Mitch Young has identified North London Raiders B and Los Blancos as the biggest obstacles standing between FC TEAM B and back to back titles.
Young has kept the squad that won Division Two last season intact and he welcomes back James Korn, Jake Weiner and Gideon Moss.
He said: “We hope to challenge for the title in what is always a very tough division to get out of. We aim to score a lot of goals and concede very few.”
Young is blessed with a plethora of attacking options, including Ben Binder, Andy Sheena, Richard Salmon and Lorian Madanes, who chipped in with 20 goals and 20 assists last year.
“Raiders will be there or thereabouts, while Woodford are a danger, and I was impressed by Los Blancos who we beat in the final,” said Young.
REAL SOSOBAD'S Dan Shafron is confident his troops can “build on a very positive debut season and solidify our status in the first division”. Captained by Scott Shear, Shafron is relishing two derbies against rivals Woodford. He said: “I would like for us to have a real go at both cup competitions too.”
Jason Stein has revamped his OAKWOOD B squad with 12 players joining the fray. He is confident the team will be “competitive” in the division after accepting promotion as a result of a league restructure.
Asked which one excites him most, he replied: “That’s like asking me to choose between Shavuot cheesecake or Chanukah doughnuts. They’ve all got great potential to take us forward.”
Jacob Richler Kleiman is the “one to watch” although Stein believes that having scored 25 goals last season, “he’s put a target on his back, but I know he’ll handle that”.
Consolidation is the name of the game for LONDON ROVERS , according to manager Jeremy Brown, following double promotion.
“Due to the restructure of the league this season, we find ourselves playing in a more advanced division than expected,” he said.
“We had a fantastic season last year and as a new team, we were hoping to progress as standard.”
Brown predicts big things from new goalkeeper David Green and Phil Braham, along with Josh Bharier, Yisroel Lewis and Aron Luftig. Brown believes the biggest threat will come from FC Team B and NLR B, and said: “Division One has some very good experienced teams who play an advanced brand of football and we now have to make sure we are able to compete with that.
“Our aim initially has to be to establish ourselves in that division and make sure we stay as close to the top half of the table as possible.
“We hope to see Avi Markiewicz in the same form as last season to help fire us to a successful season. We will be difficult to beat and give opponents lots to worry about going forward.”
Jason Goldstein has taken charge at Redbridge B and although they have some of the best resources in the league, club secretary Richard Bronzite insists they “will take it one game at a time”.
Brady Maccabi’s Josh Dagul is over the disappointment of last season failed promotion bid. He says his squad is “rejuvenated” after freshening things up and has promised his players will entertain.
Los Blancos have been boosted by the arrival of Adam and James Balchak plus Saul Hoyland and Simon Cohen. Jon Ison believes promotion will be "a tough ask and a good start is important".
set to be boosted by the return of former Young Player of the Year Jono Gaon, but manager Joel Minsky is concerned by the threat of the newly promoted teams.
Joe Levy has overseen a major restructuring at Faithfold B, but he is keeping his cards close to his chest in terms of new personnel ahead of Sunday’s kick-off.
“I’m going to say very little and let the football do the talking,” said Levy.
Having struck gold in Berlin, Ricky Lawrence hopes to work his magic with SPEC FC . “We hope to be challenging at the right end of the table,” he said.
“Mid-table would be no disgrace but we’d rather not be in another relegation battle. However the strength of the division will make that tough.”
New recruits include Sam and Simon Roth from Athletic Bilbaum along with Alex Hershman from Raiders. Youngsters Zack Neiman and Ben Myers have also joined the squad.
“All of the new boys offer something a little bit different, be it youth, versatility, an eye for a goal or a little bit of craziness,” said Lawrence. James Lesner has been released after moving to Amsterdam.
Elliot Wallis is the one to watch. “He can score goals out of nothing,” said Lawrence. “Neiman has impressed in pre-season too.”
North London Raiders B, Woodford Wanderers and Brixton Old Boys complete the line-up.
