Witton Albion first-team squads, 2007–08 and 2008–09

The players page of the old Witton Albion website was archived six times between January 2008 and May 2009. The first two copies show one squad and the last four show another, and the difference between them is the story of the club in those two years.

2007–08: the squad that finished second

In January and May 2008 the page listed 22 players with their positions. The manager was Jim Vince, with Nigel Deeley as his assistant.

The list was not kept fully up to date. Several players who appear in the club's match reports that spring are missing from it, among them the forwards Tony Evans and Kevin Rapley and Junior Brown, who scored on his debut against Lincoln United in March. Others on the list had already left: the club's news pages report the departures of Dean Crowe, Darryl Proffitt and John Dillon during the season, and James Turley had moved to Buxton as early as September 2007.

Who they were

• Adam Warlow, a former Crewe Alexandra striker, was the division's leading scorer. The club's report on the Lincoln match credits him with five hat-tricks and 27 goals by the end of March.
• Jon Kennedy, the goalkeeper, had been on Sunderland's books and was in his second spell at Witton. He won the league's first "Safe Hands" award, for August and September 2007, after conceding three league goals in that time.
• Tony Barras, a centre-back, had played more than a decade of League football with Stockport County, York City, Walsall and others before joining Witton in 2006.
• Liam Brownhill, the full-back, was capped by England C, the national side for non-league players, during the season.
• Steve Brodie had been a forward with Sunderland, Scarborough and Swansea City.
• Mark Peers, a winger who had been a youth player at Liverpool, left for Fleetwood Town in June 2008.
• Brian Pritchard, a defender, was the long-serving captain. He stayed when the others left, later managed the club and resigned in August 2014 after nineteen years at Wincham Park.
• Rod Thornley, a forward, was joined at the club in 2008 by his elder brother Ben.

A typical line-up from the autumn, recorded by Hednesford Town when they lost 3–1 at Wincham Park on 10 November 2007, was: Kennedy, Coo, Brownhill, Pritchard, Barras, Brodie, MacPherson, Lloyd, Warlow, Thornley and Peers.

2008–09: forty-eight names

In the summer of 2008 the playing budget was cut and the squad broke up. Vince left and Deeley became manager on 28 May 2008. Of the 22 players above, only three appear on the following season's list: Pritchard, Proffitt, who rejoined in August, and Rod Thornley. Tony Barras and Jon Kennedy were among those who followed Vince to his new club, FC Halifax Town.

By then the page had been redesigned and no longer gave positions. It was a list of names, each linking to a profile that was never archived, and it only grew: nobody was removed when he left. The copy made in December 2008 has 29 names; by May 2009 there were 48. The table shows when each name first appeared.

The dates tell the story of the season. The 29 names listed in December are largely the squad Deeley assembled, the one that won at Prescot Cables in August, together with early additions such as Gary Burke. Deeley was dismissed on 2 November 2008 after nine league defeats in a row, and the names first listed in February 2009 and later are, as far as can be told, players who arrived after Gary Finley took over.

Who they were

• Ben Thornley had been a Manchester United winger in the 1990s and later played for Huddersfield Town and Aberdeen. He spent two seasons at Witton.
• Paul Donnelly, a defender who began at Port Vale, played 23 times in 2008–09 and scored once, in the win over Ilkeston Town.
• Scott Willis, a midfielder with Football League experience at Lincoln City among others, signed in June 2008.
• Oliver James, a midfielder formerly with Tranmere Rovers, arrived in late November 2008 and made 29 appearances in his first spell.
• Brad Maylett, a winger who had played for Burnley and Swansea City, joined on 9 March 2009.
• Greg Smith was the first-choice goalkeeper in the early months and was singled out in the club's reports from Guiseley and elsewhere.

Sources and notes

The two tables were produced by script from the Internet Archive's copies of the players page and have not been retyped. Spellings follow the players page. The club's match reports were not always consistent with it: in them Darryl Proffitt appears as "Dorryl", Kieran Lugsden as "Keiran" and Gary Burke as "Garry". One entry on the 2008–09 page consisted of a surname only and has been left out. Career details for individual players come from the sources listed for this page and from the club's own news items; where nothing could be confirmed, nothing has been added.