FOLLOWING THE SALTMEN

After two weeks of deliberations, the publishers of Following The Saltmen (me) are now ready to reveal the football world’s soon to be most cherished awards.

We had originally intended to invite a celebrity to present the awards but in these days of financial belt tightening, we found out we couldn’t afford Dave Bradley. In fact, we couldn’t even afford Dan’s fee. Hopefully, promotion to Step Five will allow hangers on like us to monetise the blog, so next year I expect we will book Ricky Gervais.

So, without further ado, on with the awards!

Goal of the Season

Spa have been prolific scorers this season. In the league alone they hit the target 107 times. That’s 27 more than the second highest scorers or very nearly a goal per game. So we had a lot to choose from with quite a few worldies among that number. But ultimately it came down to a choice between two. The runner up was Alex Dugmore’s fourth goal of the day. A Marco van Bastenesque volley from an acute angle in the season’s opening game at a stiflingly hot Newent.

But the winner is the Jack Davies winner away at Redditch Borough. An absolute piledriver from thirtyish yards out. It was a fitting climax to one of the most entertaining matches you could ever see. Jack struck the ball so sweetly that it tracked like a frozen rope into the Redditch net. First Bus could have lined two double deckers up on the goal line and they still wouldn’t have kept it out. The fact that it was the deciding blow in an 11 goal, top of the table local derby six pointer, just ices the cake.

Congratulations Jack. The first ever Waynie is yours.

Link to Craig Newton’s video of the goal:

https://youtube.com/shorts/iGpVyAQY-TE?si=h1z8pCuOfVjbZexU

It’s not just scoring goals that creates a championship team though. It is equally as important to stop your opponents. Again, Spa topped the defensive stats in the division. Conceding just 33 league goals, the Saltmen had the meanest defence. Next in the stinginess stakes were our friends at Redditch who conceded 37 goals – a quarter of which were scored by Droitwich Spa FC.

This brings us clumsily to the second award of the night….

Most Improved Player: Dominic Rogerson

I must confess that I was a bit surprised that the club did not recruit a new goalkeeper last summer. Other young keepers had not been able to seize the number one jersey following Matt Oliver’s retirement and Dom had missed most of the previous season through injury. But manager Andy Crowther placed a lot of faith in the young Mackem and that faith proved to be very well placed. The Spa stopper has gone from strength to strength and produced a string of quality performances despite being little more than a spectator in a fair number of games. Once or twice, there were games when one or two Spa fans touched the ball more times than the big fella in goal. There have been occasions when men of lesser character would have ducked away from situations in which Dom stood stoically firm. There won’t be many other keepers who started an away game in the third round of the FA Vase with a fractured elbow! For the sake of good taste I won’t dwell on the affliction he overcame at Kidlington. But it’s not just bravery which Dom has brought to the party. There have been some breathtaking saves. The point blank reflex save at Ashby will long remain in my memory as will a similar worldly at Shortwood on the day Spa secured the title. Congratulations Dom.

And so to the real biggy…..

Player of the Season 2024 -2025

It will come as little surprise to learn that the first ever Following The Saltmen Player of the Season award goes to the Man With the Golden Boot…..

For me, Duggers represents the soul of the team. His lung busting runs, his willingness to put his body on the line and his head (including teeth) in places of real danger has endeared Alex to the Spa faithful. A goal per game record for the season has helped too!

When he moved up into the forward line, at the end of the 23-24 season, we assumed it would be a temporary change. But this season he led the line from the start. His four goals in the opening game at Newent confirmed his value as an out and out striker as he topped the division’s scoring stats all year.

You know what you’re going to get from Duggers. Soon, so did our opponents but that didn’t mean they could stop him – and the goals kept coming.

Other awards go to:

Best Haircut: Jack Brighton

Best Liqueur: Limoncello

Best Suit: Sam Carey

Best Song: Six-Five on Your Big Day Out

Worst Service Station Toilets: Evesham Services (almost certainly a crime scene)

Finally, a huge thank you goes to everyone at the club. Fellow supporters, players, coaches, officials and volunteers who have made this Non-Monner feel so welcome at Kingys. This season I set out to do something I’ve never managed to do: go to every first team game, home and away. I’ve come close in the past, following my old hometown rugby league club, but always missed a couple of away games. I’m pleased to say that with the help and encouragement of those mentioned above, I managed to see every Spa game this season. It’s been an absolute joy and I hope that has been reflected in the posts on this blog. The team’s performance and conduct on the field have been amazing and certainly made those 150 mile round trips that bit easier.

Next season will present a new set of challenges. I’m definitely no expert but from what I have seen, the club has all the right people in all the right places, giving huge amounts of time and effort building on the success of recent years. The club has a bright future and I hope I can continue to support the club in my small way.

I can’t wait for the pre-season games to arrive.

See you there

Cheers

Steve