ANDY Crowther admits Droitwich Spa face a ‘tough start’ to the 2025/26 season but cannot wait to begin the new campaign.
Spa are busy preparing for their first season as a Step Five club and have already claimed pre-season wins against Alcester Town and Smethwick Rangers.
The release of the Hellenic League Premier Division fixtures sees Spa begin the competitive season later this month.
Droitwich’s first match as a Step Five club will see the Saltmen travel to Hereford Pegasus.
And although Crowther feels Spa have been handed a tough start, he remains confident his players will embrace the challenge of Step Five football.
Crowther said: “It’s always good to get started in the league even though it is quite early for us.
“It’s a tough start, travelling to Pegasus on the Monday, then Racing Club Warwick in the FA Cup and then Westfields at home.
“But they’re the games you want to play in and we’re all looking forward to it, I can’t wait for the season to get started now.
“You do look at some fixtures to see when you’re playing Pershore Town and Worcester Raiders [local rivals].
“We’ve not looked at it and thought ‘we’re going to struggle in so many games’ it’s about moving on and seeing what we can do this year.
“Hopefully, the blueprint is the same as last year. I’m not saying the same as in winning the league, we’re just going to push as much as we can and who knows where that will take us.”
Spa also face a stern test in the FA Cup with Droitwich to play in the competition for the first time in the club’s history.
Droitwich will make the trip to Step Four side Racing Club Warwick in early August.
However, Crowther feels his players thrive when taking on opponents in a higher division with Spa out to cause an upset.
Crowther added: “We’re looking forward to the FA Cup, we’ve got a tough draw away at Racing Club Warwick.
“We’ll go there full of confidence, it’s a one-off game and anything can happen in a one-off game.
“The lads normally thrive when playing against higher league opposition and that’s shown in the past and hopefully we’ll push them all the way.”
“Everyone is fit and ready to go, the confidence has been there in the first few games of pre-season.”
The club have signed just one new player ahead of the 2025/26 season in the form of midfielder Reiss Taylor-Randle.
And Crowther insists he will only target the right type of player as he looks to add more quality to his squad before the start of the campaign.
He said: “I’ve always said from the start, I was never going to go out and make wholesale changes.
“The lads have done us well over the last two or three years, they all deserve a crack [at Step Five].
“I’ve kept the majority of the squad, I am still looking [for new players] but I’m not panicking, I’m not going out there and signing anyone for the sake of it.
“They’ve got to fit in to Droitwich and what we’re doing moving forward.
“I’ve brought in some young lads from the development team. Everyone has had the opportunity to impress and they’ve all done that.
“Hopefully, they’ll cause me a selection headache come the first game of the season.”
