Vanarama’s Fanarama! A supporter’s take on 2019 – and look at what the New Year could bring.

Wings die hard and programme king Mark Doig offers league sponsors Vanarama a personal take on goings on at Park View Road as the year comes to a close

So we are creeping closer to the half-way stage of the season already – what do you make of what you have seen so far?
I wasn’t expecting Welling to have a season like last season because they have had to reduce the budget which was unsustainable. However, I believe that the squad that Mark Goldberg has put together should be higher in the league than they are.

It was a summer of transition for the club. Was it always going to be a season to just see how things pan out after last year’s big push?
This season was always going to be a season of transition but I do believe that the squad is better than the league position suggests.

But what does 2020 hold?
The league is so tight that, although Welling are only four points off the relegation zone, they are also just seven points behind the play-offs. A run of good results can put any club into the mix.

If you can wrap up one Christmas gift for your manager, what would it be?
A string of away wins!

Pick your National League South title winner:
I have a nagging feeling that Havant & Waterlooville will improve their consistency and may just pip Wealdstone but they will have to stop dropping points against teams that they would be expected to beat.
The Christmas and New Year calendar – love it or hate it?
I love it. My wife hates it.

Who is your Wings Player of 2019?
Dan Wilks

Your most memorable away day so far this season?
Memorable for good reasons is Hungerford Town away as it’s the only one at which Welling have won!

Let’s get personal. When did you first start following the Wings and why?
They have always been my local team. I went along occasionally to see them when John Bartley was playing as I knew him, however my main football team was a Division one (now Premier League team). Then it all changed when the top flight went all seater. My friends got season tickets but as someone who was dedicated to playing cricket, it didn’t pay for me to have one. That meant that I couldn’t sit with them (I didn’t want to sit anyway) and the prices started to soar.
At around the same time, I got married, bought a house and started a family so I took the cheaper option and started to go and see my local team when at home. Then it started to become home with the occasional ‘inside the M25 away game’ with my father before going ‘all in’ home and away after retiring from cricket.
I then asked a local paper why they didn’t cover Welling and they suggested that if I supplied a match report, they would publish it and it all mushroomed from there.

What makes the club so special?
They are my local team and I have made a lot of new friends through supporting the club. I have also been able to get involved (I write 75 per cent of the home programme and fulfil most of the match day press requirements) and the away days are much more fun than they were in my top league days with police escorts etc.