Farewell to a County Great
John Bilsbury reflects on the departure of one of County's finest managers and the road ahead for the Hatters.
As I write this, it’s a few short weeks since County seemed to be on the verge of promotion to the Championship. A third-place finish in the league had earned us a shot at the playoffs, Stevenage had been brushed aside in the two legs of the semi-final and we were facing a Wembley date against Bolton, a team we’d competed well against in the two league meetings.
We all know how it ended of course, but for most County fans the feeling was that with some fine tuning of the squad and the stability that stemmed from a proven manager in his sixth year at the helm and two years of his contract to run, next season would see a determined attempt at automatic promotion.
It came as a great shock, therefore, when the club announced that “after long and constructive discussions,” Dave Challinor was to depart the club. His record of two league titles, 268 matches, 144 wins and 61 draws puts him firmly in the pantheon of County greats along with Jimmy Meadows, Danny Bergara, Dave Jones and Jim Gannon. You have to go back to Lincoln Hyde, who managed the club from 1926 to 1930, to find a better win rate than Dave’s 53.7%.
The statistics are impressive but, more importantly, Dave leaves County supporters with countless unforgettable memories that will last a lifetime. We’ll always have that night under the lights against Bolton, in only his second game in charge, when after a disastrous start we roared back to win 5-3 or beating Notts County 5-2 in April 2024 to clinch the League 2 Championship.
The Supporters’ Co-operative would like to thank Dave for everything he has achieved during his time at the club and wish him every success wherever the future may take him.
The departure of two major personalities in Simon Wilson and Dave Challinor has left supporters asking questions about the direction the club will take from here. Perhaps the owner remains committed to the seven year plan to make the Championship but, in the absence of any statement one way or another, we will have to draw our own conclusions based on the identity of the new manager and the quality of any signings made between now and the start of the season.
Whether the new financial constraints which we explained in a recent article have already played a part we don’t know, but they are bound to influence recruitment policy not just for players but coaching staff as well.
Whoever leads the team into the next season, we can be sure that the supporters will get behind them as they always have before.
Animo et Fide.