TT PREVIEW

Gabriel discusses the Towners

THE BIG KICK OFF

I am as excited as ever for the upcoming campaign! Glad non-league is back after a two-month absence, though in truth the work behind the scenes never seems to stop! Our form towards the back end of the previous campaign, plus a promising pre-season in general, has given us Enfield Town fans cause to be cheerful going into 2025-26.

PRE-SEASON

Well, a darn sight better than last year for sure. We’ve learned lessons on the recruitment side of things, and the squad have shown tentative signs of gelling into something approaching a competitive unit. As for results, it’s generally been positive; lacklustre defeats at Potters Bar (where the goalie made 10 saves) and Walthamstow (pitch had more sand than Hollicombe Beach) have been offset by impressive showings against Braintree Town, as well as Arsenal and Spurs’ U21 outfits.

HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS

I’d like to think anything better than last season would be improvement. That is, confirming survival earlier than the final day of the season! As exciting/heart attack-inducing (delete as appropriate) last season’s great escape act proved to be, we don’t want to find ourselves ten points adrift at the turn of the year again. We are fully conscious as to who we have to compete with again at this level, so if we can really find our feet and have a relatively comfortable campaign then I’ll take that all day long. Without wishing too much, we’re still(!) hoping to earn a spot in the FA Cup first round proper – maybe this might be our year…

NEW SIGNINGS

The strike pairing of Tommy Wood (ex-Tonbridge; Hornchurch) and Lamar Reynolds has already started to bear the first signs of fruit in pre-season. They have looked to gain an understanding and will hopefully form a solid partnership this term. Avan Jones has slotted in seamlessly at full-back, while Leyton Orient centre-mid Hayden Bullas looks an exciting prospect.

KEY PLAYERS

As ever, fans’ favourite Sam Youngs is among our key players. The evergreen midfielder has now well surpassed 300 appearances for the club, and last season was instrumental in our survival having chipped in with 17 league goals from midfield as well as a couple of assists. Experienced defender Adam Thompson also remains a crucial cog in our defensive system, providing the organisation and nous that we desperately missed in the first half of last season.

THE MANAGER

Gavin Macpherson rightly won his plaudits last season for steering us to eventual safety, which included a difficult – but necessary – decision to overhaul much of the squad in the winter of 2024. As previously, he generally drills his sides to gain familiarity functioning in a disciplined 4-4-2 system, or in a 3-5-2 with wing-backs. He’ll be alongside a new assistant boss this season, in the shape of former Slough coach John Underwood, as Jon Nurse moves into a director of football role.

AWAY FOLLOWING

Hopefully we’ll get something approaching 200 fans making the trip down. It was truly special getting to go down to Plainmoor for our first ever game at this level, so for history to repeat on the opening day this time around is quite something. Hopefully there’s still enough of a measure of excitement to entice lots of us down to Devon.

LINE-UP

Well, it wouldn’t be Enfield Town without some kind of added drama, and we’ve had a few players face some very late fitness tests. Fingers crossed we’ll be as close to full strength as possible… Rhys Forster has returned between the sticks after concussion (and our good form) saw him lose his place to the returning Joe Wright last season, and besides changes to the front line, we’ve generally retained much of the back line and midfield while adding players with the calibre at this level (the likes of Jones, Ruaridh Donaldson and Matty Macarthur) that we perhaps lacked last time out.

PREDICTION

Without sounding too much of a pessimist, Torquay is always a tough place to go and get something, so if we can plunder so much as a point I’d be delighted. Let’s say 1-1; Cooke and Youngs on the scoresheet.