Pre-Season Times
From the Theatre of TreesBy Parkway Media
The final whistle at Gosport Borough still feels pretty much fresh in the memory.
A stunning 6-3 victory brought the curtain down on another turbulent season in Plymouth Parkway’s recent history, but in truth, life at Bolitho Park has barely paused since.
Behind the scenes, it’s been one of the busiest off-seasons the football club has experienced.
The pitch has undergone its annual renovations. New partnerships have been formed. Volunteers have continued preparing Bolitho Park for another campaign. Commercial support is still ongoing, and with Karl Curtis assembling his squad, the feeling around the club is one of cautious optimism rather than expectation.
That optimism wasn’t always there. Last season became one of lessons. Parkway spent much of the campaign looking anxiously over their shoulder before an outstanding finish under Stuart Dudley and Lee Peacock transformed the mood around the football club. Survival was secured, but perhaps more importantly, those final weeks reminded everyone just how much quality already existed within the squad.
Now comes the next chapter. Karl Curtis returns to Bolitho Park, but this time the role is different. Having previously enjoyed success as assistant manager under Lee Hobbs, Curtis now steps into the number one position for the first time in his career.
It’s arguably one of the biggest appointments the football club has made. The task ahead is significant. The Southern League Premier South continues to form into one of the toughest divisions in non-league football, populated by ambitious clubs with National League aspirations. Established names such as Bath City and Chippenham Town only reinforce the challenge that lies ahead.
But if the division has become stronger, Parkway has quietly gone about strengthening too. Even before officially taking charge, Curtis played a key role in securing the arrivals of Reece Thomson and Toby Down during last season’s run-in, additions that proved instrumental in preserving the club’s Step 3 status. Since then, the recruitment has continued, with Brimming, Harrison, Wright, Dearing, Turner and Sullivan all arriving hungry to test themselves at the highest level many have played.
Retaining the core of last season’s squad perhaps tells an equally important story. There is now a platform to build upon rather than another rebuild. Saturday’s trip to Torpoint marks the beginning of pre-season, but results will remain firmly secondary over the coming weeks.
Fitness will be built. Relationships will develop. Ideas will take shape. Supporters often look at pre-season through the lens of wins and defeats, but for management teams these fixtures are about answers rather than wins.
Can partnerships develop? Can new signings adapt? Can the squad absorb new tactical ideas before the real business begins in August?
Those questions matter far more than the final score. Away from the football itself, the landscape of non-league continues to change.
As the World Cup dominates headlines, football at the very top continues to find new ways to generate revenue. Hydration breaks become commercial opportunities, television schedules dictate kick-off times, and the game’s biggest clubs continue to grow further away from the foundations on which football was built.
Life in non-league is a million miles from that reality. Every sponsor matters. Every volunteer matters. Every supporter through the turnstiles matters.
For clubs like Plymouth Parkway, sustainability isn’t simply a business buzzword, it’s the foundation that allows football to happen every Saturday. Perhaps that’s why this season feels so significant.
Success will always be measured in league positions and cup runs, but simply remaining sustainable while competing at one of the highest levels of non-league football may prove to be one of the club’s greatest achievements.
That’s the challenge. Not just for Plymouth Parkway, but for clubs across the non-league pyramid.
That support has never been taken for granted. Perhaps that’s why this pre-season feels slightly different. There is a fresh management team. Fresh ideas.Fresh faces.
And perhaps most importantly, a fresh opportunity to start well.
Curtis spoke openly in his first interview about the importance of improving Parkway’s starts to seasons. If the football club can turn promising finishes into positive beginnings, there is every reason to believe the narrative of this campaign could look very different by Christmas.
For now, though, the focus shifts to Torpoint. The results won’t define the season. The performances probably won’t either. But after a long summer, football is back.
And for everyone connected with Plymouth Parkway, that’s more than enough reason to look forward with excitement.
Parkway Partners
