All good things must come to an end. After nine years at the helm, Boreham Wood manager Luke Garrard takes charge of his last match at the club on Saturday. There will not be a dry eye among the Wood Army at Meadow Park.
Hopefully there will be tears of happiness and relief added to the emotional outpouring after the final game of the season against Ebbsfleet. At the end of a tough campaign, the Wood face a crucial 90 minutes to determine which level of the National League they will be playing in. Win and they stay up. Anything else and it's the drop.
A win would neatly bookend the reign of the man who has brought so much joy to the Hertfordshire club. When chairman Danny Hunter appointed a 30-year-old Garrard in October 2015, the youngest manager in the top five divisions of the league structure was thrown in at the deep end. But both chairman and manager knew they were up for the challenge.
Keeping Boreham Wood in the National League would be a tall order. A former Wood player, Garrard had been assistant to Ian Allinson as the club were promoted after a Conference South play-off final win over Whitehawk. The club had never played at this level of the league structure, and just to make the job that much harder, Allinson resigned a few months into the season.
At times it seemed as if Garrard was swimming against the tide. In eleven matches between November-February, the Wood scored just three goals, but crucially gained ten points as Garrard made the team harder to beat. Yet as the season reached a conclusion it looked as if the drop was inevitable.
The Great Escape Part One. A win at Aldershot in the antepenultimate match of the season, was followed up with another three points at home against Guiseley. A comfortable last day victory at Welling completed the unlikely story, as chairman and manager joined the Wood Army in the celebrations that followed.
For all Garrard's subsequent achievements, keeping the club in the National League during that first season must surely rank highly. With an average attendance of just 577, many scoffed at this little club trying to compete with some of the big boys. But staying up in 2015/16 set the foundations for what was to follow.
A solid 11th-place finish and a run to the FA Trophy quarter final in the next season was a solid return, but it was the 2017/18 campaign that the club started to make waves. Defeating league opposition in the FA Cup for the first time, the 2-1 win over Blackpool was a memorable occasion, as was the away day at Coventry.
And then there was the small matter of a trip to Wembley. Reaching the play-offs, the Wood defeated Fylde at home before a never to be forgotten semi-final win at Sutton in suffocating conditions. Somehow the Wood held on for a dramatic 3-2 win. Hunter and Garrard were taking the club down Wembley Way.
The final was heart breaking. With Tranmere down to ten men for basically the whole match, losing 2-1 felt like a missed opportunity. But in truth, injuries to the likes of Kane Smith, Jamie Turley and Morgan Ferrier hit the team hard, and in hindsight many of the players seemed to be running on fumes.
Looking at the bigger picture, the fact that Boreham Wood had made it to Wembley was remarkable. From the great escape to Wembley in just three seasons, Garrard's star was rising. The play-off hangover may have lasted a bit too long as the team struggled in 2018/19. But Garrard came again.
Another play-off finish was achieved, although the COVID outbreak at the end of the 2019/20 season prevented any fans from attending the win over Halifax and the semi-final defeat at Harrogate. Sadly the gates remained closed for the majority of the next season, but Garrard still managed to put a smile on the faces of those watching online.
A run to the FA Cup third round for the first time in the club's history may have been ended by second tier Millwall, but it was an appetiser for the fairy tale of the 2021/22 competition. Putting the club firmly on the map, Garrard led Boreham Wood to the FA Cup fifth round in an adventure that still defies belief.
It all started with a delicious win at local rivals Barnet in the fourth qualifying round. A comfortable 2-0 win over Eastleigh in the first round proper, and a 4-0 thrashing of neighbours St Albans in front of a record Meadow Park crowd of 4,101 then set up a tie with League One strugglers AFC Wimbledon. The 2-0 win was not a complete surprise, which demonstrated just how far the club had come.
And then there was Bournemouth. A Sunday evening that still brings goose bumps to the body, a mass of limbs in the away end, as skipper Mark Ricketts scored a winner against a team that would end the season being promoted to the Premier League. The beauty of the FA Cup apparent for all to see live on ITV.
At the end, Garrard stood and appreciated the occasion. With tears in his eyes, he could now prepare to take his club to Goodison Park in the last 16 of the FA Cup. Another memorable night for all those who made the trip to Merseyside, the team acquitted themselves bravely, keeping Everton out for nearly an hour before succumbing 2-0.
It was no secret that Garrard had offers from other clubs, understandably so considering what he had achieved. Hunter always told him of these approaches, yet his manager stayed loyal to the club. Both were chasing the dream of league football, of another trip to Wembley. Small town, big dreams.
There were and still are those who mock the club. The word tinpot is bandied about on social media to describe Boreham Wood, comedians flocking online in order to point out that the club has no fans. Garrard's tactics and style are labelled anti-football, fans of big clubs complaining that these underdogs dare to punch above their weight.
Yes, the attendances are relatively low but average gates are now over the 1,000 mark at Meadow Park. Maybe the approach can frustrate opposition fans, yet ultimately it is a results business. Staying up and becoming a solid National League side is not as easy as it looks.
Boreham Wood's current campaign highlights just how difficult a league this is. Rewind to May 7, 2023 and it could have all been so very different. After eliminating Barnet in the play-off quarter final, the club were 60 seconds from Wembley as they tried desperately to hold on to their 2-1 lead against Notts County. And then pain.
Conceding an equaliser was bad enough, but the 120th minute winner added a ton of salt to the gaping wounds. It takes a lot to get over a match like that, and perhaps that spilled over into this season. Missing out on players, some signings that didn't work, and a crippling run of injuries at the outset put the club on the backfoot immediately.
You didn't want to admit it, but you secretly knew that Boreham Wood were getting dragged into a relegation scrap. An alarming 4-0 defeat at Oxford City; the embarrassing 6-0 loss at Barnet; last minute equalisers conceded; the usually resolute defence being breached far too many times, especially from set pieces.
Six defeats on the spin, including four goals conceded in consecutive matches over the Easter weekend, saw the Wood drop into the bottom four. And then came the announcement. It was no surprise to hear that Garrard would step down at the end of the season. Nevertheless there was so much sadness when the club statement was released.
My time following the club kicked off with the Whitehawk play-off final. As my son developed a love of the game, I really wanted him to get a taste of going to football matches, the joy, despair and emotional involvement that comes with this experience. As Arsenal supporters it would prove too costly to watch matches on a regular basis. So like many, we turned to non-league football.
At first we were just happy to watch the matches and enjoy time together. But as ever with these things, football can get under your skin. Luke Garrard has been there throughout, as we progressed from the occasional visitor to season ticket holders, with my mum, dad and my son's friend now also on board. We could never have believed the highs and lows that the gaffer would lead us through.
The great escape; Sutton in the heat; Wembley; an FA Cup run from Edgware to Liverpool; dejection but pride at Notts County; and please, just one more chapter: the Great Escape Part Two. The win in the antepenultimate match at Aldershot has given us a chance, just as it did in 2016. Let us hope for the same end result come Saturday.
Thank you Luke. What started as a chance for us to watch regular football coincided with your amazing achievements at this club. You have created so many happy memories for me and my family, for members of the Wood Army, and for your boss, something that should fill you with pride. A club legend who will rightly be celebrated on Saturday. It's been a blast.
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