REVIEW OF THE SEASON, 2006-07

Above: The season started well against Stevenage Borough as Steve Aspinall netted from the spot to make it 2-0; the game finished 2-1..

In 2005-06 survival in the Conference, on the pitch, where Alty finished 18th, was ruined by the off -field furore about James Robinson's registration. The deduction of 18 points deprived the club and its supporters of the pleasure they deserved for having survived as a part-time team in a full-time division. In 2006-07 Altrincham again flirted with relegation. They had again looked safe in the Spring - lying 13th in late March but, as always seems to happen when Alty finish in a relegation spot, a disappointing run-in saw them fall into the drop-zoneon the last day of the season. But this time, Boston United's demise saved Altrincham to fight another campaign in the top flight in 2007-08.

Despite finishing in a relegation place, by most statistical markers, it was a better season on the pitch in 2006-07 for Altrincham than it was in 2005-06 - out of 46 matches Alty only lost the same number of games (21) as in the 42-game season of 2005-06; with the extra four games they won three and drew one more game than in 2005-06. They also scored 13 more goals and conceded four fewer times than last season. And, yet Alty still would have gone down, but for Boston, because there were four relegation slots in 2006-07. It was also another disappointing season in cup competitions.

Off the field, the club's Board continued its excellent work and, aided by the supporters' trust, STAR, it chipped away steadily at the inherited debt whilst keeping within a sensible budget for the year. The strengthening of what had been a three-man Board also bodes well for the future.

This was the first time that Altrincham had played a 46-match league season. Points were gained reasonably evenly with 25 earned in the first half of the campaign and 26 in the second. Likewise, in 2005-06, 21 points came from the first half of the 42-game season and 20 from the latter half. Below is the record for each half of the 2006-07 season. Almost twice as many goals were scored by Alty in the first half of the season compared with last season.

Below is Alty's league record since 1998-99. For Alty's historical league record (excluding play-offs), click here

* 2005-06 Alty's deduction of 18 points reduced their official total to 23 points and sent them to 22nd and bottom place.

Only 25 players took part in Alty's Conference matches in 2006-07 compared with 31 in the shorter 2005-06 season. In 2006-07 two other players, Paul Collins and George Melling, were named on the bench (away at Forest Green Rovers) but never played. These totals compare with the 43 players used as recently as 2002-03.

Alty did the league double over two teams in 2006-07, Stevenage Borough and St Albans City, but this was better than the previous season when they managed only one double, versus Aldershot Town. Eight teams did the league double over Alty in 2006-07. Dagenham & Redbridge, York City, Exeter City, Burton Albion, Gravesend & Northfleet, Kidderminster Harriers, Woking and Stafford Rangers. Five clubs beat Alty twice in the league in 2005-06 (Accrington, Halifax, York, Burton and Woking - all top eleven finishers). In 2006-07 Alty lost just 6 games to teams finishing in the bottom half of the table, compared with 5 in 2005-06 when the division was smaller.

Once again, it was a disappointing season in cup competitions. Alty went out of the Cheshire Senior Cup, the FA Cup and the Trophy at the first hurdle. The brightest cup moment, ironically, came in the fog at Tamworth where Alty led 2-1 at half-time only for the game to be abandoned. With 46 league games, Alty therefore played 50 competitive matches in 2006-07 (discounting the abandoned game). In 2005-06 Alty were likewise knocked out of the Trophy and FA Cup at the first hurdle but lasted two rounds in the Cheshire Senior Cup, so only played 46 competitive games whereas they played 59 competitive games (45 league and 14 cup) in 2004-05 and to 54 (44 league and 10 cup) the previous campaign.

Leading appearances in 2006-07 came from:

In 2006-07 Danny Heffernan and goalkeeper Anthony Cummins were both registered as Conference players but were never named in the first-team squad whilst, as previously mentioned, both George Melling and Paul Collins were named as subs but never got on the pitch. In the Conference, three players made appearances as subs but never actually started a league game, they were Eddie Hussin, Lee Hendley and Justin Bowler. Bowler and Hendley did each make one start for Alty but these matches were in cup competitions. Players making the most league appearances from the bench were Rod Thornley (20) and Pat McFadden (19). Kieran Lugsden brought his career total of sub appearances to 71 in 2006-07, a record for the club.

Above: Lewis Chalmers celebrates his goal against Exeter City.

Lewis Chalmers, a graduate of the youth and reserve teams cemented his place in the first-team in 2006-07 and was also capped by the National Game XI. Other youth team graduates to play first-team football in 2006-07 were Kieran Lugsden and Lee Hendley, whilst Pat McFadden continued his development from the reserve team.

GOALSCORERS .

In 2006-07 Altrincham scored 55 goals, 53 of them in the 46 league matches. At home they scored 28 times and away 25 times. They failed to score in 15 league matches in 2006-07 and twice more in cup games. Alty scored in 9 league games which they went on to lose and did the same twice in cup games i.e. scored but were defeated. In 2005-06 only at Exeter and Woking did Alty score and lose.

14 different players scored league goals (excluding 2 own goals from opponents). Of the outfield players, the one to play most games without scoring was Peter Band (36+3).

In 2005-06 Alty scored just 40 league goals (from 42 games) and 5 cup goals in 46 league and cup matches. Alty failed to score in 18 league matches in 2005-06. In 2005-06 twelve different Alty players scored in the Conference whereas 16 different Alty players scored in the league in 2004-05 compared with 19 in 2003-04..

Colin Little (right) was top scorer in 2006-07, for the third year running, netting 13 goals, all but one in the league. He netted 17 goals in 2005-06, all in the league. In season 2004-05 he scored 24 league goals and 14 in the cup, making 38 in all. Second top scorer in 2006-07 was Joe O'Neill with 8 goals, (7 in the league).

In 2006-07, in the league Altrincham scored 30 first-half goals and 23 in the second half. Five goals came in added time at the end of a half, three times this was the first-half and twice in the second period.

In 2005-06 Altrincham netted 20 first-half league goals and 20 in the second half, compared with 2004-05's totals of 27 first-half goals and 43 second-half in the league and 2 extra-time goals in the play-offs. Five goals were scored in added time either at the end of the first half (twice) or after 90 minutes (3 times).

During 2006-07 Altrincham's most prolific periods were the first 10 minutes when they scored 10 times.Next best periods were the last ten minutes and the ten minutes before the half-hour, in each of which they scored 9 times.

League game goal times are shown below. Because of added time the periods 41-50 and 81-90 actually contain more time than the other time slots. 2005-06 times are shown in square brackets; 2004-05 totals are shown in round brackets:

Right: Warren Peyton, Stephen Rose, Karl Munroe and Richard Acton keep Tamworth at bay in September at Moss Lane.

Altrincham's discipline improved in 2006-07 with 72 yellows and 3 reds picked up in 46 matches compared with 83 league yellow cards and 4 reds in 42 Conference matches in 2005-06. In cup matches Alty picked up 5 yellow cards compared with 4 in cup matches last season. Recipients of red cards in 2006-07 were Little, Owen and Rose. In 2005-06 Band, Maddox, Munroe and Peyton were the Alty players sent off.

In 2006-07 the player with most yellow cards was Karl Munroe with 14 (13 in league), followed by Steve Aspinall with 9 (in the league). In 2005-06 those receiving the most yellow cards were Mark Maddox 9 (8 in the league), Val Owen 8 (all league), Chris Adams and Colin Potts 7 each, Warren Peyton 6 and Karl Munroe 5.

Alty's longest run without a league defeat in 2006-07 was 5 (1 win and 4 draws from game no. 10 to 14 of the season, inclusive). From game 34 to 39 Alty won five and lost one of the six games in question, with 3 successive wins being the best sequence. Alty lost 4 games on the run (matches 27-30) which was their worst pointless sequence.

In 2005-06 Alty's longest run without defeat was four games, achieved twice - 3 wins and a draw in August/September and 3 draws and a win around Christmas/New Year. Alty's longest league run without defeat in the league in 2004-05 was 12 matches (games 19-30) compared with a maximum run of 6 in 2003-04.

Alty won only one of their last seven games of the 2006-07 season. In 2005-06 they won only one of their last 13 league games, picking up just 5 points out of a possible 39 in these games. The worst run of consecutive defeats in 2005-06 was four, the last four games of the season. These years contrast with the 2004-05 season which ended with a run of just one defeat in 11 matches.

GATES

Alty's biggest home league gate was 2,330 versus Northwich Victoria. Their lowest was 829 versus Grays Athletic on a Tuesday night. Overall, home gates improved further on the sizeable rise experienced in 2005-06. The average home gate in 2006-07 was 1,166. The average home gate in 2005-06 was 1,048 whereas the league average gate at Moss Lane was just 665 in 2004-05 (up from 584 in 2003-04). In 2005/06 the lowest home gate was 688 v Gravesend and Northfleet.

The highest away league gate in 2006-07 was 5,938 at Oxford United. The lowest gate for an Alty away game was 680, at St Albans City. In 2005-06 the highest was 3,134 at Exeter City and the lowest away gate was 835 at Canvey Island, which was a lunchtime kick-off.

But in 2006-07 cup matches, just 140 watched Alty lose to Chester City in the Cheshire Senior Cup, compared with last season's 151 who attended the Woodley Sports v Alty's Cheshire Senior Cup match.