Southport once again managed to beat the drop and will be playing Conference Premier football for a fifth season in a row next year. That was always going to be a very demanding and trying season for the Merseyside club after the departure of the highly successful and much-loved Liam Watson during the close season. His replacement in the dugout was the untried former Premier League player, Alan Wright, and the rookie coach showed the bravery and vision to make some left-field signings over the summer while trying to implement a more refined style of football. Jamie Milligan, the former Fleetwood stalwart, was the main cog of the team in midfield and the season actually started very well. The Port pulled off a shock 1:0 win over Luton on the opening day of the season and that spelled the start of a very good run of results at home in the months ahead. The issue for the Sandgrounders, however, was the away games as they barely picked a point on their travels. They were still doing well enough in the first couple of months, also claiming the scalp of the early pace-setters, Cambridge, in November, but the team started sliding down the table and found themselves in the danger zone before too long. The lack of a genuine goalscoring striker was the main issue with the squad and that problem was addressed with the signing of an experienced player like Nathan Ellington in late October. He played some decent games early on but was to be released within a couple of months. The performances started to get progressively worse and a 3:0 loss at the hands of Hereford sent alarm bells ringing. Wright was, perhaps slightly surprisingly, let go at the start of December and the club decided to go for a more experienced and wily manager in John Coleman. He has forged a great reputation at this level with Accrington Stanley but his tenure got off to a bumpy start. The players certainly looked bereft of confidence around the festive period and actually won just once in 13 games between November and February. But Coleman started to find his best side, after making a few wise loan moves and letting go of some big players, and the results began improving. The home form became very steady again and the main reason for beating the drop was a run of seven home wins in the last nine games played in front of their fans. Jason Walker, signed on loan from Forest Green, proved the missing link up front while Osayamen Osawe came to prominence in these vital games at the end too. The team overcame a few poor results with their away form remaining awful all season, and a spirited comeback win over Halifax a week before the end of the season eventually confirmed their place in the league for next season. The satisfaction among the fans was there to see but that was soon replacement by disappointment as Coleman announced his departure after the end of the season and it remains to be seen whether Martin Foyle will prove a capable replacement next season.
