IAN Chandler doesn’t dwell too long on the records being racked up at Whitley Bay. He’s too excited.
The 43-year-old is the only man ever to win the FA Vase as both player and manager, while his Seahorses side are the first to reach three successive Vase finals at Wembley. Beat Coalville Town tomorrow and they will be the first club to win three in a row, and four in total.
A host of other records have been claimed, others are waiting to be, but Chandler insists they are for reflection on another day.
Winning is all that matters, and for the Whitley boss, the excitement of 2009 is stirring once more. Then, everything was new – from Wembley to a good night out in Watford. Suits were a treat, dance-off DVDs produced.
Twelve months later, though far from jaded by and in no way ungrateful for a similar experience, the absence of any novelty factor made it, for Chandler, a little less special.
Now though, thanks to half a new team, a full and voracious appetite for ‘his’ competition has been restored, and he means to satisfy it.
“We always talk about 2008,” Chandler said. “We’ve had the pain and now, two years running we’ve had the pleasure. We just have to keep plugging away and hope we have it a third time.
“The difference this year is that we’ve got half a new team so they haven’t experienced that pain.
“The foundations were always there, it’s just been a case of picking up the odd player here or there and the ones we’ve got aren’t bad players.
“Gareth Williams was captain of Blyth Spartans, Gary Ormston and David Pounder have come in from Consett and been fantastic, Steve Gibson was captain of Chertsey Town and then there’s the two warhorses Brian Smith and Brian Rowe.
“They’ve fitted in really well, which we knew they would.
“I’m particularly pleased for the two Brians, who missed out in 2008 and then left the club. When they returned, you’d never have thought we’d be going back to Wembley, because we were rebuilding. So it’s extra-special for them, they’ve played a long time and deserve their day out. This year’s extra special in that respect, having six new players.
“You could see from the way they celebrated after we beat Poole Town how excited they are, and it’s made the rest of us all the more excited.
Last year 90 per cent of the lads had been there the year before, and it wasn’t quite the same. It was still a great achievement. But it didn’t have the novelty factor of the first year, so didn’t feel quite as special. Now we’ve got the feeling of the first year back, and we can’t wait.
“The lads are fine fitness-wise. Performances on the pitch have dipped a little bit here and there lately, we haven’t fired like we had been but we’ve been grinding out results, so we’re still positive.
“We’ve had a lot of games and tried to keep the lads as fresh as we can, and on their toes.
“It’s been similar to last season, in that we weren’t playing well until the final and then put six in. So we know we can do it. It’s just unbelievable that we’re going back again, we can’t wait.
“It’s nice to rack up the records, although it’ll probably be more special later on in life when we’re looking back, but at the minute we just want to get out there and enjoy the occasion. The records are great but I don’t think a lot about them, it’s all about winning.”
