Welling can look back on a very good first season in the Conference Premier. The Wings were expected to find the challenge too tough to cope and were generally accepted to be the most likely of the promoted sides to go back down despite winning the Conference South title in fine fashion in the spring. Jamie Day lost just one big player in the summer in Anthony Acheampong but made some shrewd additions in Alex Dyer, Blaine Hudson and Lee Butcher. The team looked to be carrying the momentum from last season and approached the early games with enthusiasm and no fear at all. They got great wins at Grimsby and Woking in the first few games and quickly showed that they will not be pushovers at this level. Ross Lafayette continued his fine performances up front despite this being his debut season at this level while the very industrious and effective midfield was providing excellent platform to build on. The Wings looked very assured and tough to beat at home and turned the occasional superb performance, like a 5:2 win against a talented Forest Green side in September. They still lacked the necessary consistency to move into the higher reaches of the table but seemed neatly tucked in mid-table throughout the campaign. Little changed in terms of results and performances as the season progressed and the team certainly looked capable of ruffling the feathers of some of the big boys in the league while also occasionally turning some very poor displays, like in the home loss to an awful Hyde side in January. Indeed, Welling were the only side that lost to the basement boys in the entire season. But Day shrugged off such disappointments and added shrewdly to the squad via the loan market as injuries started to bite. Tobi Sho-Silva, Bailey Cargill and Toby Ajala all proved very valuable additions to the squad for the final few months of the season and ensured no relegation worries at all. A strong run of results in February, with one loss in six, sealed their status and they pretty much took their foot off the gas in the final few weeks. Indeed, they won just one of ten games before a last-day win but there was little to blemish the impressive achievements of Day and his players. The main challenge for next year is to maintain that level of performances while being on what of the lowest budgets in the league, something that will be a real nucleus test for the managerial talents of Day.
