In a new venture for the new season, Tamworth fans will be treated to match highlights from every Blue Square Bet Premier home game with the launch of LambsTV. Although not fully implemented just yet, supporters can visit the Official Website and will be able to click on the ‘LambsTV’ tab to access exclusive content including latest home match highlights and interviews, although the latter is yet to be officially confirmed yet. Also, match highlights can be accessed by clicking on the ‘fixtures’ menu and selecting the video icon next to the relevant game or by visiting the club’s Official YouTube account. Anyway, to get you started here are the highlights from Tamworth’s dramatic encounter with Hereford United….

With the new season finally underway, From The Back Of The Shed introduce you to the new players we all pin our hopes on ahead of the new campaign. Better late than never I know…

In Goal

Tony Breedon

Tony comes with the reputation of being one of the brightest goalkeeping prospects in non-league football and some of you may remember that he has played for Tamworth before – an embarrassing 5-0 drubbing away at Woking back in 2006. He has certainly done the rounds over the last few years though, taking in Sutton Coldfield, Stourport, Solihull Borough and Leamington before getting his big break last season when he was snapped up by Kidderminster Harriers. A long-term target of the club, he has been mentored most of his career by Dale Belford and will hopefully be an able replacement for Jonathan Hedge. An interesting fact is that Tony doesn’t like wearing the number 1 shirt, hence the reason he will be wearing number 13 this season.

James Wren

James is a young goalkeeper who has joined the club from local rivals Burton Albion, having came through the youth ranks at Walsall. He will provide cover for Tony Breeden.

In Defence

Jordan Ivey-Ward

A versatile youngster, Jordan can play in both defence or up front and has joined Tamworth on loan from MK Dons, having impressed Marcus Law on trial during pre-season. Tamworth fans are yet to see his true worth though as he has been limited to only a couple of substitute appearances during pre-season.

Tom Marshall

I don’t think Masha needs too much of an introduction! He initially joined the club a couple of season’s ago from Hednesford Town and almost instantly became a favourite amongst the fans due to his infectious personality. Not the most naturally gifted centre-back I must say, you cannot deny he always gives his all, which again endears him to the fans. Having played in an important part in keeping Tamworth in the Conference, he left to join Conference rivals Kidderminster Harriers, during which he spent time on loan with Brackley Town. Despite seemingly falling out of favor at Aggborough, Marshall went on to become a main stay in the Kidderminster defence towards the end of last season, captaining them on several occasions and to many, his return to Tamworth was a surprise. Away from football, he is of course a part of Stubblemelt, an indie band which features another ex-Lamb, Kyle Perry, on vocals.

Graeme Law

Another player returning to the fold is Graeme Law, who will act as cover as his main role within the team this season is as an assistant coach. Having began his career at York City when they were last in the Football League, he then moved onto to Dundee to play in his homeland of Scotland before returning to England for the first of his three spells with Tamworth in 2006. A move to Farsley Celtic followed by another return to Tamworth which was then followed in turn by spells with Stalybridge Celtic and Northwich Victoria.

Others:

Scott Meer is a product of the youth team while Luke Bottomer, an ex-Coventry City defender gained experience with a number of Midland’s non-league club’s last season.

In Midfield

Marcus Kelly

There is a running joke that Tamworth are the Kettering B-side given the number of ex-Poppies in the current side, but his performances during pre-season have suggested he’s far from a player dug out from the bottom of the Kettering bargain bin. Six goals during pre-season for the former Rushden and Diamonds midfielder have underlined that he could be a huge asset for Tamworth FC over the course of the coming season.

Lee Hendrie

Another of those players who needs little introduction to the Tamworth faithful, although this is mainly due to previous misdemeanor’s rather than his ‘glittering’ career with local rivals Aston Villa . Many will recall his scrap with Kyle Storer in a pre-season friendly against Villa several years ago, which resulted in both being given red card and a 22-man brawl ensued amongst the players, an incident in which many supporters have failed to forgive him for. Many of these unforgiving bunch were the first to speak up against Hendrie’s signing but are now smoking the pipe of peace following Hendrie’s apology and excellent pre-season form. If he remains fit he could be an excellent anchor man in midfield and his superb distribution has the potential to carve open many opportunities for the Tamworth forward line.

Lloyd Kerry

Despite his young age, Kerry has had a pretty nomadic career having began his career with Sheffield United and having spent time with the likes of Torquay, Chesterfield, Alfreton and Kidderminster Harriers. Following these stints, Lloyd found his way to Hinckley United, becoming a mainstay in the knitter’s midfield for two years. Some impressive performances in a struggling team, topped with an excellent goal against The Lambs in last season’s FA Cup tie alerted Marcus Law who took no time in drafting him ahead of the new campaign. Another player who has had a promising pre-season, Kerry has energy in abundance which will endear himself to the fans and his endless running seems to compliment well with both Marcus Kelly and Lee Hendrie. One who could well find himself back in the Football League if he works hard enough.

Peter Till

A former Birmingham City youth product, Till was part of the Fleetwood Town side which were crowned Blue Square Bet Champions last season. Despite spending a large part of the season injured, Till still went on to make over 20 appearances for the Cod Army. Previous to this, Till appeared in the Football League Trophy Final for Grimsby Town at Wembley  in 2008 and has had spells with Scunthorpe, Boston, Leyton Orient, Chesterfield and York, where he attracted the interest of Fleetwood. An exciting winger, Till was on the scoresheet during his first pre-season game against Rushall Olympic and will no doubt be one of the key players for Tamworth this season.

Others:

Jan Llado, a Spanish lad who impressed during pre-season and has already became a cult hero amongst Tamworth fans has the potential to become a top player for us while not much was saw of Jamie Smith who joins from Mansfield and is one for the future.

Forwards

Adam Cunnington

Despite being just 24, Cunnington has had somewhat of a nomadic career to date having worked his way around the lower echelons of non-league football before working his way into the Football League with Dagenham and Redbridge, although this turned out to be an ill-fated move for the towering striker. Having taken in clubs such as Barton Rovers, Aylesbury, Rothwell, Stamford and Barwell, where he worked under Marcus Law, Adam had a successful stint with Solihull Moors before once-again linking up with Marcus Law at Kettering where his form attracted the attention of the Daggers. Adam is, as expected for somebody of his height, good in the air and will hopefully become an excellent target man for Tamworth this season. Adam has also recently become a father and From The Back Of The Shed offer our congratulations.

Tommy Wright

Another high-profile signing, Tommy joined from Conference Rivals Forest Green Rovers during the close season. Having began his career with Leicester City, where he was cited as a hot prospect, Wright went on to play for the likes of Brentford, Blackpool, Barnsley and Walsall in the Football League before a season in the SPL with Aberdeen, where he spent two years. He then returned to England with Grimsby Town before moves to Darlington, Kidderminster and Luton Town. A former England U19 and U20 International, Wright will hopefully go on to form a productive partnership with Adam Cunnington throughout the course of this season after an impressive pre-season.

Although we are now a couple of weeks into pre-season, I thought it would be best to have a run-down of all the goings on in the world of Tamworth FC over the close season. As usual, there is always something or other going on at The Lamb, so here is a round-up of the latest events:

The Squad

I very much doubt it will have passed you by, but just in case you have been living under some form of rock since the end of April, Tamworth’s squad has had something of a revamp.

Having gone 15 matches without a victory in the run in to the end of last season, Marcus Law felt the need for a mass clear out, stating that his young squad ‘lacked character’ during this troublesome period and that wholesale changes needed to be made having assessed over and over again what exactly went wrong.

By his own admission, Law made mistakes and his determination to learn from them and improve is refreshing to see as a supporter. One of these mistakes was going for quantity over quality at the start of last season which resulted in The Lambs having an overly large squad, of which a number of players barely played or were shipped out to various Midland’s non-league sides in order to get games under their belt. This of course also resulted in the club wasting cash from an already diminishing budget and prompted Law to re-think his squad strategy ahead of the new season, the result of which is simply quality over quantity.

The outcome of this stance was that the club said farewell to a large number of players, most notably Francino Francis which may have surprised a few people, while there were also departures for Sam Habergham, Iyseden Christie and Danny Thomas, who was a good servant to the club over the past couple of seasons. Leaving on their own will were goalkeeper Jonathan Hedge and Club Captain Paul Green, who turned down the club’s offer of a new deal and a deal in which Law claimed was the biggest in the club’s history.

A key element of Law’s summer recruitment policy is that the main core of his signings would be players he knew and/or had worked with in the past as he knew he had trust in them. Both Adam Cunnington and Marcus Kelly had worked under Law at Kettering Town, while also joining The Lambs were striker Tommy Wright previously of Forest Green Rovers, Lloyd Kerry from Hinckley and returning after a year with Conference rivals Kettering Town, Tom Marshall once again hooked up with The Lambs. The two stand-out names of Tamworth’s new recruits however were those of Lee Hendrie, who I’m sure needs little introduction and that of Peter Till, who played a part in winning the title with Fleetwood Town last season.

Here is a run down of the summer’s ins and outs and where possible, which team they have since joined in the case of players who have left and which team they arrived from and their position for those who have joined Tamworth. We will have full profiles of the squad once squad numbers have been announced:

OUT: Francino Francis (currently on trial with Nuneaton Town), Danny Thomas (Finnish side Hafnarfjarðar), Jonathan Hedge (Cambridge United), Paul Green (Forest Green Rovers) Sam Andrew (Eastwood Town), Iyseden Christie (unknown), Sam Habergham (Braintree Town), Joe Collister (on trial with Kidderminster Harriers), Liam McDonald (on trial with Kettering Town), Nick McKoy (unknown), Kyle Nix (unattached), Callum Reynolds (unknown), Nabil Shariff  (unknown), Kieron St.Amie (unknown), Ashley Grayson (unknown)

IN: Tony Breedon (GK, Kidderminster), James Wren (GK, Burton Albion), Tom Marshall (Def, Kidderminster), Jamie Smith (Mid, youngster, Burton Albion), Lee Hendrie (Mid, Redditch United), Marcus Kelly (Def/Mid, Kettering Town), Adam Cunnington (Fwd, Dagenham and Redbridge), Tommy Wright (Fwd, Forest Green Rovers), Lloyd Kerry (Mid, Hinckley United), Peter Till (Mid, Fleetwood Town), Graeme Law (Def, Assistant player-coach, Northwich)

POTENTIAL IN’S: Same Oji (Def, yet to sign new deal), Jan Llando (Mid, Spanish player believed to be sorting out paperwork and will sign for next season)

Backroom staff

Well where do we start here? Sports therapists and performance analysists are something which you’d probably associate with Man United and not little old Tamworth, but Marcus is leaving no stone unturned this season. So with that, we welcome assistant sports therapists Katie Andrews and Kimberley Wood who will be working alongside Hus, while Darren Chesworth and Luke Sale are on board as strength and conditioning coaches. Richard Hughes and Emily Upton also join the staff as performance analysists and it is also worth noting all of the above are working for the club on a voluntary basis so many thanks for them for that.

Another ‘new’ face to Marcus’ staff is that of Graeme Law. I use the term ‘new’ loosely as many of you will remember Graeme for spending two spells with the club a few years ago. Having also been registered as a player, although as cover only, Graeme joins as an assistant coach and will be working alongside Paul O’Brien.

Club legend Dale Belford is also now officially assistant manager to Marcus and will be overseeing the Academy and Reserve sides.

Reserve side

As I’ve just mentioned, yes, Tamworth will be fielding a reserve side next season and will be competing at Midland Combination level, so those of you not attending away games will be happy to know that there will be another Tamworth side to watch down The Lamb most Saturday’s!.

Pre-season fixtures

As is common, Tamworth will visit a number of local lower ranked non-league sides and will in turn be visited by a few sides currently plying their trade in the Football League. Tamworth’s stand-out fixture should have been an away trip to Welsh Premier side Port Talbot, but was cancelled without explanation. Instead though, Crewe will visit The Lamb fresh from being promoted to League One last season, while Bristol Rovers and West Bromwich Albion will also provide Marcus Law’s new-look side a tough test in preparation for the first game of the season away to Dartford.

List of pre-season fixtures (and results) in full:

13th July : Heather St. John’s (A) : Won 2-1, scorers not named

14th July: Stafford Rangers (A): Won 2-1; Kelly, Jan Llando

14th July: Lichfield City (A): Won 4-1; Healey 2, Wallen, Brown

17th July: Rushall Olympic (A): Lost 2-1; Till

20th July: Boldmere St. Michaels (A): Won 4-0; Wright, Marshall, Llando, Kerry

24th July: WBA (H)

27th July: Barwell (A)

28th July: Hednesford Town (A)

31st July: Bristol Rovers (H)

4th August: Crewe Alexandra (H)

8th August: Polesworth (A)

League Fixtures

We will soon be introducing a page dedicated to fixtures and results from the 2012/13 season, so for a comprehensive list, that will be the place to look. On the opening day of the season, starting on Saturday August 11th, Tamworth make the trip South to Dartford, followed by successive home games against Hereford United and Stockport County, giving The Lambs a tough start to the season. The traditional August Bank Holiday fixture on August 27th is marked by the visit of Wrexham, whilst over the festive period, Tamworth visit bitter rivals Nuneaton Town on Boxing Day, while The Boro visit The Lamb on 2nd January 2013 for a 7.45pm Kick off. On the final day of the season, which ends on 20th April 2013, The Lambs play host to Woking.

Captain Paul Green, goalkeeper Jonathan Hedge, defenders Sam Oji and Luke Bottomer, midfielder Connor Gudger and Kyle Patterson have all been offered terms for next year as Marcus Law looks towards a change of strategy and bids to reshape his team, building a squad around players he knows and trusts working with, also stating the majority of last season’s players let him and the club down in the difficult run in to the end of the season.

This of course means we bid farewell to a number of players. Many are surprised by the departure of Francino Francis who had a pretty solid campaign in the heart of the Tamworth defence, while we also say goodbye to Sam Habergham who showed plenty of potential throughout the campaign. Also departing The Lamb are Iyseden Christie, Nick McKoy and Danny Thomas, who has been an excellent servant to the club over the past couple of seasons and will probably be best remembered for his excellent strike against Crewe in the FA Cup, which I’ve posted a video of below.

From The Back Of The Shed would like to thank the departing players for their efforts this season and wish them all the best in their future careers.

The first team to succumb to relegation from nPower League 2 was Maccesfield Town, thus ending their 15-year stay in the Football League, which some describe as a miracle in itself given a club of their size.

Formed back in 1874, The Silkmen as they are known, first entered the Football League in 1997 having been crowned champions of the GM Vauxhall Conference (Blue Square Bet Premier in new money) under the stewardship of Sammy McIlroy. In fact, this was actually the second time they had won the division under McIlroy, as back in 1993/94 The Silkmen won the title only to be denied entry to the Football League as their ground, Moss Rose, failed to make the relevant ground grading.

Having finally made it to the Football League, the success continued as Macclesfield finished their debut season as runners-up in Division 3 and therefore gaining promotion into Division 2, although their tenure in the third tier of English football was a brief one as they finished bottom of the table in their only season at that level.

Since then, several mid-table finishes turned to relegation battles and many will recall Paul Ince, in his first job in management, leading The Silkmen to nine match unbeaten run before a 1-1 draw against Notts County on the final day of the 2006/07 season ensured Macclesfield another season in the Football League. Ince of course left to join MK Dons soon afterwards, but after a further four seasons in League Two, Macclesfield finally succumbed to relegation following a home defeat by Burton Albion under the reigns of Brian Horton, having failed to win any of their final 25 league games.

Macclesfield and Tamworth have met a total of 13 times, with the last encounter taking place in September 1983 which resulted in a 6-1 loss for The Lambs in an FA Cup tie. Tamworth’s full record against The Silkmen doesn’t make good reading for Tamworth fans as we have lost all 13 encounters between the two clubs, scoring just 5 goals to Macclesfield’s 33. They also have goalkeeper Jose Veiga in their squad, who I’m sure will require no introduction to Tamworth supporters.

It is also interesting to note that Macclesfield has a population of only 50,000, some 20,000 less than Tamworth so it shows that small towns can compete at Football League level under the right circumstances and organisation.

Macclesfield’s Moss Rose Stadium

The second team we welcome back into non-league football is that of Hereford United, the side Tamworth played their first ever Conference game against back in 2003.

Formed in 1924, The Bull’s proudest moment was arguably their famous FA Cup victory over Newcastle in 1972, a game in which Ronnie Radford scored that goal which has become part of FA Cup folklore as Hereford defeated their top flight opponents. Having initially been relegated from the Football League in 1997, with serious financial implications, they were saved from extinction when former Aston Villa manager Graham Turner, Father of ex-Lamb Mark, purchased the club,

After several seasons of near misses, Hereford finally returned to the Football League after defeating Halifax Town in the Conference play-off final at Leicester City’s Walkers Stadium in 2006. Having stabilized their position in League Two, The Bulls surprised many by finishing third during the 2008-09 season and thus earning promotion into League One, their first spell in English football’s third tier since 1978.

Just like Macclesfield, Hereford were relegated back into League Two after just one season in League One and after a series of disappointing campaigns and a takeover, Hereford were relegated back into non-league football on the final day of the season, where despite a 3-2 victory of promotion chasing Torquay United at Edgar Street, Barnet’s 2-1 victory over Burton was enough to keep the London side in the league at the expense of Richard O’Kelly’s Bulls.

The last time the two sides met was a 1-0 defeat at Edgar Street in 2006, while Tamworth’s overall record against Hereford bares mixed results for The Lambs. Two wins, four defeats and one draw, with 10 goals forward and 9 against since our first encounter in 1969 prove this fixture has been an entertaining one of the years and one to look out for during 2012/13.

Hereford’s Edgar Street Stadium

For many, a trip to Hereford’s Edgar Street will bring back fond memories of this wonder strike from Bob Taylor….

One for the statisticians amongst you, we bring you a (not so) definitive look at the 2011/12 season in the form of numbers and what they represent…

27946 – the total number of visitors through The Lamb turnstiles this season

32,963 - number of Jager Bombs consumed by Tamworth supporters throughout the season…

5,003 – give or take, the number of Tamworth fans who travelled to Goodison Park

4000 – the number of those who travelled to Goodison who haven’t been back since…

1,923 – Tamworth’s largest home attendance of the season for the visit of Wrexham

742 – Tamworth’s lowest home attendance of the season against both Forest Green and Hayes and Yeading

156 – the number of ‘idiots’ who braved the freezing cold to watch our BSC game with Boldmere

147 – total number of appearances made by longest serving player Richard Tait

95 – number of places between Everton and Tamworth ahead of our FA Cup encounter

77 – total number of yellow cards given to Tamworth players this season

64 - number of spells Dale Belford has had with the club….

55 - total number of goals scored in all competitions

54 - total number of games played by Tamworth in all competitions

48 - Tamworth’s final points total

45 – total number of goals scored by Tamworth in the league

42 – number of appearances made by most used player, Jonathan Hedge, this season

35 – the number of players used in league matches this season (excluding non-playing substitutes)

18 – number of goals conceded within the first 15 minutes of matches

17 – goals scored in the last 15 minutes of matches

15 – Tamworth’s longest winless run of the season

13 – number of points earned against relegated sides

12 – Top scorer Iyseden Christie’s final goal tally in all competitions

11 – amount of yellow cards ‘earned’ by Paul Green this season

7 – number of points clear of the relegation zone after 46 games

5 – number of points earned against top 5 teams

4 - number of red cards picked up by the team this season

3 – number of cardigans wore by Marcus Law this season

2 – total number of completed passes by Nick McKoy this season…..

0 – number of times Tamworth fell into the relegation zone this season

For Tamworth FC, it’s something of a rarity for an end of season game to have nothing riding on it. Cast your mind back just 12 months when we all ‘packed’ inside The Lamb for our game against Forest Green Rovers not knowing which league we would be playing in the following season. Despite being secure in our position this time round, it would be wrong to suggest that there was nothing left to play for. 

Those interested in statistics would have been well aware that a win for Tamworth would not only take our points tally to 50, equaling those amassed by Mark Cooper’s side in 2004/05, but also give us an outside chance of securing 16th place, depending on results elsewhere. Arguably, simply ending the season a high note would be enough for some, while many were just looking forward to seeing the back of what has been a proverbial ‘roller-coaster’ of a season.

First however, Marcus Law’s side would have to overcome an in-form Cambridge United, a side which beat league Champions Fleetwood Town last week and were looking to avenge the 1-0 defeat Tamworth handed them at The Abbey Stadium earlier in the season. Having saw their play-off challenge falter recently, the U’s have won four of their last six fixtures and have the second best defensive record in the league so the Tamworth strikers would have to be on top of their game if they are to test the resolute Cambridge defence.

In the Tamworth Herald this week and also in his programme notes, Law concedes that for next season he must make changes if we are to improve next season, going as far as branding certain players as ‘selfish individuals’ in the process and that he wanted to ship them out a good while ago. It seems fair to say that alot of the players would be pulling on the Tamworth shirt for the final time.

The Team

Law made four changes to the side which were defeated 2-0 at Stockport last weekend. Richard Tait, Jean-Paul Marna and Charlie Collins all returned to action following recent injury, while there was a place in the starting line-up for Kyle Nix. Sam Oji, Connor Taylor, Connor Gudger and Kyle Patterson were the four players  to make way, with the latter three taking up a place on the bench.

The Match

First half: 

Having kicked off towards the Castle End with their large band of travelling support in fine voice, it was Cambridge who were quickest out of the blocks, with Luke Berry dragging an early opportunity wide from the edge of the Tamworth penalty area. Shortly afterwards, the visitors struck the woodwork as Dale Jennings’ excellent cross was turned onto the bar by the head of Liam Hughes before some good work from Gash down the right was almost rewarded with a goal as his cross was met by Jordan Patrick, who’s volley was well saved by Jonathan Hedge in the Tamworth goal.

Despite the early dominance, it was Tamworth who went ahead, somewhat against the run of play. U’s goalkeeper Dan Naisbitt failed to deal with a cross into the box under pressure and the ball fell to the unmarked Jean-Paul Marna, who casually slotted the ball into the open net to give Tamworth an unexpected lead. Almost immediately the visitors came close to an equaliser, although Rossi Jarvis’ 20-yard strike was denied by another fine stop from Hedge. Christie wasted an excellent chance to double The Lamb’s lead when his low shot from inside the box was denied by Naisbitt.

On the half-hour mark though Cambridge’s huffing and puffing finally resulted in an equaliser when Adam Marriot powered a header past Hedge having got on the end of a Liam Hughes cross. The visitors continued to dominate possession for the remainder of the half, but failed to do anything with it. Iyseden Christie however found room for a shot late on, although his effort was well blocked by U’s defender Jonathan Thorpe.

HT: Tamworth 1-1 Cambridge

Second Half: 

Tamworth player’s heads must have still been in the dressing room as straight from the re-start Cambridge took the lead as Jordan Patrick and Adam Marriot took advantage of a sleeping Tamworth defence. Patrick broke into the Tamworth area and drove a low ball towards goal from a tight angle with Marriot inadvertently guiding the ball into the net off his midriff.

Nine minutes later, following a good spell by Tamworth, The Lambs were awarded a penalty when Iyseden Christie was felled in the box by Rory McAuley. Christie stepped up looking for his 13th goal of the season only to see his penalty well saved by Naisbitt who in turn was left powerless to deny Jean-Paul Marna scoring his second of the game, nodding a home a Charlie Collins cross in the immediate aftermath of the save.

Paul Green was the first player to pick up a booking not long after following a foul on Berry as Tamworth made their first changes of the game with Kyle Patterson and Connor Gudger replacing Kyle Nix and Charlie Collins.

Michael Gash fired straight at Hedge for Cambridge having got the better of the Tamworth defence, before a Scott Barrow free-kick was hit straight into the wall as both sides pushed for a winner. Naisbitt was forced into another decent save, this time tipping away Connor Gudger’s fine 25-yard curling effort before U’s Jordan Patrick’s header was flicked over the bar by the excellent Hedge. Deep into injury time, Scott Barrow headed straight at Naisbitt who held well as the final whistle blew on an exciting encounter to end the season.

Final Score: Tamworth 2-2 Cambridge

Tamworth players salute supporters (pic courtesy of 'simon tamworth' flickr)

Man Of The Match: Jean-Paul Marna. His last few performances have drawn criticism from certain areas of The Lambs’ support and although both of his goals were not exactly world class, they were well taken all the same. He also held the ball up well and distributed it to good effect. A good effort.

The Verdict: Well that’s it, another season over. I mentioned earlier about the team ending the season on a high and I believe that’s something they have done, despite ending the season with just a draw. We could have won, but supporters can be pleased with the way the team performed. It’s good to see JP Marna in the goals again and his partnership with Christie looked quite promising, albeit too late in the season. This season really has been a roller-coaster, but with Law admitting this season has been a learning process and underlining the fact there will be changes next season, plus the fact he will be appointing an assistant to help ease the burden, I for one am quite optimistic about the future. We have Euro 2012 over the summer of course to provide us with our football fix but it’s never quite the same as watching your club. It’s going to be an interesting few months for TFC. Roll on pre-season! 

Drawing inspiration from Stockport County’s ‘Mad as a Hatter’ season ticket scheme, Tamworth have announced their own variation of the scheme billed as ‘The Tamworth FC 2012 Challenge’.

The scheme is simple: If 2,012 season tickets are sold between now and June 14th for a low-cut price of £115 then that is the price supporters will pay – working out a bargain £5 per match! If the club fail to reach their target then the £115 can be transferred to the cost of an early bird ticket (costing £220 for an adults terrace ticket or £260 for adult seats) or for 10 vouchers which will entitle supporters to gain admission for any 10 of the opening 11 home fixtures of the new season.

To make this work of course, the club and it’s supporters need to spread the word about the town. Over 5,000 supporters made the journey to Goodison Park, over four times the club’s current average attendance, and these are the potential ‘new’ supporters the club are targeting, along with anybody disillusioned with the recent decline of our large Midlands rivals and are looking for an alternative football fix.

So what can you do to help?

Print off the above poster, post it in all of your local pubs, clubs and shops and start spreading the word. If the target can be met then not only will supporters take advantage of an excellent offer with the club benefitting financially, increased crowds will help generate a better atmosphere within The Lamb of a matchday.

So come on, let’s make The ‘Tamworth FC 2012 Challenge’ a roaring success!

The shirt is of an identical design to that of the away kit although obviously red in colour, with local firm Solus Coaches replacing The Snowdome as main shirt sponsor. Despite being an improvement on the away shirt in my opinion, unfortunately the kit once again features a sown on badge complete with outline. Top marks go to Jase J over at tamworthfans.co.uk for spotting the new shirt’s resemblance to a can of Coca-Cola! For those interested in purchasing one ready for next season, the first batch will be on sale in the clubshop on Saturday with the price £30 for adults and £20 for juniors.