I've worked hard to be a Ryman League manager, says VCD Athletic boss Tony Russell

VCD ATHLETIC manager Tony Russell says he is buzzing at the prospect of managing in the Ryman League this season.


The Crayford-based club clinched promotion after finishing runners-up to Erith & Belvedere in a gripping Kent League title race.

Vickers’ kick-off their Ryman League Division One North campaign with a trip to Waltham Forest on 10 August, before welcoming Tilbury to Oakwood three days’ later.

Both promoted clubs have been placed in the Northern Division, but Russell, 34, doesn’t mind.

“It doesn’t bother me,” he said.  “It’s just as much travelling (as the South Division).

“I was looking at it, working it out. You’ve got Soham, Wroxham, Needham Market, Dereham, Sudbury, there’s five and the rest of them are in (and around) Essex.

“We’re right by the Dartford tunnel.  Playing in the South we have to go to Burgess Hill.  To me it’s much of a muchness. The South is much more glamorous in terms of the grounds down by the coast, the crowds where in the North if you look at it there’s only one or two that get decent crowds.”

Russell is relishing the opportunity of managing in the Ryman League – after making the decision to quit Erith Town on 27 October 2012 with the Dockers sitting proudly at the top of the Kent League table, with VCD Athletic lagging behind.

“To be a Ryman League manager, I’m buzzing for that,” he said.

“To be fair I’ve worked hard for it. I had a massive decision last year to make. Obviously when they came in for me I was sitting top of the league and I had a call from a chairman who was in fifth-place.

“I said to Razor (assistant manager Ray Powell) at the time that could be the thing that we give up what we were trying to do. I didn’t want to do no more than that.

“I won 27 league games last year, more than any manager in that league, so I’ve earnt that right to get out of that league.  People talk about cups. I don’t care! It’s about progression.  I’m about to walk out to be a Ryman League manager.”

When asked about aspirations for the season ahead, Russell said: “Just to learn.  The apprenticeship is over, that’s the way that I look at it.

“I think I’ve done alright as a manager.  I’m only two and a bit years’ into it and I’ve got a system now and it’s working. When you win 27 games in a league season it tells me that it’s working.

“I know there’s better managers with bigger reputations than me gone in. You can only look at Simon (Halsey) at Herne Bay. He came out of this league getting carried on people’s shoulders, getting to the semi-finals of the Vase and a year later got sacked because they were struggling (in Ryman One South), so I understand how hard it’s going to be.

“The chairman’s been honest and upfront. He said there’s not an influx of money. We’re working with the same I had last year, which is fine.  I wouldn’t want him to overstretch it. It is what it is and we’ll get on with it.”

When asked which part of the league table Russell sees the club upon their Ryman League return Russell said: “I want to win every game. I’m so greedy and if I don’t win it, if I don’t win a game of football, it winds me up and I go away and think about it and work hard in training.

“I want to win every game.  I remember you asked me last year when I was at Erith Town and were five points clear and you said can you win the league?  I just want to win the next game.  I don’t think you can look too far!

“We have to adapt now because we’re not playing Saturday’s, we’re playing two games a week and it’s a sixty game a season and you have to manage a squad so I’m pretty sure I’m going to make loads of mistakes, but the plan is we’ll ask the players and myself and we’ll learn from it.

“I’d like to think this time next year I’d be a better manager and I was.  I’ve improved every year.”

VCD Athletic continue their pre-season campaign with a home game against Kent Invicta League side Sutton Athletic on Tuesday evening, before making the long trip to Warrington Town next Saturday for a team bonding exercise.

Visit VCD Athletic’s website:   www.vcdathletic.co.uk