“I can’t put into words just how gruelling it has been” says Crows boss

ROYSTON TOWN boss Paul Attfield says the 2011/12 campaign has been the most successful of his managerial career.

The Crows capped a terrific campaign on Bank Holiday Monday when they won the Premier Division Cup with a 2-0 win over St Margaretsbury, to go along with the Floodlit Cup and the league winner’s trophy that already have pride of place in the club’s trophy cabinet.

Attfield says that what makes this season’s success all the more satisfying is that it vindicates the tremendous amount of hard work the club has put into earning the solitary promotion spot in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division.

“It’s so, so hard to win promotion from this league,” Attfield told the Royston Crow. “I don’t think people realise just how hard it is to get out of Step 5 football as there is just the one promotion spot.

“We’ve been under so much pressure for the last few months but we’ve kept getting over the line. We’ve had to be on top of everything, and to finish the season with over 100 points is just incredible.”

Attfield admits he knew his team would come near to promotion before the start of the season, as they had came close the previous two years, but he believes they are worthy champions after fending off rivals Dunstable Town – who finished the season with 99 points but were denied promotion.

“I knew I had a squad capable of winning the league but when you achieve that – as well as win two other trophies on top – you can’t really anticipate that,” he said.

“When you deliver so much in such a short period of time, it really does vindicate all the hard work that goes into it. This is our second treble in four years, taking the total number of trophies won to eight in the same period of time.

“And we’ve done it without a massive squad. It’s been a hard season. We’ve played in nine cup competitions, as well as getting into the last 32 of the FA Vase so I can’t put into words just how gruelling it is. But the stats are there and we’ve been exceptionally good this year.

“Under the circumstances, this has been my most successful season as a manager. I had some great players with me at Buntingford [Town] and we won the treble, but that was obviously at a lower level, so this season has been special.”

Attfield was delighted with the way his side played on Monday against St Margaretsbury – in which Kaan Fehmi scored both the goals – especially considering that it was the final game of a long season that saw the team play 66 times since August.

“We played really well,” he added. “You wonder if the players were hungry for it having already won the league but we were excellent and were by far the better team. There was a big crowd there so it was a nice way to end the season.”