Well, after the agony of relegation last season, we dried our tears and started to look forward. And as players left new ones were drafted in and we saw the team being rebuilt before our eyes.
The season started off well with some good wins and we were up there with the front runners at the top of the league.
Beating old rivals Skegby Colts in a morale-boosting 5-2 victory was to be a guide to our progress as a club.
But two bad defeats against Worksop Town and a few shaky games saw the league challenge start to faltered. The Gladiators were yo-yo-ing up and down for the first half of the season.
However, we all knew we had a great group of players and on November 16th 2007, Glapwell Gladiators rewrote the history books. And the lads earned themselves some serious bragging rights when they won 2-0, which brought Worksop Town’s two year unbeaten record to an end. Talk about 3rd time lucky?
Yet despite this amazing performance, by Xmas we saw the Gladiators slide down the table to 6th position. Only 10 points out of 9 games.
I’d just like to cast everyone’s minds back to January 2008 for a moment.
“9 games left to play, the second half of the season starts HERE!!” said the match report.
And if it’d have said that 5 months later we would be one point of 2nd place in the league, we’d have said, “Stop dreaming and wake up to reality.”
7 back to back games unbeaten, it truly was a season of two halves. The winning run was fantastic; and Glapwell were banging the goals in like there was no tomorrow. 35 goals in six games, the Gladiators were playing some fantastic football and the team showed themselves to be a match for all opposition.
19 points from a possible 21.
The magnitude of the team's achievement is further shown by the fact that by this stage of the season, two of the other teams that went down with us last season, one was now relegated and another and our arch-rivals were just above the relegation trapdoor. In terms of both results and banter, we truly did do, ‘An Italian Job’ and a league double over them. Which saw the Gladiators leapfrog them in their own back yard
And what can be said without fear of contradiction, when a 10 men side took on Hucknall Warriors. A truly AWESOME display saw the Gladiators move into 3rd spot. And a day when the critics had to eat huge slices of humble pie.
Glapwell were now 8 points clear of the chasing pack, and although the title race was over, two teams now stood between Glapwell and the "best of the rest" title.
And 2nd placed Welbeck Welfare defiantly had their Keeper to thank for keeping the scoreline down as the Gladiators demolished them with a 4-1 win.
Glapwell were three wins away from finishing 2nd in the league and guaranteed promotion.
But, Football is like a box of chocolates! No matter how much you love 'em, there is always a bloody Coffee Cream!!
But sadly there was no happy league ending this time. But like the saying goes "what does not kill you will make you stronger".
And 3 days later, the scenes of celebration around Hall Corner was a magnificent sight when the U12s lifted the trophy and were crowned this year’s U12s champions in the 6 a-side Tournament at Glapwell Football Festival.
So there you have it - a taster of the emotional roller coaster suffered this season.
The team now goes into the new adventure as U13s on the back of a truly stunning U12s season.
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