Canterbury City manager Dan Lawrence spoke us to reflect on the 23/24 season, summer break and bringing the club back to the city.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 And Dan joins me now virtually. Dan, thank you very much for being here. Welcome onto the show.
00:05 I want to start by asking your assessment on the season gone by. Just missed out on the playoffs,
00:10 which I know was the the ultimate goal throughout the season. How do you assess how the whole thing went?
00:14 Yeah, pretty much that. We set the objective at the beginning of the season to bounce straight back and go back up.
00:20 Obviously, I assume that's everyone's aim at the beginning of the season, but we started probably a bit too slow to be honest with you.
00:26 We didn't get our recruitment right at the beginning of the year. Didn't really start hitting form until November, December.
00:32 And probably left ourself a little bit too much to do. So disappointed we didn't quite make it, but really proud of the lads
00:39 because we had a really young group towards the end of the year. So proud of how they developed and come on and learn.
00:43 And it was just a bit unlucky that we started a bit late and didn't quite make it. So a bit frustrating, but also pleased at the same time.
00:50 Yeah, I think it's interesting what you say there about kind of towards the end of the season, looking at some of the stats.
00:55 You've won six in the last 10 games. There was a three-game unbeaten run in there as well. And some really strong wins as well.
01:01 I mean, how do you feel that takes you into the next season?
01:04 Yeah, really positive. We're trying to make sure we keep the core group of the players that we had.
01:11 Naturally, there's going to be a little bit of turnover, but the plan this summer is to just add a bit of experience around the real promising young lads that we've got.
01:20 I won't reveal too much too early because I know things can change in football, but the majority of players, I think, are planning on staying,
01:26 which is a real positive and shows we're doing something right.
01:29 And the difference between this year and last year is that we had to rebuild the whole side pretty much, barring three or four.
01:34 Whereas this year, we get to start from a real solid base and try and just add three or four players in and around it just to bolster the squad and experience and go again and push for them top spots.
01:45 Now, of course, it's interesting what you say there, and it's good to hear that you're going to be keeping on a few of those core players.
01:50 You've got some trials coming up in a few weeks time. Do you look forward to events like these being able to bring on new players?
01:57 I would imagine it's quite difficult as well when you've got quite a few in front of you that you've got to make a decision about.
02:01 Yeah, well, last year we had a trial day. I think we had 30-odd apply. Ended up with about 20, 25 that turned up.
02:11 We took a few during pre-season on a trial basis, one of them being Jake McCarthy, who ended up being our young player of the season.
02:18 So it shows that it works, even if you get one or two.
02:20 And it also gives the young players, because the majority is youngsters that apply, it gives them a base to come and show what they can do and an opportunity they might not get elsewhere.
02:31 And this year we showed that we will give you the chance if they're good enough and show enough promise.
02:36 So far today, I think we've had 34 applicants, so it's real positive.
02:41 There's a lot of interest, so hopefully we can nick a couple from that as well. That'll be a positive for us.
02:46 Yeah, and we got the allocation through on Friday about the teams you're going to be with in the league next season.
02:52 Have you had a chance to look through that list yet? There's a few in there. Clapton, Halls, Tower Hamlets, Wellington, all joining the league.
03:01 Yeah, it raised a few eyebrows, Clapton. I think there's two Clapton sides coming there.
03:06 So they went straight into the group chat with the boys, questioning how long it's going to take us to get there.
03:12 And it's a challenge, don't get me wrong.
03:14 And we lost a couple of local ones, or localish for us, Larkfield and obviously Greenway is going down.
03:19 So adding them in adds a bit of extra travel.
03:23 And again, it's another obstacle in our way.
03:25 But at the end of the day, they've got to come down to us, which isn't a great journey for them.
03:29 So just finally, to finish up with, we know the ultimate goal of Canterbury these last few years, these last few decades.
03:35 It was the centre of a documentary here on the channel is, of course, Canterbury getting its own club.
03:41 And we heard, sorry, Canterbury getting its own stadium.
03:45 We heard in the local plan from the local council that that potential partnership with the Canterbury Rugby Club could still be going ahead.
03:53 What's the kind of feeling from the club at the moment about that future?
03:58 It's the same old, it's exciting, but frustrating as well.
04:02 We know that's on the horizon and hopefully that gets into planning sooner rather than later,
04:08 because it's still going to be a bit of time before that would even be a spade in the ground.
04:12 So we are looking internally at trying to get somewhere closer to home.
04:16 That is a battle. It's obviously not easy, why it's taking so long.
04:20 But we're exploring all avenues.
04:23 We've got a couple of things, which obviously I won't mention until we get some firmer news.
04:28 But there are a few avenues we're exploring, which will hopefully bring us closer to home,
04:32 even just so we can start, you know, generate a bit more interest in the club locally, sponsorship locally.
04:38 So fingers crossed one of them will come off.
04:41 But it's not easy and many people have tried and failed.
04:45 So it's not for want of trying, but there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes,
04:49 which will hopefully get us closer to home even before that new ground is built.
04:53 Of course, and you've obviously spent quite a few years with the club.
04:56 You captained the club back when you were a player.
04:59 I mean, how much would that mean to you if you were able to bring the club back
05:03 as part of that team of Canterbury City?
05:05 It'd mean the world.
05:08 And it's such an exciting project.
05:11 As frustrating as it is, it's so exciting.
05:15 It's almost like it's a blank canvas, a new club.
05:17 There's so much potential with Canterbury being in the city.
05:19 Speaking to a couple of sponsors in the week.
05:23 And there's so many ideas, so much potential.
05:26 But a lot of it relies on having your own ground,
05:29 being able to offer these sponsorship packages and getting into schools
05:33 and getting schools attending for each other and things like that.
05:36 You look at what Ramsgate are doing with their attendances based on a big youth team.
05:40 These are all things that we're working on and are in the pipeline.
05:43 And having your own ground allows you to do that.
05:46 So it's exciting.
05:47 Hopefully I do a good enough job that they keep me for a while so I can see that happen.
05:53 But like I said, there's so much happening in the background that it's a really exciting project.
05:57 Well, Dan, best of luck for the future of the club and of course,
06:00 the summer break and next season as well.
06:02 Thank you for joining us.
06:03 Thanks for having me.