Reading YMCA 1st team manager, Mark Lemm has the tough task of trying to better a memorable season last term which saw the Young Men win the BTC Senior Cup, reach the semi-final of the Reading Senior Cup and finish 4th in the Senior Division - the club's highest finish for over 30 years.  Here Lemm gives the website an exclusive insight into his thoughts heading into the new season.

"I think its fair to say that we exceeded all expectations last season.
The whole team seemed to click after Christmas, we went on a run and finished up with a final appearance at the Madejski.

The danger now is that we get over-confident and start believing we are better than we are.  Our success last season was built on a great work ethic, team spirit and, of course, ability but there were very few games where we outplayed the opposition and most games were a battle and I'm not expecting anything different this time round"

Outside of the top 2, Highmoor/IBIS and Cookham, there is not much between the rest of the teams and realistically we could finish anywhere between 3rd and 10th this year.  I'm expecting the two promoted sides Woodcote/Stoke Row and Newbury FC to be strong. particularly Woodcote who have a young, hungry side and have looked good in pre-season.

Westwood Utd have added a couple of players from a higher level and Woodley Town have also made some good acquisitions and I expect both to be in the shake up for a top 6 finish.

Mortimer had a superb second half of last season and have posted some impressive pre-season results so don't be surprised to see them up there as well.

It may not sound very "sexy" but from my point of view I'm just looking to consolidate in a top 5 position this season and if we can go on another cup run that would be great.  We're not quite ready yet to challenge the big 2 but I think we're in a group along with the likes of Woodcote, Woodley, Mortimer, Westwood etc who are looking to close the gap and start to push for the title in the next couple of years.

It has been quite a hectic pre-season this summer - we are entering a second team in the Reading League for the first time in over 30 years - Reading YMCA Rapids - and that has seen us having to deal with a much larger group of players which has been a welcome challenge.  We have also recruited a club coach, Paul Meakin, who has made a great impact and is already a popular member of the club.

Having Paul with us will be invaluable to me this season, he has a fantastic coaching pedigree, a great tactical brain and will provide much needed support to me personally on matchdays especially when I am on the field.

So we have been working hard off the field to improve the infrastructure of the club and get us into a position where we can compete on a more level playing field with some of the other clubs in the league.  The overall target of the club is to win the Senior Division in the next few years and I feel its vital that we get these things in place to enable us to achieve that.

On the pitch we've been lucky enough to retain the services of all of last year's squad although defender Adam Tomb's appearances will be severly limited due to domestic commitments and Chris Lemm continues his recovery from a broken leg and is not expected back before Christmas.  For me, it is always vitally important to make sure you retain your existing players especially after having such a good season last year because a) it gives the whole club stability and b) it indicates that the players have enjoyed their football and have faith in what we are trying to do.

We've also added a number of new players to the squad of which Aidey Kearsey who we picked up from Woodley and Nader Edmunds who has been playing in Bournemouth have looked particular impressive during pre-season.
Its also been extremely pleasing to see several ex-YM players return to the club not least YM legend Steve Woodrow who returns to the club after a season playing on Sundays.  At the other end of the scale we've also had a number of promising youngsters sign forms including Robert Maslen who becomes the first YM player to be born after 1990 - he's made a decent start as well scoring a hat-trick in his first full appearance!

If I'm honest I would have liked to add another couple of players to the squad to strengthen certain areas and I have certainly been working hard behind the scenes to bring more players in but its been difficult especially with the new management teams at Reading Town and Henley picking up alot of good players.  But I am still hopeful that a couple will sign once the season has got underway although generally I am really happy with the squad and feel that it is slightly stronger than last year's.