Hinckley Info : News and Information

It may have been a meaningless match and the players might have been just going through the motions, but Hinckley United's 0-0 'bore snore draw' away at Alfreton Town was in fact their 9th game unbeaten in succession.

This sets a new record for Hinckley United in the Conference North, as the previous best had been 8 games unbeaten, on 3 seperate occasions.

The Supporters Player of the Season was also presented after the match. The supporters awarded Adam Webster their vote for Player of the Season. Even if he only played a handful of games, his goals turned our season around. Though he wasn't the only player to help turn things around and in a season with few 'ups' but more 'downs' supporters voted for 14 different players overall. Runner up to Adam Webster, was team captain Richard Lavery.

Supporter Jerry Abbott and director Phil Taylor both donated bottles of wine for the winners, and both players were presented with glass decanters. Adam was also presented with the Supporters Player of the Season Shield.

Dean Thomas recently reflected on the past few months of the season and speaking to the Leicester Mercury, said this:

"It was a worrying time, but I hadn't lost faith in myself or the players. There has always been a great spirit in the dressing room this season, no matter what our results have been like. If I ever thought I had lost the dressing room or that people didn't want to play for me and this club, I would have had second thoughts about continuing in this job. It was a tough test for me, it was a low point. I couldn't change things because I just didn't have the players to do it at that stage. It was frustrating. At times like that, who is there to keep me going? Who motivates the motivator? You just can't afford to doubt yourself. I kept faith in myself and knew that things would change if I could just get the right players back. People are not stupid, they know when you are under pressure, but I couldn't afford to mope around looking miserable, and I never went into training without a smile on my face. I like to think I am quite resilient. I have been through a lot of difficulties in my life. I have always learned from things and tried to stay positive."

Thomas admitted that the club's plight at that time was also having a detrimental effect on his family life. Wife Debbie and daughter Melody were made fully aware of the pressure on Thomas. As Thomas added:

"My daughter goes on the internet and reads some of the things that people have said about me on the fans' forum. What do you say to your wife and daughter when you come home and find them in tears because they are reading things about me on the internet? My daughter couldn't understand why those things were being said about her dad. It's upsetting that people are prepared to go that far and it's sad how much it can affect the family. Of course that gets to you. It's a few people hiding behind aliases on the website who haven't got the guts to front up. They have no idea how much it affects some people."

Hinckley's win over Vauxhall last week stretched their unbeaten league run to eight games, a spell which has seen them pick up 20 out of 24 points and condemned Leigh, Vauxhall and Hucknall to the drop. Thomas said:

"I knew we were in a mini league at the bottom of the table and that Leigh and Vauxhall wouldn't bother us. In the end, the pressure got to Hucknall with us carrying on winning. I kept telling the players, it's not about us waiting for Hucknall to lose, it was about doing what we need to do. We dug deep when we had to. It has been a testing experience but it has been a good one. You learn a bit more about yourself when you go through things like that and you know who your friends are. The players have been great and I never lost my belief in what we were doing. It was a case of getting a couple of wins and that gave us a bit of relief and got us out of a rut. We all know that it has been a disappointing season, but we have come through it and I am delighted because I think, in some quarters, some people wanted to see me and the club fail. It was nice to turn things around and shut a few people up."