marking a homecoming, returning to the club where it all started for him. Kevin is Banbury-born and bred. He first joined the Club aged 17, entering the first team in 1978/79 where he made 45 appearances and scored 13 goals. It secured him a Club record £25,000 transfer to Football League club Derby County. Kevin enjoyed a long career playing for Ipswich Town, Chelsea, Notts County, Walsall, and Northampton Town, amassing 740 appearances and 207 goals. He was capped 42 times for Northern Ireland, scoring six goals. Not only were his playing days a success but he has seen success in the dugout. He entered management with Northampton Town where he achieved promotion to League Two in 2000 alongside creating a pathway for youngsters to achieve success in the game at Ilkeston Town, Kevin found gems who went on to command big transfer fees in the professional game such as Che Adams currently of Southampton who purchased him for 16 million pounds. This shows the club can be excited as Kevin possesses a lot of strings to his bows such as recruitment, promotion experience, and most of all can relate to the fans as he is Banbury through and through.
Since returning to the club, fans have got a chance to be excited for the future as Kevin Wilson outlined his vision for the club. During Stewart Green's Thursday afternoon interview with Wilson, 3 main factors arose which is why Banbury fans can still feel the highest of highs this week. Firstly, upon his arrival, the manager instilled a growth mindset, expressing confidence in the club's potential for progress on the pitch. Despite our current standing at 16th place, just 7 points above the relegation zone, Wilson is steadfast in his belief that we can aim higher – setting our sights on the playoffs. Drawing inspiration from Kidderminster Harriers' second-half surge last season leading to promotion, he emphasises that we are only 11 points away from playoff contention. It's a bold vision that challenges the status quo and fuels optimism for an exciting journey ahead. In conjunction, Wilson refuses to accept 16th place, asserting that Banbury holds a stature superior to Oxford City. Unwilling to be overshadowed by the latter's national league debut, he is determined to elevate the Puritans beyond the hoops, emphasising a higher standard for our club. This shows that we have got a manager who possesses ambition and wants to go toe to toe with the big boys in the league.
Secondly, Kevin wants to professionalise the club on and off the pitch and one way he would like to do this is to ensure there is a pathway to professional football for local youngsters just like he had the opportunity 45 years ago. Kevin has had a track record in improving players as he created an academy set up at Ilkeston town and this is one of his main aims by replicating the success he experienced at Ilkeston. Wilson mentioned “Longer term, I’m keen that Banbury United improves the pathway to professional football for local youngsters,” he said. “Banbury served me well as a teenager and I would like to give something back to the promising talent of the town.” With the town ever-growing with new housing developments, Banbury has a great opportunity to target young, emerging talent in and around the town, which has a population of 54,335 (2023) showing that it is a sleeping giant in unearthing local talent. Setting up an academy whilst in the process of getting a new ground in the upcoming future highlights it is the right time to connect the Banbury united youth teams and 1st team squad as will be able to build a community within the club. Installing a link could help to establish a culture of teams developing together, as they follow a clear pathway from junior football to U18s, to then the Development and hopefully have a few first team success stories like Jack Harding, Ricky Johnson, and Zach Scott where they can feature for their local Club.
Lastly, Kevin Wilson's homecoming has made him feel a source of pride as the club has been present through multiple generations of his family. However, when he adds to our threadbare squad he only wants players who want to come here and play for the badge. This means he is not worried about budget as Wilson is confident, he can find the right player who knows all about fight, quality, passion, and quality. Wilson expressed on Puritan radio “It’s about the hunger of playing for the Banbury United”. This shows that Wilson shares the same thoughts of the Townend as the Puritan faithful appreciate the hard-working endeavours of players. The fans love players playing for the shirt thus ultimately players hungry to play for Banbury United created a further togetherness and a strong unified connection.
The Players
With McKay’s emergence and Wilson's announcement, it is important to also offer a foreword to the players. The player's attitudes, endeavours and efforts over the past week have been tremendous as 90% of them have never seen Banbury United without Mark Jones. It would have been easy for them to down tools as the manager who brought them to the club has left but to a man, they all stepped up and produced spirited efforts and performances showing they care for the badge and will fight for one another. The togetherness built in the last week between fans and players is something that they can be proud of and is something that is needed as we enter the second half of the season.
Conclusion
Overall, these past 10 days have seen the lows of losing to relegation contenders Gloucester City at home, a poor home record and losing Mark Jones as Manager. However, Craig McKay's interim spell in managing the team to 2 victories in 4 days alongside appointing Banbury’s best-ever player Kevin Wilson as manager has led to all sharing the belief that Banbury can beat the drop zone and cement our position in the NLN. Now it’s time for the Supporters to show WE ARE UNITED in the next chapter of our club's History as we continue to support our club home and away.
As always thank you for reading,
❤️COME ON KEVIN WILSON’S TRAMWAY ARMY💛
UTP
Spencer reds
❤️💛