A combination of youth and experience will light up Sunday mornings in Division Two. Danny Caro gets up close and personal with the leading figures in the pursuit of greatness and silverware.
AC MILL HILL
Daniel Beresford admits he cannot wait to unleash his new-look strikeforce on Division Two defences following the arrival of Jamie Kent.
The ACM boss has high hopes going into the campaign and his pulling power has helped secure the services of Joel Lassman, Loz Bloom, Jeff Gotch and Darren Bloom.
But it is the partnership between Kent and Ben Zloof that excites him most. Beresford said: "They will be hard to match and with a solid backbone, led by captain Rob Kleinman, we won’t fear any side. In fact, I worry about how they might try and stop us."
FC TEAM B
Mitch Young is on the glory trail once again and he believes Team will be the side to beat in Division Two this season.
Drawing on the experience of a squad that has played several seasons in the Premier Division, Young has added Ben Binder and Daniel Breger to his pool of players, with Simon Peterman joining league champions Hendon.
"Ben is a superb young talent," said Young. "Watch for his name in the goal-scoring charts this year."
Young has tipped FC Team C to push the B’s close. "They have signed some superstars and if we finish above them we would have done well," he said.
OAKWOOD B
Replacing Ian Tussie will be a tough act to follow, but Ric Blank believes that he has found the right men to help take the Oaks forward in Jason Stein and Nicky Harris.
Tussie said: "Marc is taking charge as back problems forced him to retire, while Jason has just moved down from Manchester and already has the amateur football bug. He’s recently relocated from Manchester and will assist Marc along with the evergreen Nicky Harris who will hopefully be back playing before too long.
"They are top men who’ll get the B’s back playing with the spirit that was sorely missing last season."
The trio have been a recruitment drive and have acquired a good half-a-dozen players to push for promotion. "It’s not going to be easy – but that’s how it should be,” said Blank. “We’ll be up for every game and fiercely competitive."
FC TEAM C
David Gordon believes a top four finish would be a “bonus” ahead of Team's opener at home to Catford & Bromley Maccabi.
"The league is looking pretty strong this year so we want to make sure that we compete and do ourselves proud,” said Gordon.
Five players have joined a squad, with Paul Savitz the only casualty. Gordon has tipped Mitch Lassman to make “a big impact” while Blake Buckman also returns from injury. “Defenders won’t like playing against his pace,” he said.
CATFORD & BROMLEY MACCABI
Lester Jacobs has challenged his players to celebrate the club’s 50th year in style and he believes promotion is a realistic target.
"It hurt everyone to allow a seven point lead slip to finish in fourth place last season. So we’re determined to put that right,” he said.
Jacobs waved his chequebook to bring in Dan Cohen, Josh Krewne, Andy Charles, Daniel Green, Zak Mcleod during the close season, with brothers Gabriel John and Reuben John departing, along with David Powell who has joined the Royal Navy.
In Guy Ben-Aroya, Jacobs believes he has one of the best goalkeepers in the division and Player of the Year Gary Hill “will never let us down”.
NORSTAR LONDON RAIDERS C
Consolidation is the name of the game for L'Orange, according to Zack Gothelf.
He welcomes four familiar faces to his squad, with Jonny Blain and Josh Bloom bolstering the attack, while Adam Leveson and Marc Woolfe provide some grit.
Gothelf said: "We are going to build on the great football than won us Division Three last year and we're hoping to at a minimum cement our place.
"We've got a great squad for what looks set to be an extremely competitive division from the outset.
L’EQUIPE
Josh Lewis believes the new striker James Mandell will excite the L'Equipe faithful as they look to build on promotion.
"We also know AC Mill Hill well and are fully aware of the capabilities of FC Team and Oakwood so with that in mind know we’ll be up there challenging with the squad we have,” he said.
"James has been out of the league for a couple years. Now he is raring to go we’re looking forward to another big season. We’ve also managed to keep hold of Golden Boot winner Richard Fogelman and we’re convinced will get plenty of goals, even though he will be available less.”
JEWDINESE
Jake Erlich has been one of the busiest managers across the league this summer. With “95 per cent of last year’s team starting university,” he has drafted in 20 new players at 'Nese.
"If I’m honest, the tradition of young Jewish boys going to Magaluf on their first holiday away from home has put a dent in our pre-season preparations,” he said.
A pre-season win over SPEC FC came as a boot for a team that has “endless strengths and not one weakness”. Simeon Cohen returns to the squad after recovering from a broken leg.
AC WHETSTONE
Emotions will be running high for Clive Nathan and Anthony Cohen as Stones prepare for their final season together before starting university.
"The boys have been playing together since they were six-years-old," said Nathan. "It would be great if they could go out on a high, though we have never placed an emphasis on winning at all costs, and we aren’t going to start now.
Pre-season was testing, according to Nathan. "It’s mainly involved trips to the gym to build up their physiques ahead of trips to Magaluf and Zante. That was followed by copious amounts of drinking and then sleeping when they got home."
LOUGHTON ORIENT
An 11th-hour rescue package led by Adam Conway ensured that the club did not go out of business.
"We want to consolidate this year and then kick on from there," he said. "Mid-table would be a good target at this stage, with so many comings and goings over the summer."
Preparations have been “chaotic” as six players left the squad, while goalkeeper Marc Jacobs has “hung up his gloves".
Conway believes the season will hinge on “hard work and team ethic rather than the individual quality".
The presence of captain Ryan Kissin, David Blitz, Jaimie Sinclair and Jimmy Lester will ensure they remain competitive.
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