by Sam Todd

Created on: May 28, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Arguably, Peterborough United and Milton Keynes Dons played some of the best football in the lower leagues this year, even if Darren Ferguson and Paul Ince had significant budgets to fall back on from their respective chairmen, Darragh MacAnthony and Peter Winkelman, when they needed it.

The Posh in particular, though, reaped the rewards of tapping into the non-league market, with Aaron McLean and Craig Makail-Smith catching the eye - in an interview with "Four Four Two" earlier this year, Kevin Phillips, the ex-England international now playing for West Brom, reckoned that McLean was one of the best players outside the Premier League.

Hereford and Stockport used their resources well to upset the form book, putting the likes of Bradford City and Notts County to shame. The Bulls have been making steady progress under manager Graham Turner, who also serves as chairman, culminating with their second promotion in three years; this after a near decade-long absence from the Football League. Jim Gannon's Stockport utilised young, local talent to devastating effect; the average age of the side that beat Rochdale in the play-off final, featuring the highly rated Liam Dickinson, is just 21.

County's 3-2 win over Rochdale in the League Two play-off final also ensured that the men from Spotland extend their spell in the bottom division of English professional football for a 35th season. Understandably, it's a history that boss Keith Hill is uncomfortable with; "That history has nothing to do with me. Mine only goes back a year and a half and we have to be able to build on this."

The promotion of the MK Dons, however, is likely to stir mixed reactions from many fans, and not just those of AFC Wimbledon, the fans club who broke away when Wimbledon FC relocated to Milton Keynes. Whilst there will be some delighted for boss Paul Ince, an excellent midfield maestro for several clubs both home and abroad, as well as England, the purists still can't forgive them for, in effect, taking the place of the old Wimbledon rather than starting from scratch at the bottom of the football pyramid like every other club. Though the club agreed to return the trophies and memorabilia of Wimbledon F.C., the idea of "franchising" is still very much frowned upon; it took two years after their formation for the Football Supporters Federation to accept the membership of MK Dons.

Years of financial mismanagement, not to mention bad player recruitment, came home to roost at Mansfield and Wrexham, who both slipped into Non-League obscurity with a whimper. The Stags' fans were embroiled in a long-standing dispute with Keith Haslam, which filtered onto the pitch and gave Billy Dearden and Paul Holland no chance of saving the sinking ship. On the other hand, Brian Little, a former League Cup winning manager with Aston Villa, couldn't save Wrexham, whose rot set in when previous boss Brian Carey stuck with the same squad who had only just escaped with a last day win over Boston United the previous season.

Learn more about this author, Sam Todd.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.