Pre-Season Diary | Episode Four
Parkway & Pre-SeasonBy Parkway Media
Well… England are out.
The World Cup subplot to the summer has officially come to an end, which means we can all turn our attention back to the main storyline…
Plymouth Parkway.
If the Argyle fixture felt like an exhibition, then Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over Torquay United felt like the dress rehearsal.
Three weeks still remain until the league season gets underway, but watching that performance, it genuinely feels like this group is ahead of schedule.
I caught up with Bretty after the game and one comment really stuck with me. He mentioned that only a small amount of tactical work has actually been done so far during pre-season. If that’s the case, then I’m already excited to see where this side can go.
Because on Tuesday night, that looked like one of the most organised Parkway teams I’ve seen for a long time. Every player knew their job, everyone worked for each other, and there was a real structure to everything we did.
It wasn’t just the result. It was the performance. Every player put in a shift, and perhaps more importantly, every player looked like they understood exactly what Karl Curtis wants from them.
That’s exciting. Talking of excitement… Tomorrow is one of those dates every non-league supporter secretly looks forward to.
Fixture release day. Opening day. Boxing Day. The Easter run. The final day.
We’ll finally know where the buses will be heading over the next nine months, and Karl and his staff can properly map out the challenge ahead.
Just for a bit of fun… I’ve got a feeling we’ll start with a trip to London. And probably finish with one too. We’ll see if I’m anywhere close. Who are you hoping for on opening day? One thing I won’t be doing this year is predicting where Parkway will finish.
After beating Truro City in pre-season last summer, I got completely carried away and confidently suggested we’d be knocking on the play-offs.
Let’s just say… football has a funny way of keeping your feet on the ground.
This time around, I’ll happily settle for a season that everyone enjoys.
Of course we all want success. But if more people keep discovering Bolitho Park, the crowds continue to grow and the football club finishes the season in a stronger position than it started, I’ll consider that a pretty successful year. Football has always been about more than league tables.
Next up is a trip to Bovey Tracey on Saturday, with kick-off at the slightly earlier time of 1pm. Another chance to put more minutes into the legs. Another good test. And no doubt a few familiar faces determined to get one over Parkway.
Once that’s done, there’ll only be two pre-season fixtures left before the curtain finally rises on August 8th. It’s getting close now. Really close.
Let’s see where the fixture computer sends us tomorrow, and we’ll catch up again next week.
In a bit.
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