Bringing down the curtain

WHAT a great weekend we have just had to bring down the curtain on a magnificent season for our football club.
A trophy presentation with the players and staff who have made us proud of our club once again getting their hard-earned medals and that large hulk of silverware (it's bloomin' heavy by the way...)
That was followed by an open-top bus tour which saw a decent turnout to see the trophy being shown off to all and sundry.
Okay, so it wasn't 1998 with the FA Trophy being thrown about on the Town Hall balcony, but it was great to see so many people (and especially so many youngsters) waving their scarves and flags.
Things like this serve to bring the club into the consciousness of the town - people will remember they have a football club and if some of them come to games next year it's done its job.
Then in the evening was the end of season dinner at Jury's Inn. It was a terrific evening, and got livelier as the hours wore on.
The dance floor is out of range for me these days but it was great to see fans and players in unity - and that is the theme of the season, and the bedrock of what has happened since that fateful day against Shrewsbury.
I've not seen the club this united in a very long time. 1999 is the only time that comes close to the situation we are in now,  and its no coincidence that we've had on-field success as well.
Our players are a fantastic group. They always have time for everyone, no cliques, no airs and graces - and all of them want to do well for our football club.
They deserve our thanks for their efforts this season - and it would be fantastic if we could keep them all together and have a go at League Two next August.
We have built up some momentum and if we could keep a big nucleus of this group together we have a chance - and it would be a surprise if many of them felt the grass is greener elsewhere.
The whispers I hear are encouraging ones, and it would be good to get a few wrapped up early and announced, keep the positivity going... and shift some more season tickets.
The directors and chairman Paul Baker also deserve our thanks. Yes they've made mistakes - they are only human after all, and they've accepted and faced up to them.
But as they get flak for mistakes, they should get equal credit for doing the right thing, and appointing Gary Johnson is up there with the best choices they have made.
Like our players, there are no egos on our board. They have our club at heart, with people like Colin Farmer, 30 years on the board and John Murphy, a winner as a player, a manager and now as a director.
They are Cheltenham people. Not fly-by-night serial directors or chairmen, moving from club to club, looking for an opportunity, a chance for a quick buck. They are people who care about the football club. Fans, like the rest of us, but also realising the vital role they have.
Then we come to Gary Johnson. What a man.
It would have been easy for him to have walked away last May.
The club was on its knees, the players were a disgrace and it needed major surgery to try and find a heartbeat of any kind.
Let's face it, the guy doesn't need the money - and at 60 years old he doesn't need the hassle either. Other clubs would have offered him an easier ride had he wanted it, but he chose to stay - and we are eternally grateful that he did.
To recruit 18 players from scratch and mould them into a team which has won 30 matches, scored 87 goals and amassed 101 points is an unbelievable achievement.
We got the most wins, most points, most goals, most points at home, most points away, conceded the fewest goals... etc etc... and throw in a club record 22-game unbeaten run to boot.
The pressure on Gary was huge. He knew he and his players had the future of the club in their hands.
Fail and we were looking at massive budget cuts, no academy, part-time football and us becoming a Lincoln, a Macclesfield, a Chester or a Kidderminster, marooned in the non-League ranks for the forseeable future.
It wasn't an option... and thankfully we don't have to think about it.
We are a club that has been refreshed and reinvigorated - in some ways you could say relegation has been a blessing.
I think it has woken a few people up, shaken them out of a malaise. We all knew deep down that relegation was coming as we had been on a slide from the Crewe play-off final defeat.
I hope we have learned the lesson - that this has been a wake up call for the whole club, and we need to avoid the same mistakes again in the future.
I feel some people on and off the field took league football for granted - that mustn't happen again.
The club worked so hard to get back there, and we must not allow it to be thrown away again. We are back in that elite 92 club, so let's stay there this time!
We should do that comfortably - but we shouldn't expect to waltz through League Two to another promotion party next season. Hope yes, but expectation will no doubt rise.
With this group of players, we can do well I am sure so again we have to hope they stay together and that Gary and Peter Johnson can work their magic and find the right characters to add to what is already here.
But we have momentum, and that can be a big ingredient. Once you get on a roll, it can be hard to stop and five wins in a row can give us that little springboard.
The key to it has to be keeping the main men from this season - people like Downes, Parslow, Storer, Munns, Dayton, Wright and Holman especially (I'd love them all to stay - but realistically I think we know some of them will go). If that happens, I don't see why we can't give it a good crack.
With seven subs and no 'emergency' loans (ie outside transfer windows) we'll need to carry a bigger squad, and I feel we need a goalkeeper ( as we can't rely on Dillon Phillips coming back, although we can hope), another centre-half (as Rob Dickie and Cam Burgess have gone back), a left-sided wide player, an attacking midfielder and another forward.
We have an interesting summer in store - but I'm sure it won't be as hectic as the last one.
And now it's awards time...
Player of the year - Daniel Parslow. Played every minute bar one against Forest Green. Mr Consistent, and a tower of strength at the back.
Goal of the season - Amari Morgan-Smith v Wrexham. Several candidates, including Harry Pell at FGR, Jack Munns at Halifax, Danny Wright at Barrow and several from Dan Holman, but Amari's goal was special, and won a tight, televised game.
Match of the season - I'm going for Grimsby at home. That was the game that most of us knew the title was getting closer.
Awayday of the season - The one I enjoyed most was Bromley away. A midweek trip which ended with a last-minute Asa Hall winner.
Moment of the season - Tempted to say the final whistle against Halifax - but I'm going for Aaron Downes' goal at Grimsby. That was the night I thought we really could challenge for the title. After that night we were top after every match bar one.

So that's another season over.
Roll on 2016-17... see you at the first friendly!!