The coach hums steadily down the M6, grey skies outside. Inside, the Dagenham & Redbridge squad keep to themselves — headphones, card games, quiet chatter. Up front, manager BEN STREVENS sits with his assistant NICKY LATHAM across the aisle. Ben is animated, eyes narrowed, while Nicky is more reserved, flicking through some notes on his tablet.)
BEN STREVENS
(grumbling)
I still can't wrap my head around it. Eric Dempsey. Eric bloody Dempsey. In the National League.
NICKY LATHAM
(not looking up)
You're still on that?
BEN STREVENS
Mate. Come on. This bloke kept Bologna in Serie A. Won a cup in Bulgaria. He's managed in stadiums twice the size of Moss Lane. What's he doing rockin' up to a club like Altrincham? Did he lose a bet.
NICKY LATHAM
(chuckles)
Maybe he fancies a challenge?
BEN STREVENS
A challenge? This ain't Football Manager, Nicky. This is the Dog and Duck League! Half these grounds don't even have working radiators. One week it's a plastic pitch, next it's cowpats and scaffolding for stands. You know how harsh going to Wealdstone is.
NICKY LATHAM
(smirking)
It's not that bad. Alty's got a bit of history, to be fair.
BEN STREVENS
(scoffs)
History? Yeah. Black and white telly history!
(leans in)
They won the National League back when it weren't even called that. 1979-80. Then again in '81-'82. Fair play. But since then? They've bounced around more than a dodgy cheque. Conference North, back up, then down again. They're the boomerang club, always coming back but never sticking.
NICKY LATHAM
True, but they've got decent fans. Good setup now.
BEN STREVENS
(rolls eyes)
Good setup? That ground still feels like your nan's backyard with extra seats. Look, I'm not slating the town — proper people, hard-working, all that — but Dempsey?
(leans back, exasperated)
He was rubbing shoulders with Allegri and Mourinho a few years ago. Now he's shaking hands with part-time decorators and PE teachers.
NICKY LATHAM
(toying with him)
Maybe he's got family ties. Or maybe he just got tired of the circus. You know, agents, boardroom politics...
BEN STREVENS
No. Nah. You don't leave Bologna for Altrincham unless something's gone properly sideways. And don't even start with this 'he wants to rebuild' malarkey. That's what they all say before they disappear into obscurity.
NICKY LATHAM
Or before they win the league. Even get promoted.
BEN STREVENS
(laughs sharply)
Win the league?! You think Alty are winning the National League this year? With that squad?
NICKY LATHAM
You've seen Dempsey's style. Compact, organised, lethal on the counter. You give him a spine, he builds the rest around it. Don't be surprised if we're the ones chasing shadows today.
BEN STREVENS
(scoffing)
Nah. I'll be damned if we let Eric-bloody-Dempsey get one over on us. But I'll say this — if he does turn that club around, I'll eat my words. With hot sauce.
NICKY LATHAM
(smiling)
Better bring a bottle with you, then.
BEN STREVENS
(half-laughs)
Nah. Let's get three points and shut this fairy tale down before it starts. This league ain't for dreamers. It's for battlers. Let's show 'em that.
NICKY LATHAM
(nods)
Amen to that.
The sun begins to set outside the coach windows. The traffic slows. The team at the back now sleep or scroll aimlessly on phones. Ben sits in silence for a while, arms folded, brow furrowed. Nicky glances over, sensing he's still stewing.
NICKY LATHAM
(sincerely)
You know it's not about the club, right? It's about him. You're rattled by him.
BEN STREVENS
(quietly)
Course I am.
(leans in, voice low)
Eric Dempsey is the kind of manager I used to watch on telly with a notepad in my hand, trying to nick ideas. Bloke's younger than me, and he's managed in four countries, speaks three languages, and had Pep Guardiola name-drop him once. Pep!
(leans back)
Now he's in the same dugout as me? In this league?
NICKY LATHAM
Maybe it's not a step down for him. Maybe it's a statement.
BEN STREVENS
Oh come on. Don't feed me the "noble mission" bollocks. He's no Robin Hood. If he wanted to build something, he'd go to Wrexham, Chesterfield. Or Notts County. Not bloody Alty.
NICKY LATHAM
Maybe that's why it scares you. Maybe you feel inferior to him.
BEN STREVENS
(startled)
Scares me?
NICKY LATHAM
Yeah. You've been grinding it out for years. Clawing every point, every scrap of respect. Now here comes this journeyman golden boy, parachuting in like the messiah of Moss Lane.
BEN STREVENS
(scoffs)
Messiah? Mate, he's got six months before he realises National League management is just rolling dice in a hurricane. He's all talk no bite.
NICKY LATHAM
(chuckles)
Or maybe he wins promotion. Goes up with a team of free transfers and released kids.
BEN STREVENS
(grits teeth)
If he gets that lot promoted, I'll do a lap of Victoria Road in nothing but a Dagenham scarf and boots.
NICKY LATHAM
(laughing)
You better hope they finish mid-table then.
BEN STREVENS
You know what gets me the most?
NICKY LATHAM
What?
BEN STREVENS
I respect the bloke. I'd never say it to his face, but I do. Because I know he could've gone somewhere shinier. But he came here. Same league as us. Same rain, same potholes, same nonsense refs. And if he pulls this off, if he gets Altrincham punching above their weight, then he doesn't just look like a genius. He makes the rest of us look small.
NICKY LATHAM
Or he proves that this league deserves more respect. Take a look at the National League we have Oldham Athletic, Rochdale, Aldershot Town, Barnet, Chesterfield, York City, Southend United, even Kidderminster Harriers who are former league clubs, by no stretch does it make the rest look small only shows what can be done right.
BEN STREVENS
(staring ahead)
I hope he's not trying to make a point, Nicky. Because I've got one to make of my own today. And I'm not in the mood to roll out a red carpet for anyone.
NICKY LATHAM
(smirking)
You never are.