After Bank Holiday Monday’s play-off win over Dartford, Dover Athletic have made a return to National South just twelve months after their relegation, and manager Jake Leberl was speechless when KSN caught up with him on the Princes Park pitch after the game. “I really don’t know what to say,” he said.  

“It’s been such a rollercoaster season. We started like a house on fire and then Sittingbourne beat us in both Cup and Trophy when we really needed the money to strengthen the squad.”

“We stuck with the boys, had a difficult patch when Mitch (keeper and skipper Mitch Walker) got injured, we had some illness, but I have had an unbelievable group of real positivity – we have some great players and there is a real togetherness, a real spirit!” 

Dover went into the last day of the regular season having to win at Chichester City to guarantee post season. “We treated that game as a Quarter-Final,” the Dover boss admitted.

“We went a goal down in the quarters, we went a goal down in the semis (at Billericay), but we didn’t know when we were beaten. And I felt that after containing Dartford first half, we finished strong, and we’re obviously absolutely delighted to get the win and the clean sheet!”

“To win here and beat Dartford in the Final of the play-off is unreal really in my first year of management.” 

“To now prepare to go to Dagenham – even though I’m disappointed they have been relegated as an ex-Dagenham player – is unreal and unthinkable pre-season… but it’s happened!  But that’s football and it can change so quickly!” 

In the end, it was Dover’s good away record that has seen them promoted – a point that the boss acknowledged.

“We have been dominant away from home this year. We are a counter attacking side with a lot of legs, lot of energy and a lot of pace, and we have hit teams on the break. We let in a few too many though so to keep a clean sheet in the Final was very pleasing!” 

“Chichester was a very difficult place to go and probably gave us the boost we needed. They play a brand of football where it’s very difficult to get the ball off them and the game plan there proved absolutely brilliant to match the performance.”

“But after that and getting in and you draw Billericay, you think oh well, we have had a good season. And then to go there and beat them was an absolutely amazing performance and unbelievable result.” 

“I haven’t even thought about next year yet,” Leberl told us. “I have four lads in this squad today who have played a full season of football in their lives – just four!”

“They’re a bunch of mis-fits, and that’s no disrespect to them as a lot of these boys have been bit part players at other clubs and they weren’t our first targets –they were third or fourth as I couldn’t get hold of my initial targets as they went to bigger clubs with bigger budgets.”

“But it just worked – pre-season we were scoring goals for fun, and we went into Christmas still scoring goals for fun – we were top scorers with Billericay. Even when we went down, we knew that we would score goals and there was always belief.” 

We finished by asking Leberl if, now his side have been promoted, if those two defeats to Ryan Maxwell’s Sittingbourne now hurt less. “No!” he said defiantly.

“We needed a bit of cash at the time to galvanise our season and strengthen, but the Chairman wouldn’t give me any more because we lost those two!” 

“But in the end, he was proven right wasn’t he, as we stuck with it and were able to get over the line!”  

Image courtesy of Dover Athletic FC