It’s been a rapid rise for Sporting Club Inkberrow.
The village club, located in the Worcestershire countryside with a population of less than 2,000, have gone from Step 7 to Step 4 in successive seasons and what makes this story even more romantic is that 70% of the current squad have been on every part of that journey and are ready to test themselves in the Pitching In Southern League Division One South.
A third place finish in the Hellenic League Premier Division at the end of last term saw them qualify for the play-offs as Clanfield and Malmesbury Victoria were beaten to create history and another exciting chapter.
“It’s the third season in a row where we will be playing in a new League for the first-ever time,” said Head Coach, Umit Eminoglu, whose own playing career saw him play professionally in Turkey. “We’re naturally excited and we’ve been taking time to learn about the teams and players that we will be coming up against.
“We have 70% of current squad who have risen through the levels with us. We’re extremely proud of the youth pathway that we have here; it’s so important to us and will be further enhanced by a brand new nine-a-side astro turf pitch at the ground.
“Producing players internally is the way we have to go. In terms of playing budget, ours was one of the smaller budgets at Step 5 last season, so the need to develop and nurture our own players is essential and it is something that we have done well in recent years.
“The way in which we have developed and grown as a club both on and off the field is there for all to see. Last season was pretty much perfect in the way that it panned out; we challenged at the right end of the table throughout, broke our home attendance record a couple of times, played in the FA Cup for the first time and, of course, topped it all off with promotion.
“It was a fantastic experience for me personally too as nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing these young players continue to progress together and achieve success.
“I’ll be looking for this to continue at the higher level. We have a flexible approach to games; we don’t necessarily have set philosophies, there are things we do no matter what the playing style, formation or personnel and then there are things we tweak game to game depending on the circumstances.
“The aims and targets going into the season ahead will be the same as they have been for the past few years – to train and prepare correctly for each game and try to win. If you achieve this more times than you don’t, you will be okay.
“There were no targets set ahead of last term in terms of points or position and it will be the same this time around. We’ll just take things a game at a time, try to win every time we step onto the pitch and see where it takes us.
“It’s something that has worked well as three promotions in a row would suggest, but we’re under no illusions about how big this step up will be.
“We’ve decided to go for a tough pre-season schedule so that we can see at first-hand the kind of levels that we need to reach as a group, on and off the pitch.
“We’re playing three Step 3 teams in Evesham United, Rushall Olympic and Redditch United, a Step 2 team in Hereford and then the Walsall U18s plus two tough local sides in Worcester Raiders and Droitwich Spa, so it will be a good opportunity to see where we’re at in this type of company.”
We welcome Sporting Club Inkberrow into the Southern League.
IMAGE: Sporting Club Inkberrow
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