CHAMPIONS: O'Brien pays tribute to Darts travelling fans

DARTFORD SKIPPER Alex O’Brien, 31, paid tribute to the travelling supporters that have followed the champions around the "depths" of the Ryman League Division One North this season, writes Stephen McCartney.

At least 500 made the trip to Edgware Town yesterday and despite losing the game 2-1, courtesy of an injury time winner from Denis Maharjan, the Kent club celebrated the title with one game to spare.

An all-ticket crowd of over 2,000 is expected at Princes Park next Saturday, when O’Brien gets his hands on the championship winning trophy, after the Winggate & Finchley game.

“We’ve probably brought, what 500, here today in the deepest depths of Edgware and next week we’ll have even more, so long may it continue,” he told www.kentishfootball.co.uk as fans partied in the Edgware clubhouse.

“I’m sure it will get better next season and let’s just enjoy what we’ve enjoyed as a club and carry on.

“I’ve done it (won the league) before and it doesn’t sink in probably until two or three years down the line.

“The boys will have their week next week, we’ll all be elated and it’s not until you sit down and think what a season, what characters, fans, what great fans! Everything about the club this year has been spot on!”

The former Tonbridge Angels midfield rock, paid tribute to the club’s chairman, Mr Dave Skinner, who watched his beloved club seal the league title, despite recent ill-health.

“That just shows you the drive, the ambition,” said O’Brien. “People that are associated with the club, to have what he had to go through and still say “I want to be there, I want to be there.” That just drives the whole club on.

“He’s not the only one. There’s been other people who have been ill or whatever and they’ve come out off their beds to watch us - and we do know.

“It’s down to all those people that have walked through the turnstiles or logged onto computers or listened to radios. “It’s their time now. We’ve done our job - go and enjoy yourselves!

“Let’s just enjoy this win (league championship) - it’s for everybody involved with Dartford Football Club!”

When O’Brien signed from the Angels, he was expecting to be playing all those Kent derbies - but the club were switched to Ryman One North at the Ryman League AGM.

“People forget that we had to go into another league that we didn’t know and grind out results at places where people didn’t want to go to,” he said.

“To win any league is an achievement because you can go on good cup runs and have fantastic days out and this, that and another, but to win a league is a consistent win and that’s exactly what we’ve done.

“Of course it’s a highlight (in my career), it’s a fantastic highlight and to be associated with a club that has so many supporters, there’s not a non-league club where you think “what a buzz!”

“I know Wimbledon get people and this, that and the other, but the Dartford fans are fantastic and from myself - that’s for you lot!

“That’s (winning the title) is for all the fans that have gone to funny places in the snow and in the rain. Some of the venues that we’ve been at have not been the greatest, let’s be honest, and they’ve travelled.

O’Brien is, however, relishing pitting his wits in the Ryman Premier League next season - and all those mouth-watering Kentish derbies.

“I’m looking forward to next season, I just hope my legs look forward to it as much as it do!,” said the 31-year-old.

“We’ve missed a few derbies this year, I think that’s been a minus but next year we’ll be flooded with loads so they’ll be fantastic day’s out, big crowds, hopefully good games of football and a lot of wins.

“I’m sure (manager) Tony (Burman) will be looking to get players in and strengthen the squad, which you have to do when you go up, but I am already looking forward to it.”

O’Brien, who works for the Football Association in their customer service department, is certainly the Stuart Pearce type character both on and off the pitch.

“For me it comes natural to shout, scream and holler and I never try to put players down,” he said.

“I always try and gee them up and they do likewise to me. I just think I’m a little bit louder than others.

And O’Brien revealed that it was he that lifted the mood in the dressing room at the final whistle yesterday before telling his team-mates to get outside to join in with the promotion party with the hundreds of proud and jubilant travelling supporters.

He said: “The boys went in disappointed and I had to get them out to say “Look. It’s done! The job’s done!

“League tables don’t lie and when we open the papers tomorrow and there’s a “C” by Dartford as in the letter C, it’s all done and dusted and we can party.

“We’ve done it! We’ve achieved what we wanted to do. Tony sat us down, seems like ages ago, saying we need to win the league.

“Well, mark the day because we’ve done it today. Full stop!”

Losing at Edgware, however, doesn’t really matter and O’Brien agreed, saying: “If you look at it, I think the performance was poor. They were looking to get a play-off place, we were looking for a point and I think that’s probably got in people’s heads when we went 1-0 up (through Jay May’s 25^th minute opener), that we done it.”

Visit Dartford’s websites:  www.dartfordfc.co.uk & www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk