In the first of our three part mini series looking ahead to the new season we speak to Deal Town captain Dean Hill about his pre-season preparation.
Despite the obvious hard work during the summer, Hill- who has spent time at clubs including Ramsgate and Dover- insists that the difference between levels isn’t too large, saying: “I don’t see there being much of a difference as to what you’re doing in pre-season, it’s the same thing whether you’re at the likes of Dover or Margate or if you’re lower down.
“Maybe at the top level you’d be asked to do more, maybe come in a couple more days a week but everyone does stuff in their own time anyway. The guys will be doing stuff on the days they have off, going to the gym, keeping fit. Maybe the lads at Dover will be all together doing those extra sessions.
“But no, there’s not a great deal of difference. Sometimes the crowds will help, when you’re at Deal you may have 20 to 50 people watching you but everyone still takes it the same way, you want to win and you want to play well”.
Deal have got mixed results from their pre-season campaign so far having lost to Margate and Dover before scoring nine goals in Two games against K Sports and Ramsgate’s under 21 side.
“The first few are always just your warm up matches, just to get fitness back, especially against Margate and Dover where we didn’t really see all too much of the ball” says Hill.
“Those were, for us, more of a running exercise to get us fit. Into the last two or three games you want to see decent performances so the results matter. You want to see the team playing and getting ready for the first game which is important for us because it’s in the FA Cup. Results and performances will start to really matter in the next two or three games leading up to the season.”
The hoops were scheduled to play Kent Football United on Saturday but the fixture was cancelled, leaving Hill and his teammates without a match, but the captain believes that it isn’t as much of an issue as many believe: “I don’t think it’ll matter right now, if it was the week before the season started we would be really frustrated but because we still have a few weeks to get ready for it it isn’t as bad”.
Despite the minor setback, Deal’s preparation for 2017/2018 has been helped with the club keeping the majority of their playing staff as the defender explains: “95% of players have stayed so it’s lots of familiar faces and we’re not searching round for new players which is always nice. Pre-season can be disjointed when you get plenty of new players coming in. Most players have stayed which keeps us consistent.”
But for the experienced captain, the summer period will always be about looking back, and facing the upcoming challenges that face him as his career has progressed: “The recovery period is definitely longer, but as you get older you start doing more for yourself. You start going to the gym more because you have to. When you’re in your early twenties you don’t need to do that and I remember when I was playing my better football I didn’t even consider that as being important at the time.
“As I got older I realised that if I didn’t do that I wouldn’t be able to play for much longer. You end up putting more into what you’re doing in your free time rather than when you’re younger because it doesn’t seem to affect you as much.”
Deal still have two pre-season friendlies until their FA Cup campaign begins at Corinthian FC. They face New Romney’s reserves at home on July 27th before travelling to Lydd Town on the 29th, just two days later.