Defender Tommy Smith discusses last season and previews the upcoming campaign.
DK: How do you reflect on the season from a team perspective?
TS: It was obviously a tough season, being relegated, but at no point did we ever throw the towel in. We gave our absolute best every single game. Obviously, there were tough moments and there were also good moments as well. Obviously, in the end, it finished off disappointing of how the league table was.
DK: Would you say you've still had a positive season personally?
TS: I thought I'd done all right. I mean, I think when teams get relegated, I think it's hard to sort of have a really good season individually. I thought I'd done all right. Nowhere near as well as I think I can, but I don't think that I struggled. I thought it was a decent performance, to be fair. I think at the start, it took us a while to sort of climatise ourselves to the league. I thought that reflected in the first few months leading up to Christmas. I thought from the New Year, I thought we actually did okay. I thought a lot of our performances weren't bad. We were picking up results. Obviously, at that point, the pressure was off us, really. There's no pressure when you're expected to go down. That was how we probably should have came into the season, with that pressure sort of off us, but I felt it affected us the first few months, maybe.
I just thought we were going up the league and not many players have faced that level before. It might have just been just the first couple of months, I think. It was for everyone who was trying to find their feet. I think towards the end of the season, we definitely showed our worth in the league. If we would have started like that the whole way through, I think we would have definitely stayed up.
DK: The previous season (2023/24), our home form was really good, I'm guessing next season (2025/26), your aim as a team and individually is to return back to that form?
TS: Yeah, definitely. It was tough. We found actually playing away, I think, this season, probably picking up better results away than we did at home, which was a little bit strange, but understandable probably as well when there's all these massive grounds and everything like that. We did struggle at home this year, and we're definitely looking to high man away this season coming up, so definitely perform better.
DK: What would you say your highlights are from the season?
TS: Obviously, the team performances. Like everyone's been saying, you've got the Hereford game, or rather the Warrington and Hereford Saturday-Tuesday, I think it was towards the start of the season. It was a really, really good feeling, a really good moment. Playing at all them grounds in general, really good experiences, whether we won them or lost them. They were still really good experiences. Obviously, on a personal note, it was nice picking up my first goal as well, so that was something that I'm quite proud of. We obviously spoke about that goal at the time.
DK: Looking back at that, that must be the best goal you've scored?
TS: Yeah, it would probably be the best goal I've scored, yeah. I'm quite confident, probably, to be fair, hopefully, this season. I'm going to be picking up a few more, hopefully.
DK: I know those were friendlies, but technically that's not the only goal you've scored for the club.
TS: No, they all count, exactly. Exactly, they all count. Looking back at those, those were good finishes as well. I think it was hard this season. I think we were on the back foot quite a lot of the time. I think everyone felt that as well. I thought we gave it our all this season. I don't think anyone would have even dreamt of throwing the towel in. At no point did we ever even think about going down. Until the last game, we always thought we had a chance.
DK: Yeah, and now that you've all got experience at that level, you know what the expectation is.
TS: Yeah, it makes us hungry to get back there. All the experiences, we want to be back there. That's where we want to be now. We're definitely going to give it our best again this season. So, that's something the aim is definitely to get back there, one way or another. I think it has to be (the mindset). I think when you come down, I think the aim is always to go back up, no matter who you are. If you spent the last season in the league above, that should be the aim, to get back there, no matter what the squad's looking like or what the situation is at the club. I think you should always be looking to get back to where you were last season. Obviously, the Premier Cup would be nice as well, like it was the season before. Promotion from the league is definitely the main target.
Obviously, when I came in, I don't think anyone was expecting to win the title, considering the season before. I'm not sure where they finished, but I think it was near the bottom half. Yeah, so I think it was a bit of a, well, it wasn't a shock because I think we fully deserved it, but it would have been a shock from where we were at the start of the season. Then going from winning the league to dominating most teams week in, week out, to then going from one end of the spectrum to the other is always tough. I guess it's similar to how Ipswich played this season and from last season, to be fair. It's tough, but that's experiences. You've got two really good experiences in two years, and now it just makes you more hungry to get back to where it was.
DK: Yeah, speaking about Ipswich, it's kind of rather ironic that Needham and Ipswich last couple of seasons have mirrored each other.
TS: Yeah, it is a bit strange. It is a bit strange, yeah. Both struggled this season, but the season before, both were very, very good.
DK: Are there any other standout moments on or off the pitch?
TS: I mean, obviously the journeys and all that were good experiences with the lads on the bus, but nothing really that stands out.
DK: What is the biggest takeaway from the season that you'll forever remember?
TS: Probably just the experience, really. Probably the grounds that we played at. Not everyone plays at grounds like that, so I think that's definitely the biggest experience and a moment to look back on. This league is completely different to how I played at Ipswich. It's a very physical league. It's loads of experienced players and very, very good players as well, but I really enjoyed it. It was really good fun.
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