The magnitude of what we’ve just done

I’ve barely posted on here in the last 24 hours or so as I’ve genuinely struggled to process what I’ve witnessed in these past two weeks. The whole experience has left me physically and emotionally shattered, but also absolutely elated.

I just wanted to take a moment to take stock of the sheer magnitude of what we’ve achieved; not just in the play-offs but throughout the season as a whole.

First off, making the play-offs was a huge achievement in itself; make no mistake. A year ago feels like a lifetime ago now. We’d been relegated in absolute disarray as a football club. We had to make something like 15 signings in the summer, and in total we’ve used 37 players over the course of the season. That’s an incredible number for a promoted team.

I remember walking into BP before the Weymouth game all the way back in August, with a sense of relief to be back at the football but also a sense of how strange it was to be watching a Town side so alien to me. Of the starting line-up that day, only Macca had been at the club the last time I’d been to a game in the flesh; that 2-0 win away at Scunny no less. And yet on Sunday, the connection between fans and players was almost unprecedented. That’s incredible.

And let’s not forget, this is, almost without doubt, the strongest and wealthiest non-league division there has ever been. To start the season the way we did, to overcome that horrible run in those dark winter months, and to finish so strongly given the rebuild that the team underwent in pre-season and throughout the season itself is mind boggling to me.

And then there’s the play-offs. What can you say about that? This time two weeks ago I was driving back from Nottingham thinking I’d witnessed enough drama to last me a life time. I wasn’t even close.

Reaching the play-offs was great, but seriously, the prospect of having to beat Notts County away, Wrexham away and then our kryptonite in Solihull Moors in a play-off final just seemed like such a huge, huge mountain to climb. You can always win the odd game through a one off performance or a bit of luck going your way, but three? In a row? That was a fúcking gargantuan ask.

And yet we’ve done it. And not only have we done it, we’ve done it by being unanimously the better team in all three games. All against opposition deemed to be better than us. It’s so, so difficult to win these play-offs from 6th or 7th position, and I reckon it will be a long time before anyone does it again.

This is absolutely huge for this football club. Irrespective of money, or how well you try to run things, this league is an absolute bástard to get out of. If we hadn’t done it now, who knows how long it might take us to win promotion. Just ask Wrexham.

I couldn’t be prouder of this club right now. It’s days like yesterday which remind you why you do this, through all of the agony and frustration. The ownership, the staff, the players, the fans. So, so proud of all of them. Town fans really are a different breed, and so is this crop of players. The atmosphere generated by the efforts of both these last few games has been spine tingling at times.

But most of all, so much credit has to go to Paul Hurst. The skills he has demonstrated this season; the ability to spot a player, to instil resilience, to build a team absolutely committed to a single cause. Even his tactics and substitutions, often subject to much criticism in his previous spell, have been spot on in recent weeks.

Anyway, this post is long enough so I’ll leave it there. But what a season, what a journey this season has been. And it’s been an absolute pleasure to share it with you all.

Up the fúcking Mariners! I love you.

I fully concur Poojah. I have been lucky enough to witness every game home and away, and lucky enough to get tickets for all the play-off games. The regular season has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Winning games when riding our luck and losing games we should have won. Such is a football season.
But those three play-off games were from another planet. I thought we had a reasonable chance of beating Notts County, but was worried about Wrexham, and in dread of Solihull Moors. Having watched Solihull dominate the two league games and win them both convincingly, I was worried that we would fall short. But this club never fails to amaze me, this new never give up, never say die attitude is just magnificent.
I cannot thank everyone at the club enough for making this season so special and returning us to League football at the first attempt. There is something special going on at our club, and I for one don't want to miss a second of it.
A special mention to the Wrexham fans we met and spoke to after the game, you guys are class, I sincerely hope you follow us with a promotion next season so I can visit your City and renew aquaintences.

    What he said! What a superb summary of the events of this extraordinary season! I wholeheartedly agree with every word and want to thank you for taking the time to so eloquently express what many of us are thinking and feeling.

   Paul Hurst and his coaching staff really have to take a huge amount of credit for what has been achieved. It strikes me that Hurst has had to rebuild the team not once, not twice, but three times since he arrived only 18 months or so ago. The first rebuild was in an attempt to keep us in the league, which narrowly failed despite obvious on field improvements. Then the second rebuild was to create a team to start this season, which had us top of the league in the early months of the season. Then after McAtee's injury and a sudden seeming inability to score became apparent, a third rebuild was necessary as loanees departed and ways had to be found to replace players who had done well and find more goals in the team. This was accomplished with a mixture of astute loan and permanent signings to get us back on the winning path to securing a slightly deceptive 6th place finish. And the rest is now history.

  And speaking of history, I think it's worth remembering that this is also the 50th anniversary of the 71-72 Tees Brace Boylen etc. promotion season under Big Lawrie. That was where it all started for me as a 12 year old and the love affair is still going strong! In the words of that great 70's football cliche,"I'm over the moon, David!"

If I try to describe how I'm feeling, the best I can come up with is 'deliriously proud'.

One of the few things I'm certain of right now is that there is no Real Madrid fan prouder of their team than I am of mine.




UTM

As a fan you want to feel connected to your team. You want to share the celebrations and you want to feel like you influence each other. We had that in 2016 but it had been a slow burner, spurned on by the failed attempt the year before. This time it’s different.

We were the worst side in the EFL, we had been through an awful period with the club just well and truly broken. Ownership that hurtled towards greed and possibly decisions that could’ve ruined the club, a manager who lost his mind and signed anyone and a group of players so disconnected it’s untrue. Covid didn’t help but in truth I didn’t believe it would’ve made much difference.

Our new owners talk a lot about culture, a top to bottom shift was needed at the club and I suspect things have happened much quicker than they’d ever have imagined. We’ll never really know what the plan was for this season but I think we’d all agree that simply finishing in the playoffs was probably going to be regarded as success….to win, and in the manner we did, well that’s just off the scale.

We’ve had the hardest route to the final but in the three games we were deserved winners. Not a single player shirked anything, not a single player hid or buckled. Hurst remained calm, collected and was a man with a plan. That plan was executed perfectly.

The scenes when JMD scored were scenes of jubilation, excitement and sheer joy, very different from Bogle and Arnold where it felt like relief and a lifting of a dark cloud.

We’ve just done something which in modern times has only been down once and gotten out this league at the first time of asking, a league which is now rich, with full time clubs operating like league clubs and with some very high quality players and managers. I believe what we’ve achieved is nothing short of a miracle given where the club found itself at the start of the covid season, how we were operated and where we found ourselves, a club that was dead and buried in October of a season.

Hurst has had critics, my own view is that they were harsh and just didn’t like the fact he called fans out in his first spell but anyone left criticising him is probably just bitter and twisted. For me, Hurst is now in the same conversation as the lord and saviour, Alan Buckley.

What is clear to see is the culture shift, the players love Hurst, he loves them. They love the fans, the owners love it all, the players love them and everyone is involved and everyone is valued. There’s been nonsense spoken on here this year but what I witnessed on that pitch through blurry and tearful eyes was the very opposite.

We’ve got our club back. The club looks 100% different than it has for the last 20 years. Naturally some players will go but the culture, the connection and belief will remain.

Proud to be a mariner. Proud to say I was at those three games and proud to say that GTFC are my club. Our club.

That’s a gold star from crusty my thought exactly but I could not have put them down on text so well

I felt it at the Weymouth game . Very emotional game and we got the win . For the first time in years I felt s connection with the club I love again . We all had our club back 🙏⚽🏆❤️

Quoted from It Bites

I felt it at the Weymouth game . Very emotional game and we got the win . For the first time in years I felt s connection with the club I love again . We all had our club back 🙏⚽🏆❤️

There has been that feeling this year. A monumental shift. A sense that it’s our club rather than it’s someone else’s that they let us enjoy.

Aside from a few who probably still feel bitter than Hurst called them out last time, the vast majority have stayed with the team throughout. Of course there was the giant man baby being a twit at Dagenham, sadly I’d imagine he lacks the emotional intelligence to admit he was way off the mark.

Through these playoffs we’ve been under pressure and had to dig in and the fans never faltered either…

Something was palpably different at the Weymouth game. You could feel it and it wasn’t just the sunshine that day. From the moment everyone clapped to remember those who had passed away, the club have not missed a beat. I remember thinking that a win would help to draw a line and set us off on the right trajectory. Ok, it got a bit wobbly but thankfully we had a chairman who knew what he was talking about and remained focussed on the bigger picture.

It still hasn’t sunk in with me. Massive, massive season for us. The league will be ferociously competitive next season and I can see one or both of Scunny and Oldham going right through it.