By Brendan Doyle
Not so long ago the gaffer celebrated his 1 year Bootle FC anniversary, take a look back at the journey Mick McGraa has taken us on up to now.
On September 28th 2023 Mick McGraa joined The Bucks as manager after the departure of previous boss Dave McNabb. He brought in players such as Tony Thompson, Sam Hughes, Sean Smith, Conor Harwood and Michael Burkey in his first season in charge.
His first four fixtures in both the league and cup competitions came with one win and three losses. Although on one Halloween night, Bootle faced Avro under the lights of The Berry Street Garage Stadium and gave their visitors from Oldham quite a scare with a 1-0 victory with the only goal from Ben Hodkinson and Sean Smith made a heroic debut as the full back signed made a headed block off the line, solidifying Bootle all three points on the night. This win was significant to the start of hope for The Bucks due to the fact Avro were on a run of nine unbeaten games in the league, and Bootle’s form at the time wasn’t the best as mentioned.
The following weekend Bootle faced 3rd placed Leek Town who had two games in hand on them 1st placed Kidsgrove and were also on a very good run of games whilst their forward Daniel Trickett Smith was on fire, nonetheless, Mick McGraa and his team found a way to conquer the Staffordshire side. An own goal from Matt Corran and a well executed finish from Tom Peterson aswell as fantastic efforts from Bootle’s back four and goalkeeper Tony Thompson ensured Bootle to cause a big upset on that cold November afternoon. Leek Town would eventually go onto gain automatic promotion after finishing 1st in the league table with 78 points with a 10 point gap from 2nd placed Runcorn Linnets. Bootle fans seemed even more confident of the recently appointed new boss.
As the months passed, McGraa managed to guide Bootle to win 13 out of 26 league games which ensured The Bucks a place in the play offs edging them closer to the dream of gaining promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The play off position was officially sealed when Bootle defeated Hednesford Town 1-0 at Keys Park, the only goal came from Ben Hodkinson just two minutes after the second half kicked off which proved to be enough to send the Bootle fans into euphoria. The coach home was non stop singing and celebrating which every single individual involved that day thoroughly enjoyed, myself included.
The night of the play off semi final fell on a Tuesday night away to local rivals Prescot Cables, after a very tough and intense 90 minutes for both sides the match went onto extra time. Both sets of players fought tooth and nail all the way through, but a goal from Kyle Samboor in the 100th minute would ensure Prescot Cables a place in the final and would eventually go onto win after defeating City Of Liverpool 2-0.
Although The Bucks didn’t get the win that night in Prescot, the Bootle faithful were happy with how their season finished and were already looking forward to the following campaign. Given the fact Mick McGraa came in late September 2023 and had a number of key players joining Dave McNabb at Bury and clubs elsewhere, his recruitment was excellent, such as the players mentioned previously and also adding Joe Woolley and Richie Sutton later on in the season. He also gave the fans belief and hope that their long awaited promotion dream could come true.
With a number of new faces and a few outgoings, Bootle are currently sitting 6th place in the league table and our latest result was a 1-1 draw away to Newcastle Town but the lads performed really well with and without the ball and were very unfortunate not to pick up a victory. Before Saturday The Bucks found themselves on a very bad run with picking up only three points in six games, but I’m sure this is only a rough patch and we believe the gaffer will deliver many more good times at home and away fixtures this season.