So, another season has come and gone, where does the time go? It only seems like yesterday when I was writing the season preview!

Once again it was a trophy-less season, though that hasn’t made it any the less dramatic. In fact the second half of the season has probably been the most enjoyable to watch and participate in since I was first installed as four seasons ago.

The club has also had a bit of a transformation this year, with a significant number of new players coming into the team. And to be honest their arrival was crucial to the revival we enjoyed in the second half of the campaign.

What happened then? It’s a tale of two halves really. The first half was probably the most depressing and hardest to endure since I took over, whereas the second was probably the most exciting it’s ever been.

The season started with an opening day 3-2 defeat to newly promoted Olympia. The game saw two excellent goals scored by Logica, with the first and a superb solo effort for the second. And had luck been with us then we would probably have walked away with a point if not all three as their keeper was by far and away the busier. It may have been a defeat but in no way did it indicate what was going to happen in the coming months.

The next game saw us playing our old rivals Everyman United and a really woeful performance had us going down 1-2 despite ’s second goal of the season. This game more than any other was probably the catalyst for the really poor first half of the new campaign: morale and confidence were certainly at a low ebb after this one. On an even more depressing note, this was Everyman’s only victory of the season, though they would later go into administration and, after no buyer could be found, they folded.

And if all that was not enough, had decided to move to Sweden. Still, such is the commitment of the man he still managed 11 appearances during the season - more than quite a few players who live just around the corner. However, I fear that his tearful farewell note may have emotionally affected the squad for a number of months to come.

Next up was the cup, which would surely give us an exciting diversion to lift the gloom? We faced Leeds Old Boys from the Third Division and anything like a reasonable performance would have seen us through. Unfortunately it was more of the same and we were humbled. The only silver lining was that managed to score for us after an inspired tactical switch, as I moved the big stopper up front in an attempt to try and improve our strike rate. Sadly Leeds managed to find the net three times and condemn us to a first home defeat of the season. The fans weren’t happy, and the first murmurings of "Groom Out" could be heard whistling through the packed terraces.

If that 3-1 defeat at the hands of lesser opposition was bad, then nothing prepared us for the next home game. This first game against West Ten actually saw us start reasonably well and the 2-0 half time deficit was fairly harsh justice after we’d played the better football for the most part. The second half however was a total disaster as we shipped another eight goals as all desire and confidence totally evaporated. Logica FC was in trouble. The only bright note again was the galloping second of the season.

The following game was due to be against struggling Inter Wandsworth but due to an inability to field anything like a reasonable or quorate XI, we attempted to postpone the fixture. Unfortunately it wasn’t cancelled early enough and the three points were awarded to Inter. Costly, especially given our dominant performance against them in the return fixture in February. Our luck was going from bad to worse.

The Wanderers game saw a better performance but we still went down 3-1 against ten men after their keeper saw red. Our difficulties in raising a team were increasing, and the desperate situation resulted in the Lag Network being activated for the first time in a number of years. answered the call, and brilliantly set up an equalising goal for the hamstrung . This was the ageing striker’s first of the campaign, and he would go on to be the club’s top scorer once again despite playing a number of games in goal, although would push him all the way.

The next four games are best forgotten in all honesty. They all ended in heavy defeats as we continued to struggle to field neither a full eleven players nor a proper goalie. We conceded a humiliating 32 goals in this quartet of fixtures, including an 0-11 reverse against West Ten that equalled the worst in the club’s history. No wonder the hacks christened it ‘Black November’.

The club was in dire straits as Christmas arrived and no points had been recorded on the board. Something had to be done and it had to be done quickly. A meeting with the board proved positive and they agreed to free up some funds in a bid to get some new blood in to shake up the old. Fortunately, it worked and the new signings would help in changing the clubs fortunes, in came , , , , , and .

Things were looking up, all the new signings were shaping up well even if it took a while for them to bed in. It was time to throw down the gauntlet and to stand up and be counted. If we were going down then we were going to do it fighting! [Or at least with a cliché or two - Ed]

The first game after Christmas saw us taking on Spectraprint once again. There was to be no repeat of the 8-0 defeat suffered back in Black November. This time it was completely different and we raced into a 3-0 lead, after two strikes and a goal (perhaps the catalyst for a brilliant second half of the season in midfield for Nich). After this, the referee decided to even up the teams by playing as their eleventh man. After we had conceded a soft goal, the man in black repeatedly dismissed our penalty claims but not theirs. A Spectraprint player decided to fall over in the penalty area taking a surprised defender with him, and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. The penalty was duly dispatched, which made it 3-2. But despite an increasingly nervous last fifteen minutes, we managed to cling on and register our first points of the season. It would prove ultimately to be a big psychological turning point.

However an immediate reversal of our fortunes did not materialise, even if there were some signs that we were starting to play a bit better. A plucky 3-2 defeat to Rapid Decline raised hopes further, especially with five of the new faces in the squad, but the 6-1 thrashing by Broadway in our next game threatened to put out the weak embers of revival. However, even in the latter game we were competing with the opposition who were made to work hard. But Broadway’s clinical finishing was a cruel kick in our metaphorical gonads, which were still a bit sensitive at this juncture. Still, at least scored a corker.

Broadway couldn’t believe their luck, and moved quickly to rearrange the return fixture which had been postponed back in October in controversial circumstances for the following Sunday. February was thus set up as a make-or-break month, packed as it now was with four fixtures including two against relegation rivals. Come March, we’d either have burrowed half way to the Great Escape or our bold optimism would have been unmasked as a laughable fantasy.

Our in-form opponents Broadway had clearly expected to fill their boots but instead came up against probably Logica’s best performance of the season. After outsourcing some of the box-to-box graft to a passing Bulgarian who claimed a semi-professional pedigree, we took a 1-0 lead courtesy of a sublime lob, which we then defended with grit, determination and the odd slice of luck. was masterful on the ground and in the air, and this was perhaps the best of his many outstanding individual performances during the season. The Arsenal of old would have been proud, but sadly after holding out for so long, Broadway sneaked a late equaliser. No matter, though: the belief was back in the team, and I was moved to publish my Survival Masterplan - a roadmap for our Great Escape.

Confidence was thus high when we faced Inter Wandsworth next, who were just a couple of places above us. My Masterplan demanded points, and we played well, created plenty of chances but only had another strike to show for our efforts at the interval. But a sloppy goal conceded just after the break was followed by more chances spurned and we came away from Riverside Lands with just a draw to show for our efforts. Still we hadn’t lost and, something which would prove significant later, we had dominated the match in impressive style in front of a mandarinal referee.

The return game against Everyman followed quickly and this really was a must-win match. Despite our opponents only starting with nine men, disaster beckoned when Everyman took the lead with a great drive from the edge of the box on the dusty Tooting pitch to lead 1-0 at half time. In the second half Everyman had got eleven fit men out and it proved to be to our advantage as we fired in four goals, including the impressive ’s first two for the club, and the last a rocket from . Revenge had been gained and more importantly we were off the bottom of the table for the first time this season. The whistling of a certain tune was faintly audible!

Our final match in that decisive month saw us go down 3-2 to promotion chasing Olympia. However we showed incredible spirit to come back from two down to equalise midway through the second half, and only a late goal cruelly denied us a share of the spoils and an unbeaten February. Another big consolation here was that the talented , who played every game following his debut in November, scored his first goal for the club with a characteristically composed finish.

The Champions elect Wanderers put us to the sword in the following game with an unremarkable 2-0 win. This was perhaps our only really uninspiring post-Christmas performance, but it didn’t really matter too much as far as the Masterplan went, since that dictated that we concentrate on the imminent Bragança double header and the all-important pair of games against Deportivo Galicia. Maximum points in these four fixtures would effectively save us from relegation.

Traditionally, double headers don’t seem to suit us, though we played well enough in both games against Bragança. An invaluable header secured a vital three points from the first fixture, and hopes were high for a full haul. But our opponents bounced back to grab a 2-0 win in the second match so we now had to beat Deportivo twice, and most likely Supercala on the final day. James Clavell couldn’t have scripted it better (and indeed didn’t).

The first game against Deportivo was a nervous affair, a classic relegation scrap down at the Stade. We knew we couldn’t afford not to win and in the end we edged it 3-2 against depleted opponents. But it was far from comfortable as the Galicians recovered twice to equalise goals from and . In the end it was only an opportunist header a few minutes from time that snaffled the full three points that we so desperately needed. Perhaps, finally, the Football Gods were taking pity on us?

The return fixture after Easter was a completely different affair as we dished out a footballing lesson against a full-strength Deportivo side in what was by far our most commanding performance of the season. The defence, midfield and attack clicked together like a finely oiled machine and even going a goal behind didn’t affect us. bagged a clinical equaliser, and added an even more ruthless second. Stand-in keeper made some vital saves early doors, and the strikers went on to convert our dominance into goals. came off the bench to notch, and with going on to bag a classic hat-trick with fanny and lob, all three forwards scored as we ran out 5-1 winners.

So my survival roadmap had guided us to the final game of the season. The task was clear. A win or a draw would see us jump above Inter Wandsworth and out of the relegation zone, and our survival would be assured. Inspired by the previous week’s Deportivo demolition, Logica played as if their lives depended on it and after 75 minutes it was looking so good. With the Logica rearguard outstanding, another stunning lob and a classic headed bullet had given us a 2-0 lead. But tragically the season proved to be 15 minutes too long, and as we tired dramatically, the Supercala substitutions had the desired effect for them. 'Cala bagged a bevy of late goals to run out flattered 4-2 winners.

From having zero points on New Year’s Day, we had dragged ourselves up by our bootlaces in 2004. Five wins and a couple of draws (not to mention narrow defeats to late goals against Rapid, Olympia and Supercala) had seen us bag a respectable 17 points. A similar haul before Christmas would have seen us challenging for promotion. It had been a stupendous effort, but we had finished in eleventh spot and it was all over. We were relegated to Division Three. Or were we????

We had been refereed by a few of the League mandarins in our final few games, most notably against Wandsworth, Deportivo and Supercala. Fortunately they were suitably impressed by our ability and ultimately they deemed us good enough to stay in Division Two. That wasn’t the full story however. Quite a few of the teams had benefited from the administrative mess that was West Ten, who had stopped playing in February with the result that all their subsequent opponents were awarded three points. There were also plenty of other temporary suspensions that saw a multitude of other match awards that resulted in the league table being influenced more by disciplinary hearings than efforts on the field of play.

We could take some pride from fulfilling 21 of our 22 league fixtures, with the other match awarded to our opponents Inter. Compare that to Deportivo Galicia in particular, who had been the beneficiaries of 12 points without kicking a ball: a dozen less points and they would have finished below Logica. So when the mandarins sat down at Sportmans League HQ to conduct the seasonal post-mortem, they rationalised the table and point distribution and decided that the bottom half of the Division Two table wasn’t a fair reflection of the relative abilities of the teams involved. In consequence, they decided in their infinite wisdom that Logica FC would remain a Division Two team next year.

So we managed the Great Escape after all, and our immense efforts since Christmas were rewarded. It was a monumental achievement by all the players involved with the club, and one that we should all be proud of. And hopefully we can carry this 2004 form into next season and, with the help of the recent influx of young talent, start challenging at the other end of the table.

Until then, ciao!

SEASON AT A GLANCE:
Most Appearances: (13+6 out of 22 games max)
Golden Boot: (9 goals in 17 games)
Players' Player of the Year:
Goal of the Season: vs Everyman
Football Writers' Player of the Year:
Biggest Victory: 5-1 v Deportivo Galicia (a)
Heaviest Defeat: 0-11 v West Ten (a)
Number of Players used: 33
Goals Scored: 32 goals in 22 games (average 1.45 per game)
Goals Conceded: 81 goals in 22 games (average 3.68 per game)
Clean Sheets: One in 22 games (average one every 22.00 games)