2009–10 Newport County A.F.C. season

The 2009–10 season was Newport County's sixth consecutive season in the Conference South and they had been ever-present since the introduction of the Conference North & South in 2004. As a result of the unbeaten run the previous season and the strength of manager Dean Holdsworth's summer signings, County were installed as second favourites to win the title.[1]

Newport County

2009–10 season
Chairman	Chris Blight
Manager	Dean Holdsworth
Stadium	Newport Stadium
Conference South	1st (promoted)
FA Cup	Third qualifying round
FA Trophy	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Craig Reid (24) All: Craig Reid (27)
Highest home attendance	4,221 vs Havant & Waterlooville (15 March 2010)
Lowest home attendance	1,042 vs Chelmsford City (22 August 2009)
Average home league attendance	1,842
Home colours Away colours

Newport County attained promotion to the Conference National for the 2010–11 season on 15 March 2010 with seven league games remaining following a 2–0 victory over Havant & Waterlooville. In doing so County became the first team in the English football pyramid system to be promoted in the 2009–10 season.

Season review

League

The season began with optimism that the unbeaten run at the end of the previous season could be maintained. Former manager Tim Harris returned to the club on 7 May as General Manager citing "unfinished business".[2]

The season began with a win and three draws, County finding themselves in 11th position, although with the unbeaten run from the previous season intact. The next five consecutive games were won, with County briefly going top of the table on 5 September although they were knocked off when Dover Athletic won an extra mid-week game. The chance to return to the top on the 16th was surprisingly missed when County could only draw with bottom-placed Weymouth despite taking the lead in the second minute. The next three games were won however, with County going top on 3 October.

The 20-match unbeaten run finally came to an end against mid-table Staines Town on 27 October. Staines won the game 1–0 although County goalkeeper Glyn Thompson spurned the chance to equalise when his last-minute header came back off the post![3] As second-placed Dover had also lost, County maintained their top spot.

Of the next 18 games, 15 were won and only three drawn, with County extending their lead at the top of the table.

The run-in

Moving into March 2010, with 32 games played and County already 24 points clear of then second-placed Chelmsford City the winning post came into view. With 79 points in the bag, the most any of the chasing pack could achieve was 85. Newport travelled to bottom-placed Weymouth and duly recorded a 3–1 win. With Chelmsford also winning, the target was still 86. This set up the Friday and Monday games of the 12 and 15 March as the potential championship-winning games. A minimum of four points from those two games would have been enough to see County mathematically promoted to the Conference National irrespective of other results.

A then-record Newport Stadium league crowd witnessed a County victory in the Bishop's Stortford game, setting up the Havant & Waterlooville game as the decider. Despite only needing a point to seal the championship, that game was also won in front of new record crowd, sealing promotion in emphatic style.[4]

The following match away to Thurrock, County suffered only their second defeat of the season, despite again taking an early lead. The next three games were won however before Havant & Waterlooville inflicted revenge for their 2–0 defeat in the championship-winning game by thumping County 4–0, their worst defeat since Bath City won by the same scoreline over a year previously!

First half action vs Dover Athletic

The final home game

The Conference South trophy was to be presented at the final home game against Dover Athletic. Early on in the season this was thought to be the potential championship-deciding match, but instead it turned into a victory parade for County. Another bumper crowd witnessed a 3–0 victory, finishing off the home season unbeaten and taking the team to the 100-point mark.

The following day the team set off on an open-top bus from Newport Stadium to the Civic Centre for a civic reception with the Mayor of Newport.[5]

The final away game

Although there was nothing for County to play for, the game away at Braintree Town was pivotal to the home side's chances of securing a spot in the play-offs. Going into the game a draw would have been enough to maintain fifth place for the home side, but their play-off hopes were effectively over after just eleven minutes. Two early goals for County seemed to have wrapped the game up, but a controversial penalty decision in the 54th minute saw Braintree back in the game and playing the last half an hour against ten men. County held on for a 2–1 victory though to deny Braintree a play-off spot and become the most successful team in the Football Conference's 31-year history.[6]

Craig Reid finished season as Conference South top scorer with 24 goals for Newport County.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
42	32	7	3	93	26	+67	103	18	3	0	50	8	+42	14	4	3	43	18	+25

Last updated: 24 Apr 2010.
Source:

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Ground	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A
Result	D	W	D	D	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	W
Position	12	5	11	11	7	4	3	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Updated to match(es) played on 24 Apr 2010. Source: statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Squad statistics

(Substitute appearances in brackets)

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		FA Trophy		Other cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
MF	Takumi Ake	3 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3 (3)	0
DF	Paul Bignot	37 (0)	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	41 (0)	0
GK	Keiron Blackburn	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1 (1)	0
FW	Jason Bradley	4 (2)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4 (2)	1
DF	Paul Cochlin	29 (3)	4	1 (1)	0	3 (1)	0	0	0	33 (4)	4
DF	Gary Colbourne	0 (1)	0	1 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	2 (1)	0
DF	Jamie Collins	28 (0)	4	0	0	4	0	0	0	32 (0)	4
DF	Aaron Cook	10 (1)	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	12 (1)	0
MF	Kevin Cooper	4 (1)	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	6 (1)	1
MF	James Coutts	1 (3)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2 (3)	0
FW	Jamie Davies	0 (0)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0 (0)	0
MF	Nathan Davies	0 (3)	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1 (3)	1
MF	Sam Deering	1 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 (3)	0
FW	Stuart Douglas	2 (5)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2 (5)	1
FW	Sam Foley	32 (6)	17	1 (1)	0	3 (1)	0	0	0	36 (8)	17
DF	Martyn Giles	13 (1)	1	1	0	0 (2)	0	0	0	14 (2)	1
FW	Dave Gilroy	7 (15)	5	2	0	1 (1)	1	0	0	10 (16)	6
MF	Josh Hartrick	0 (2)	0	0	0	0 (2)	0	0	0	0 (4)	0
MF	Charlie Henry	27 (8)	9	1 (1)	0	2 (1)	1	0	0	30 (9)	10
FW	Ashan Holgate	5 (5)	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	7 (5)	1
MF	Kris Leek	1 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 (3)	0
FW	Kerry Morgan	17 (12)	6	0	0	3	1	0	0	20 (12)	7
DF	Aaron Morris	2 (3)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4 (3)	0
MF	Ashley Nicholls	2 (4)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2 (4)	0
DF	Anthony Peters	0 (2)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0	0	0 (3)	0
FW	Craig Reid	37 (3)	24	1 (1)	2	4	1	0	0	42 (4)	27
MF	Scott Rogers	33 (8)	2	1 (1)	0	2 (1)	0	0	0	36 (9)	2
MF	Danny Rose	35 (3)	8	2	0	3 (1)	0	0	0	40 (4)	8
DF	Alton Thelwell	5 (1)	0	0 (1)	0	1	0	0	0	6 (2)	0
GK	Glyn Thompson	42 (0)	0	2	0	4	0	1	0	48 (0)	0
DF	Chris Todd	12 (4)	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	12 (4)	3
MF	Wayne Turk	36 (3)	1	1 (1)	0	4	0	0	0	41 (4)	1
DF	Gary Warren	36 (1)	5	0	0	4	0	0	0	40 (1)	5

Loan players

Loans in

Date	Player	From	Until	Notes
17 August 2009	Jason Bradley	Mansfield Town	October 2009
10 September 2009	Sam Deering	Oxford United	October 2009
15 February 2010	Stuart Douglas	Bath City	March 2010
October 2009	Kerry Morgan	Swansea City	End of season
December 2009	Aaron Morris	Cardiff City	29 February 2010
December 2009	Ashley Nicholls	Bishop's Stortford	29 February 2010
January 2010	Chris Todd	Torquay United	End of season
25 March 2010	Ben Hunt	Bristol Rovers	End of season

Loans out

Date	Player	To	Until	Notes
August 2009	Scott Armitage	Merthyr Tydfil	End of season
November 2009	Gary Colborne	Clevedon Town	End of season
11 February 2010	Nathan Davies	Weymouth	March 2010
January 2010	Josh Hartrick	Haverfordwest County	??
October 2009	Dave Gilroy	Weston-super-Mare	15 November 2010
15 February 2010	Dave Gilroy	Bath City	March 2010
10 September 2009	Kris Leek	Merthyr Tydfil	End of season
??	Matt Smith	Cinderford Town	??

Managerial statistics

Only competitive games from the 2009–10 season are included.

Name	Nat.	From	To	Record								Honours
				PLD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W%
Dean Holdsworth		18 May 2008	—	48	35	8	5	101	31	+70	072.9	Manager of the Month, September, November, February; Conference South champions

Fixtures and results

Pre-season friendlies

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
14 Jul 2009	Merthyr Tydfil	Cwmbran Stadium	0–1		341
17 Jul 2009	Abergavenny Thursdays	Pen-Y-Pound Stadium	11–1	S.Armitage 4, K.Leek 2, D Maynard 2, P.Cochlin, J.Barrett, J.Davies	120
18 Jul 2009	Mansfield Town	Newport Stadium	0–2		558
21 Jul 2009	Caldicot Town	Jubilee Way	8–1	K.Cooper 2, S.Foley 2 (1P), D Gilroy, T.Ake, T.Piotrowski, D.Maynard	180
25 Jul 2009	Carmarthen Town	Cwmbran Stadium	3–2	S.Foley 2 (1P), J Hartrick	231
29 Jul 2009	Stoke City	Newport Stadium	2–0	D.Rose, P.Cochlin	603
31 Jul 2009	Leeds United	Newport Stadium	0–2		711
1 Aug 2009	Caerleon	Cold Bath Road	0–0		120

Conference South

Main article: 2009–10 Football Conference § Conference South

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
Sat 8 Aug 2009	Bishop's Stortford	A	0–0		704
Wed 12 Aug 2009	Hampton & Richmond Borough	H	3–1	P.Cochlin, D.Gilroy, S.Foley	1,185
Sat 15 Aug 2009	Lewes	H	2–2	S.Foley, D.Rose	1,201
Tue 18 Aug 2009	Dorchester Town	A	0–0		609
Sat 22 Aug 2009	Chelmsford City	H	4–0	S.Foley, K.Cooper, P.Cochlin, C.Reid	1,042
Sat 29 Aug 2009	Maidenhead United	A	3–1	J.Bradley, C.Reid, G.Warren	497
Mon 31 Aug 2009	Weston-super-Mare	H	2–0	C.Reid (P), D.Gilroy	1,404
Sat 5 Sep 2009	Welling United	A	2–0	C.Reid 2 (1P)	552
Sat 12 Sep 2009	Eastleigh	H	5–1	C.Reid 2, C.Henry, D.Rose, S.Foley	1,316
Wed 16 Sep 2009	Weymouth	H	1–1	C.Reid	1,509
Sat 19 Sep 2009	Woking	A	1–0	S.Foley	1,862
Sat 3 Oct 2009	Bath City	H	1–0	C.Henry	1,410
Sat 17 Oct 2009	St Albans City	A	1–0	C.Henry	581
Tue 27 Oct 2009	Staines Town	A	0–1		621
Sat 31 Oct 2009	Basingstoke Town	H	1–0	J.Collins	1,241
Sat 7 Nov 2009	Dover Athletic	A	2–1	C.Reid 2	1,680
Sun 15 Nov 2009	Bromley	H	2–0	D.Rose, K.Morgan	2,026
Sat 28 Nov 2009	Lewes	A	3–0	S.Rogers, K.Morgan, C.Henry	521
Sat 5 Dec 2009	Bath City	A	1–1	C.Reid (P)	1,404
Wed 9 Dec 2009	Thurrock	H	5–0	C.Reid 3 (1P), G.Warren, C.Henry	1,603
Sat 19 Dec 2009	Staines Town	H	1–0	C.Henry	1,460
Mon 28 Dec 2009	Dorchester Town	H	3–0	C.Reid 2, G.Warren	2,205
Fri 1 Jan 2010	Worcester City	H	1–0	S.Foley	2,525
Sat 23 Jan 2010	St Albans City	H	5–0	C.Reid 2, G.Warren, J.Collins, S.Foley	1,412
Sat 30 Jan 2010	Bromley	A	3–2	P.Cochlin, C.Henry, S.Foley	817
Sat 6 Feb 2010	Welling United	H	2–2	J.Collins, K.Morgan	1,449
Wed 10 Feb	Eastleigh	A	4–1	S.Foley 2, C.Reid (P), C.Henry (P)	745
Sat 13 Feb 2010	Chelmsford City	A	0–0		931
Sat 20 Feb 2010	Hampton & Richmond Borough	A	4–0	C.Reid 2 (1P), W.Turk, S.Foley	742
Mon 22 Feb 2010	Worcester City	A	4–1	C.Todd 2, C.Reid, S.Foley	1,017
Sat 27 Feb 2010	Braintree Town	H	1–0	S.Foley	2,117
Tue 2 Mar 2010	Basingstoke Town	A	5–1	D.Rose 2, S.Douglas, S.Foley, M.Giles	686
Sat 6 Mar 2010	Weymouth	A	3–1	K.Morgan, D.Rose, S.Foley	1,123
Fri 12 Mar 2010	Bishop's Stortford	H	1–0	K.Morgan	3,084
Mon 15 Mar 2010	Havant & Waterlooville	H	2–0	S.Foley 2	4,221
Sat 20 Mar 2010	Thurrock	A	1–2	G.Warren	406
Sat 27 Mar 2010	Woking	H	1–0	D.Gilroy	1,742
Sat 3 Apr 2010	Maidenhead United	H	4–1	D.Gilroy, C.Reid, D.Rose, S.Rogers	1,339
Tue 6 Apr 2010	Weston-super-Mare	A	4–1	C.Henry, D.Gilroy, P.Cochlin, C.Reid	807
Sat 10 Apr 2010	Havant & Waterlooville	A	0–4		1,020
Sat 17 Apr 2010	Dover Athletic	H	3–0	K.Morgan, C.Todd, D.Rose	3,201
Sat 24 Apr 2010	Braintree Town	A	2–1	J.Collins, P.Cochlin	1,187

FA Cup

Main article: 2009–10 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
2Q	26 Sep 2009	Clevedon Town	Hand Stadium	3–1	Reid 2 (1P), Davies	623
3Q	10 Oct 2009	Paulton Rovers	Winterfield Road	0–1		709

FA Trophy

Main article: 2009–10 FA Trophy

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
3Q	21 Nov 2009	Braintree Town	Newport Stadium	2–1	K.Morgan, D.Gilroy	684
1	12 Dec 2009	Farnborough	Cherrywood Road	3–1	C.Henry, A.Holgate, C.Reid	805
2	20 Jan 2010	York City	Newport Stadium	0–0		1,040
2r	26 Jan 2010	York City	Bootham Crescent	0–1		1,469

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Newport County	42	32	7	3	93	26	+67	103	Champions, promoted
2	Dover Athletic	42	22	9	11	66	47	+19	75	Play-offs
3	Chelmsford City	42	22	9	11	62	48	+14	75	Play-offs
4	Bath City	42	20	12	10	66	46	+20	72	Play-off winners, promoted
5	Woking	42	21	9	12	57	44	+13	72	Play-offs
6	Havant & Waterlooville	42	19	14	9	65	44	+21	71
7	Braintree Town	42	18	17	7	56	41	+15	71
8	Staines Town	42	18	13	11	59	40	+19	67
9	Welling United	42	18	9	15	66	51	+15	63
10	Thurrock	42	16	13	13	66	60	+6	61
11	Eastleigh	42	17	9	16	71	66	+5	60
12	Bromley	42	15	10	17	68	64	+4	55
13	St Albans City	42	15	10	17	45	55	−10	55
14	Hampton & Richmond Borough	42	14	9	19	56	66	−10	51
15	Basingstoke Town	42	13	10	19	49	68	−19	49
16	Maidenhead United	42	12	12	18	52	59	−7	48
17	Dorchester Town	42	13	9	20	56	74	−18	48
18	Bishop's Stortford	42	12	11	19	48	59	−11	47
19	Lewes	42	9	15	18	49	63	−14	42
20	Worcester City	42	10	10	22	48	60	−12	40	Reprieved from relegation, moved to Conference North
21	Weston-super-Mare	42	5	8	29	48	93	−45	23	Reprieved from relegation
22	Weymouth	42	5	7	30	31	103	−72	22	Relegated

Key
	Division Champions
	Promoted
	Into play-offs
	Relegated

Awards

• September manager of the month: Dean Holdsworth
• September player of the month: Craig Reid
• November manager of the month: Dean Holdsworth
• December player of the month: Charlie Henry
• January player of the month: Sam Foley
• February manager of the month: Dean Holdsworth

Records

This season the club set new Conference South records:

• Most clean sheets in a season: 23
• Consecutive games unbeaten: 21
• Consecutive home games unbeaten: 24
• Most points in a season: 103
• Most wins in a season: 32
• Fewest goals conceded: 26
• Fewest defeats: 3
• Newport Stadium league attendance: 4,221

External links

• Newport County AFC 2009-2010 : Results
• Newport County's results from season 2009/2010

References

1. "Newport County boss Dean Holdsworth fired up for new season". Western Mail. 1 July 2009.
2. Newport County A.F.C. "News Page 2009/2010". Retrieved 20 June 2010.
3. Newport County A.F.C. "Staines Town away match report". Retrieved 20 June 2010.
4. BBC Sport (15 March 2010). "Newport County 2–0 Havant & W". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
5. BBC News (18 April 2010). "Newport County's bus parade for promotion trophy". Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
6. Newport County A.F.C. "Braintree Town away match report". Retrieved 20 June 2010.