(Image: Salford bosses Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson)
By Alex Narey
Saturday, March 24, and with 11 minutes remaining of Salford's visit to Kidderminster, the Ammies' promotion dream is fading away. Beaten and shell-shocked, a 4-0 scoreline means it's damage limitation. There can be no way back from here…
“It's the worst I have seen us play,” says Anthony Johnson, the Salford joint boss, as we speak this week.
“In fact, it's the biggest pasting in my managerial career. When you're losing a game like that, when you're supposed to be a top side and you're being turned over by another of the top sides, it all falls on you.”
This was new territory for Salford. Throughout a stormy campaign they had traded blows almost like-for-like with Harrogate Town. Starting the season with a defeat at home to Darlington, the wake-up call was followed with an 11-game unbeaten run.
But despite pulling away from their rivals and opening up a nine-point gap by December, the Yorkshire side had reeled them back by the turn of the year and as Salford rolled down the M6 to take on Kiddy, their position at the summit of National North was looking perilous, with only three points keeping a goal-hungry Town at bay.
Then came 15 minutes of footballing madness, as Johnson went from seeing his side mauled to pieces to then making a statement that the title was theirs!
Goals from Josh Askew, Nick Haughton and Mani Dieseruvwe sent panic into the Kiddy legs, before Tom Walker's 96th-minute equaliser from the spot grabbed a point that kept Salford top just as Harrogate looked like knocking them from their perch. After that, there would be no looking back in the race for the title.
Emotions
“I might get in trouble for this,” says Johnson. “I am married and I have three kids, but that feeling when we equalised against Kiddy, for 15 seconds, I have never felt anything like it in my life.
“I have had five promotions, but nothing tops that feeling. That was when I knew we would win the league. I just knew we wouldn't lose it from there because that is a true sign of what champions do!”
Amongst all the hullabaloo, it's easy to lose sight of Salford's achievements under Johnson and his co-boss and partner in crime, Bernard Morley. In a little over three years, they have lifted the club from the Northern Premier's Step 4 branch to the heady heights of the National League.
Thrust into the spotlight with the ownership and backing of the Class of 92, critics have pointed to an over-inflated budget, claiming the club is able to cherry-pick the best talent to meet its objectives. Indeed, Non-league purists have been quick to spit their venom, with accusations of buying the title and creating an uneven playing field in the division.
But let's not forget, there is a success story here; Salford have recruited two of Non-league's most promising gaffers whose knowledge of the landscape proved so crucial to the club's rise as they wrapped up the National North title last weekend, despite losing 2-1 at home to Boston. Given a chance, the boys have grabbed it with both hands.
“The pressure was immense,” says Johnson. “Every team wanted to beat us. They see we are in the spotlight with the owners and the documentary, and they just want to roll us over.
“But the biggest thing for me and Bern is our winning mentality. We do this to win, that's what it is all about!
“The National North is such a tough league. Just look at the clubs down there, the likes of Stockport and York. Yes, Salford have a budget but let's not kid ourselves, it's a ‘money league'. There are a lot of clubs punching away with healthy budgets.”
Johnson admits the building blocks are already being put in place for next season's assault on the National League, claiming the club's lofty ambitions will continue as they target the next step into the Football League. Making up the numbers and going through the motions?
That's not Salford's style, and it certainly isn't Johnson or Morley's…
“We expect to win the National League. It's all about winning and this club expects that. So there's more pressure right there, but that's what we want.”
As for those critics, Salford are only here to win titles. If they win some friends along the way, then so be it, but Johnson isn't losing much sleep…
“It makes my weekend, all the abuse we receive on Twitter,” he laughs. “There is nothing better than sitting back on a Saturday night with a glass of wine and three points in the bag. Me and the wife have a right laugh. People just hate winners, don't they!”
*This article originally featured in The @NonLeaguePaper which is available every Sunday and Monday
For all the latest news, interviews, features and match reports from Steps 1 to 6, with exclusive access and behind the scenes news from your club throughout the summer, become a subscriber to The Non-League Paper, here: http://bit.ly/NLP-Sub
