Buxton FC have just completed their first ever season in the National League North, managing a respectable 11th placed finish, and narrowly missing out on a place in the playoffs by a point on the final day.
This comes alongside another impressive FA Cup run, which has seen the club reach the second round proper of the competition for consecutive seasons. The Bucks also picked up silverware this season after beating Derby County’s Under 21’s late on in the final of the Derbyshire Senior Cup.
After a poor start to the season saw the club sat in the league’s relegation zone in December, manager Jamie Vermiglio announced that he had resigned from the club, stating that his commitment to the club had had a negative impact to both his primary job and his family life.
A week and a half later a new face was through the door, with Craig Elliott switching one side of the A6 for the other, joining the club from Matlock Town FC.
However, the start to Elliott’s journey at the club wasn’t what fans would have hoped for, with his side only picking up 2 points from his first 8 games in the league.
Elliott knew he needed to change something before the club ended up being relegated.
“I think I was patient to begin with” the Buxton manager explained.
“I put things in place in the second half of the Farsley game and we played really well and then after that we never looked back really.”
‘Not looking back’ is certainly a phrase a lot of Buxton fans will be familiar with in the second half of the season, as The Bucks went on a 15-game unbeaten run which led to them climbing up the table and beating title-chasing Kings Lynn Town on the way.
In the end, the club fell just short of reaching the playoffs on the final day after losing to Chester FC 4-0, but it was a season to be proud of for the Bucks after what looked like certain relegation at the start of the season.
Craig Elliott always said in interviews with the club that his goal ultimately was to keep the club in the league, as well as winning the Derbyshire Senior Cup.
Buxton managed to beat Derby County’s Under 21’s late on in the Senior Cup final, with goals from Diego De Girolamo and Connor Kirby.
Club Captain Josh Granite said that he was proud of the club for picking up more silverware: “The form towards the end of the season really helped us go on and win this trophy and it was good for the lads to get some more silverware.”
The Derbyshire club are now looking to take this upturn of form in the back end of the season into the start of next season and have already announced their retained list and 2 new signings.
Buxton have also launched a new fans vote initiative in order to garner fans opinions on a range of issues concerning the club, such as what items are available for sale in the club shop.
The first vote under the initiative recently took place to decide the club’s away kit for the 2023-24 season, with the white with a blue and black stripe kit option winning the vote by a massive 77%.
📦⚽️ | 𝗢𝗙𝗙 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗞
Retained List circulated ✔️
Preseason plans well underway ✔️
New away kit chosen ✔️
Announce first new signing… ⁉️We’ll complete our to-do-list at 2:30pm. #UpTheBucks | #TeamBuxton pic.twitter.com/j5Mwpi8Pzg
— Buxton Football Club (@Buxton_FC) May 22, 2023
Granite was one of the players announced as staying at the club and when the retained list was published, and said of his decision: “It was an obvious choice for me, I love the club.”
The two signings that have so far been announced by manager Elliott have both come from his former club Boston United, and Elliott is excited to work with them again.
“They have worked with me in the past and know how to get to the playoffs in this league.”
With all this year’s exciting season behind them, and a number of signings already made, Buxton fans definitely have an exciting 2023-24 season to look forward to.
