for thos that missed the good news

[Southport - TOWNER]

Southport secured their Conference status by extending their unbeaten run to five games to gain the point they needed from a 1-1 draw at Grays on Tuesday.

 

Port's manager Liam Watson says the club's Conference survival must act as a springboard for future success.

 

As a result the Haig Avenue club will now press ahead with plans to switch to full-time status ahead of next season.

 

And Watson hopes that changes on and off the field will help re-establish Port as a force to be reckoned with.

 

Watson told BBC Sport: "We have really got to look and learn from this.

 

"Me and the chairman and the board have really got to strive to do everything we can and do that bit extra to get to the next level.

 

"We have to look and learn from the champions Accrington.

 

"We need more money in and more sponsorship. There are all kinds of opportunities and we have to be a lot more pro-active in encouraging people into the club.

 

"We used to be a big club at this level but the league has moved on and at the moment we are a small prize."

 

A Football League club until 1978, Port dropped out of the Conference three years ago and looked to be in terminal decline.

 

Our fans have been unbelievable and probably kept me in a job when we had a bad run

 

Liam Watson

 

Watson's appointment in October 2003 reversed their fortunes but the former Preston striker, 35, admitted that another relegation would have been damaging.

 

Watson said: "How quickly we turned the club round and brought them back after being relegated was a little bit of a minor miracle.

 

"I don't think it would happen again that way. It was a one-off."

 

Not that Watson ever doubted his side's ability to stay up, despite long periods stuck in the drop-zone and a run of seven straight defeats, with just one goal scored, prior to Boxing Day.

 

Watson said: "A lot of teams would have gone under but I was pretty confident.

 

"The players have never let me down. I can't praise them enough and they deserve all the credit.

 

"Players tend to look out for themselves but they dug out that extra bit for the club. It's been a great achievement."

 

Fittingly, the safety-clinching goal at Grays was scored by Steve Pickford, one of only two survivors from the side relegated in 2003.

 

The other, goalkeeper Steve Dickinson, is line for Port's player-of-the-year award.

 

Watson supplemented his "honest bunch of players" with three key signings in January as the arrivals of Gary Brabin, Liam Blakeman and loan man Mark Roberts helped haul Port over the line.

 

The move to full-time football may now mean the departure of a number of his current squad but Watson believes all of them have made themselves Southport legends.

 

And the Port boss also paid tribute to the part played by the supporters in keeping the team up and providing the platform for further progress.

 

Watson added: "Our fans have been unbelievable. They probably kept me in a job when we had that bad run.

 

"They had a big part to play because I think if someone new had come in it would have been a disaster. They should take an amount of credit."

[andyetfc]

Y......A......W......N......

[EFCMICK]

Should it not be on the conference thread ?

[Duke of York]

Great news Southport. As City never made back into to the promised land this season we may be able to sort out the car share to Southport/York or both for 2006/07 if the fixtures don't clash with a crucial Town games.

 

Well done Southport!

[Gazza]

Bloody Northerners!

 

Southport = Wannabe Scousers!

[Southport - TOWNER]

Quote:

Duke of York said:
Great news Southport. As City never made back into to the promised land this season we may be able to sort out the car share to Southport/York or both for 2006/07 if the fixtures don't clash with a crucial Town games.

Well done Southport!

thanks mate, these southern softies don't know what is like to stand on the terraces, freezing your socks off, to watch your team; they think cold is minus 3!

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/alert.gif" alt="" />

[townerboy]

i've benn to southpirt, and it is freezing...

[Mr Happy]

I've been to Lapland. Now that WAS freezing!!!!!

[townerboy]

thats just showing off.

[Mr Happy]

I missed the EFC v ETFC FA Vase match as a result! Mind you, we lost anyway!

[smallsy]

wheres steph i need to plan a river trip

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