A look at how the Exiles are preparing for the new season
A look at how Terry Butcher’s side are preparing for the new season.
Who’s in charge?
Newport brought in ex-England captain Terry Butcher to take charge at Rodney Parade during the summer after releasing Jimmy Dack, who has since joined Reds as assistant to Mark Yates.
The 56-year-old has a glittering CV that boasts 77 England caps and numerous trophies at club level, most notably the UEFA Cup with Ipswich Town, for whom he made 271 appearances. Butcher began his managerial career at Coventy whilst he was still playing. He has since gone on to manage seven other clubs including Sunderland, Brentford and Hibernian. His most successful venture to date is with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, whom he turned into a strong force in the Scottish Premiership.
Last season
The Exiles had plenty of time to focus on the league last season, after first round defeats to Reading (Capital One Cup), Swindon (JP Trophy) and Luton (FA Cup). Although they started the season with a wobble the club quickly turned things around by losing only two out of 18 games from September to December. Their form tailed off a little after Justin Edinburgh left to join Gillingham as manager but they still finished a creditable ninth and six points off of the play-offs in their second season following promotion.
Summer plans
Newport have brought in five players so far: Macclesfield duo Scott Barrow and goalkeeper Rhys Taylor, midfielder Lenell John-Lewis, who missed out on promotion to League Two after Grimsby lost to Bristol Rovers at Wembley, ex-Gateshead wide man Alex Rodman and right-back Danny Holmes from Tranmere Butcher remains optimistic about the forthcoming season and expects to make further new signings soon. The club say they are confident of securing investment in the club despite the resignation of chairman Les Scadding earlier this month. Scadding, who won a £45m lottery fortune in 2009, has pumped in £1.25m since he took over in 2012.
Previous meetings
We regularly played County in the Southern League. However, the most recent encounters came from our Conference years in the 2010-11 season when both sides won away from home. We also claimed victory in the F.A. Cup fourth qualifying round that season with a 1-0 victory in south Wales.
How far is it?
It is a 325 mile round trip to Rodney Parade. Reds go there on September 29 with the return fixture on March 1.
