GARY Waddock has taken Aldershot Town back into the Football League. On this page we've got a look back at the season so far in words and pictures, a video interview with the boss and a player of the season poll. You can also have your say on a memorable campaign.
Summer 2007
Former Queens Park Rangers boss and Republic of Ireland international midfielder Gary Waddock is appointed Aldershot manager, after the departure of Terry Brown. Martin Kuhl remains at the club as coach and assistant manager. Waddock brings in new young players, such as Lewis Chalmers and Scott Davies, while veterans Marcus Gayle and Darren Barnard depart. One of the previous season’s key players, Ryan Williams, injures his knee in a friendly against Crystal Palace and is probably out for the entire season.
August
Waddock's reign begins with an encouraging 2-1 win away to Kidderminster Harriers, who had finished the previous season in tenth, one place behind the Shots. Davies, signed on loan from Reading, scores a debut goal, with John Grant scoring the second. But while the Shots continue to do well away from home - Davies scores a brace in a 2-1 win at Histon - they lose twice at home, thumped 3-0 by promotion favourites Torquay United, fresh from the Football League, and then miss a host of chances to lose 1-0 to Crawley.
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September
If three wins from five games in August augured well, September is the month when Waddock's team truly announce themselves as one of the front runners for promotion. Their away form is all but perfect, winning at Altrincham and Forest Green Rovers, before the result that, at the time, sends a clear message to the rest of the league: a 3-2 win at Oxford United. Twenty goals, seven from John Grant, are scored in seven league games, including three wins at home, with a 5-0 thrashing of Northwich Victoria the pick, which put the Shots top. The Shots' 100 per cent away record goes at Cambridge but Dave Winfield's late equaliser means Aldershot go the whole month unbeaten and sit just a point behind leaders Stevenage Borough.
October
The first test of Waddock and his men. Comprehensive defeats at promotion rivals Stevenage Borough and Burton Albion push the Shots back, with Torquay now top. But they merely respond by extending their superb home record to seven wins on the trot, including a FA Cup replay victory over Crawley, thanks to a Louie Soares goal, and a last-minute winner from Jonny Dixon against Halifax Town. Dixon's goals are sorely needed too, with leading scorer John Grant out for several weeks with tendonitis.
November
The away woes are quickly dispelled at Weymouth, where a 2-0 win put the Shots back on top of the Blue Square Premier, after Torquay United's unbeaten home record is ended by Cambridge United. The FA Cup dream dies the next weekend at Cambridge - where Davies is sent off - but the Shots just keep on winning at home, seeing off Rushden & Diamonds and Grays Athletic in narrow but entertaining fashion. John Grant is back from injury and scoring again and his namesake Joel Grant starts to make the left wing his own. With Davies suspended, Chalmers and Ben Harding come together in central midfield and soon strike up a superb partnership.
December
A John Grant hat-trick helps the Shots stay top with a 4-0 victory over Salisbury, live on Setanta on a Sunday night, with 700 Shots fans making the trip. The home wins keep coming at ‘Fortress Rec’, including a 4-3 thriller over Stafford Rangers and a 1-0 win over Oxford in the Setanta Shield. Hayes & Yeading are seen off with ease in the FA Trophy but perhaps the key day is Boxing Day. Substitutes Danny Hylton and Kirk Hudson combine for Hudson to secure a tight 1-0 win for the Shots at Woking, while Torquay lose their own Christmas derby to Exeter. Despite a 2-1 loss at Grays three days later, where Davies is sent off again, Rhys Day misses a penalty and Dixon scores his last goal for the club, the Shots are still clear at the top, four points above Torquay, who have a game in hand.
Hudson is among the goals again as the Shots complete a league double over Woking, at the Rec on New Year's Day. Woking are also seen off at Kingfield in the Trophy, where the Shots show their capacity to score late goals, scoring three times in the last 20 minutes to win 4-2. Anthony Charles scores his first of the season while John Grant, back from another injury, nets twice. But Aldershot's considerable lead in the league looks vulnerable when the magnificent home record is ended by Forest Green Rovers - who score after just a few seconds and that's how it ends - and Waddock's men then slump to a 2-0 loss at York. But for keeper Nikki Bull, the defeat would have been far heavier. The rot is stopped in defiant fashion by John Grant's header in a scrappy 1-0 win over Oxford at the end of the month. But the relief is tempered by the departure of Dixon, sold to Brighton & Hove Albion. Aldershot are six points ahead of Torquay, who have two games in hand.
February
February is dominated by cup games - the Shots beat Braintree and Tamworth (where John Grant is injured, again) in the Trophy and St Albans and Crawley, where they scored four goals in extra-time, in the Setanta Shield. But the league is, of course, the priority and they show no signs of faltering there. A 0-0 draw with Cambridge, on a night when Torquay are held at lowly Weymouth, suits the Shots fine. Youngsters Hylton and Hudson are among the goals at Farsley Celtic but the best is saved for Stevenage Borough at the Rec, live on Setanta. In a wonderful first half, the Shots score three times without reply, through both Grants and Hylton. One of Aldershot's chief rivals for promotion are been blown away and a clear message is sent out to the rest of the league: catch us if you can.
March
March brings ten games in just 28 days. All eyes had long been focused on the trip to Torquay on the 3rd but Waddock's men keep their concentration to beat Kidderminster at home two days before, while Torquay crash at Grays. The lead is eight points as the Shots go to Plainmoor and Davies' injury-time volley extends it to 11 (Torquay have just one game in hand), in a thrilling 2-1 win. Four more league wins and a draw at bottom of the table Droylsden mean that, by the end of the month, with none of their rivals able to string a run of wins together, the Shots are 17 points clear at the top. Four games in seven days around Easter are safely negotiated, with Chalmers scoring a vital winner at Crawley and Rob Elvins coming good at Stafford. Bull makes a string of vital saves, as he has done throughout the season. John Grant is also back, fit and scoring. In the Setanta Shield the Shots see off Woking - again - after penalties at the Rec, to reach the final. But the dream of a trip to Wembley dies on the Kent marshes, with a 3-1 first leg FA Trophy semi-final loss to Ebbsfleet. A goal in each leg from new signing Junior Mendes is not enough, as the Shots go out 4-2 on aggregate.
April
The month opens with silverware in the cabinet at the Rec: the Setanta Shield. Rushden & Diamonds are the victims, in a pulsating final, which bursts into life late on and in extra-time. Reserve keeper Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz emerges as the Shots' hero, saving a penalty in extra-time and then the decisive one in a penalty shoot-out, which the Shots win 4-2, after a 3-3 draw. Mendes, Hudson and Scott Donnelly score for the Shots, who at one stage lead 1-0 in normal time and 3-1 deep into extra-time, before Rushden come back to shock the crowd of nearly 4,000 at the Rec (the venue was determined by a toss of a coin). It matters little, as the Shots keep their nerve in the shoot-out and the Rec goes wild. But the league is the priority and the Shots maintain their huge lead with a nervous 2-1 home win over Salisbury and, three days later at Ebbsfleet, two John Grant goals for a while have them up into the Football League. But Torquay recover elsewhere and then keep up the chase with a win at Stevenage, when the Shots edge past Burton Albion 1-0 at home, thanks to Elvins. And so to Exeter on April 15. The Shots need a point to clinch promotion and the title and, thanks to Donnelly's equaliser and Bull's late, great save, they are there. Cue celebrations long into the night, as fans, players, management and the board mingle as one. Aldershot football is back where it belongs and, a week later, captain Rhys Day proudly lifts the trophy in front of nearly 6,000 fans at the Rec. Next stop for Aldershot: League Two. The dream has come true.
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