TT PREVIEW

Tom talks about the Boro

ABOUT ME

Hi, I’m Tom writing this. Lifelong Farnborough fan, and local to the club . Now official podcaster with All Things Boro. Seen us promoted from step 4 at age 12 and step 3 at 17. Alan and Simon are my podcast counterparts, who have years on me, and aren’t local to Farnborough anymore, but were present in their youth, both massive football fans

HOPES & EXPECTATIONS FOR 24/25

My personal hopes for 24/25 are based on the progression we have made at Step 2 since our return two seasons ago, where both seasons we only missed out on play-offs towards the end, finishing 12th in 22/23 and 8th (and 1 point away from playoffs) in 23/24. I think we hopefully and should naturally continue to progress and take ourselves into the play-off places.

PRE-SEASON

Pre-season can be called an overall success, only one loss, to NLS title holders Yeovil. Victory against Sutton as well as a draw with Maidenhead both great results, leading us into the season.

FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON

First game of 24/25 took us to Wiltshire where we faced Chippenham away, and apart from spells at the start, I felt we were very good. A Ricky Holmes brace gave us a 2-0 lead for pretty much the entire second half. Chippenham got one back but it wasn’t enough, and we won our first season opener in six seasons. Another positive is winning away, something we initially struggled with last season before form turned around.

KEY PLAYERS

It’s generally very difficult to name only a few “key” players, as I think such a big factor towards our success is how we go as a unit, but I’ll list 5 anyway. Jack Turner is a very trusty goalkeeper, who I believe is easily top 5 outside the professional game. Will individually win you games. Edon Pruti has made his stay with us permanent, and the Albanian left footed centre back is the key to our defence, but is currently suspended. Olly Pendlebury is the first player in our clubs history to sign a multi year deal, and he has certainly earned it. Dead ball specialist aswell as all round excellent creative/goal scoring midfielder. New boy Sam Smart is a winger with a low centre of gravity which is in ways Messi-esc, and creates huge problems for defenders, as he’ll skip past them with ease. Finally Striker Mason Bloomfield has returned to the club after a season with Hampton and Richmond, and he is going to be key to our scoring success, and hopefully is a consistent figure at striker, as we have lacked such a thing since football has stopped due to COVID. Honourable mentions include Josh Casey, Richard Chin, Ricky Holmes and Millar Matthews-Lewis.

THE MANAGER

Spencer Day is one of the longest serving managers in English football, I believe second longest current serving manager of the top 6 divisions. He isn’t afraid to use multiple styles of play, and is famed for great recruitment. He is supported very well by a strong coaching team including Neil Baker and Steve Baker, both achieved managers of this level in their own right.

THE CROWD FOR SATURDAY

I can see this being a fairly big crowd for us at the moment. Given how many Torquay will take, and the fact it’s our return to our own stadium, I Imagine this takes us over the 1.5k attendance mark.

PRE-MATCH REFRESHMENTS

Local pubs around the ground include the Hawley Arms, newly refurbished Fox Inn as well as a local Wetherspoons. The club also have a clubhouse, outside fan zone bar, and multiple food stands in multiple corners of the ground.

PREDICTION

I’m going to predict that it will be a great game, Torquay will show up, but narrowly lose 2-1 to a Farnborough side, late on. I’ll say Cody Cooke scores, as well as Olly Pendlebury, only for Mason Bloomfield to bag the winner.