Deal Town begin their second season back in Step Four and the Isthmian League this weekend welcoming Sittingbourne to the Charles Ground on opening day buoyed by cup progress in midweek with a replay win over Hilltop. 

But Steve King is only too well aware of some of the potential pitfalls that his side may face over the next nine months! “Everyone talks about “second season syndrome”, with the second season after being promoted being tough and so we do have to be vary of that,” the Deal boss conceded to us this week when we caught up with him to look ahead.  

“What I would say is that a lot of sides when they go up, do quite well and then they lose a lot of their players which contributes to the struggle of the second season. We have been able to retain our squad, so whilst teams will know about us now, we might have obtained some respect, and we also know the League better than we did this time last year!” 

“It is really difficult to know what is going to happen, but we are pleased that we have retained our squad especially after winning seven of our last eight games at the end of last season. We are looked forward to getting started at the weekend!” 

“I think to everyone outside of Sittingbourne, they clearly stand out from the rest. I understand and appreciate that they have lost some of their squad, but they were in exactly the same boat last year. If you look at the quality of player that they have brought in under the same manager, they got well over one hundred points last year, went a long way in the FA Trophy, and off that I think Sittingbourne have to be heavy favourites in the League.  

“I would be surprised if it was anybody else, Margate did well last year and have consolidated and probably strengthened their squad; Hastings every time they have come down to Step Four seem to have been promoted straight back in the last decade, and I certainly think Ashford, with the signings that they have made and the experience that they have brought in to be right up there.  

“So, for me those four sides I would certainly expect to be in and around the play-offs and after that, there are six promoted clubs and that brings a fair amount of “we’re not sure what’s going to happen!” especially at this time of year. I think it’s going to be very interesting but certainly think that there will be stand outs at the top of the League!” 

“We go into the weekend having played competitive games in the FA Cup and that helped us last year – we won 4-0 in the FA Cup and then our first League game, so based on that it worked well, and we hope history repeats itself.  

“But I know full well that we have got a really tough start against Sittingbourne on Saturday, and I’m sure like other managers, my opinion may well change after the weekend, but having had the competitive games (Deal beat Hilltop at the Charles Ground on Tuesday after a 2-2 draw last weekend), you could say that we will go into the League better set up than we were playing friendlies.  

“I’m not really sure of the answer as we weren’t expecting to play in the FA Cup this early and were caught out like a few sides were based on what happened in previous seasons! I want to play competitive football and am fed up with friendlies, so maybe it could prove to be a good thing!”