Second half of the season, December - June

Well with Margate ontop of the Conference South entering the second half of the season work began to keep the side there. Unfortunately the club suffered from an injury stint with a few other players picking up colds and flu over the winter period. The peak of this being striker Ashley Sestanovich who had broken his leg and would end up being out of action for 6 months.

Unfortunately the end of the year celebrations were tarred with a 4-1 loss to Tamworth as Margate were totally outplayed at the Lamb Ground. Immediately the media start to predict Margate's freefall down the table.

Though despite the doombringing of the Media the side immediately bounced back, a 1-1 draw against Eastleigh and a 3-0 dominent win over AFC Wimbledon. Finally the game of January for Margate was a top of the table clash between then league leaders Carshalton. In a very entertaining and close game (which was touted as a championship decider even this early in the season) ended up 2-1 to the Gate!

The team continued its good form. Only losing 1 game in January and being totally undeafeated in Feburary, though one very entertaining game (from a Margate perspective) was the home tie against Cambridge City. Young prospect Chris Wright scoring a goal from 60 yards with the game finishing 2-0.

After a small blip against Eastbourne Boro (1-0 loss at home) the team then went unbeaten for 10 games until the end of the season. The highlight of the end of the season run in was a smashing of Salisbury 5-1 including what the Margate fans considered the funniest home goal they had even seen at Hartsdown Park.

Margate's excellent form allowed them to claim the title with one game to spare and ended up 11 points clear of 2nd place by the close of the season.

End of the Season

Some press clippings praising the work of Nash

With the season drawn to a close, the fan base of Margate were elated. Not since the Chris Kinnear era had the club played in the Conference National, Nash had already become a fan's favourite with the support's club considering a name change to honour their new found hero.

Finally to top off their excellent season, Reading (Margate's parent club) came down to Hartsdown Park to honour the terms of their contract. Obviously the gap in talent between a former Premiership side and a Conference team were telling. 

Top Performers

For the Margate squad of 2007/2008 there were a few star performers, all of whom Nash was very pleased to sign onto 3-5 year contracts.

• Matthew Bulman - Took over the number 1 spot and has been an excellent talent, though not shown by his Average rating in the Opta stats Matt has made some fantastic saves and without his aerobatics the side would have likely lost a few of their tigher games.
• Magnus Okuonghae - The defensive midfielder reborn as a central defender. Magnus had been absoulte solid thoughout the 2007/2008 season. His ability on free kicks as well as converting some corners saw him rack up 7 goals (ironically more than all but one of the strikers) plus he had already brought the attention of a League one club.
• Darren Wheeler - The young winger was highly exciting prospect to watch over the course of the season, playing on right midfield but being left footed meant he had plenty of opportunity to come insider the defence and cause all sorts of problems.
• David Walls - Another young player, David's passion on the pitch and constant performances made him a firm favourite with the fans.
• Dean Howell - The left winger was another constant performer, early in the season he was scoring quite regularly, though missed the mid season due to injury he came back and fought his way back into the first team, though while still being dangerous was unfortunately unable to reclaim that scoring touch.
• Mark Sale - The veteran striker, while not prolific in his scoring (5 goals) was the center of a huge number of attacking moves for Margate, his flick ons setup multiple scoring chances for his regular strike partner Larbi Mekchiche. Though his age is already starting to tell as his ability to last 90 minutes is fading. Despite this though his performances convinced manager Mark Nash to give him one more year on his contract.
• Larbi Mekchiche - Margate's definate signing of the season. This converted right winger went straight into a scoring groove, living on the over the top flick ons from Mark Sale the Frenchman managed a total of 24 goals and was the fan's player of the year.

The Squad 2007/2008

The squad that won Margate's Conference south title and in his first season made Mark Nash a legend among Margate fans. Currently all these players are still at Margate, you can find out what happend to each of these squad members by clicking on their names.

Elswhere in Football

• Chelsea retained their title, won the FA Cup and narrowly missed out on the treble losing to AC Milan 1-0.
• England launched their Euro 2008 Campaign under Steve McClaren.
• Manchest United manager Alex Ferguson announces his retirement at the end of the 2008/2009 season.