Reed revels in Reds support after title win
Leighton Town boss Paul Reed says it has been fantastic to see the club’s support grow over the last year and has set his sights on that expanding even further following promotion.
The Reds are champions of SPL Division One Central and will receive the trophy at this weekend’s final match at home to London Lions, where a victory will also take them on to 100 points.
And Reed says the success on the pitch has gone hand-in-hand with the people of Leighton Buzzard getting firmly behind the team throughout a season which has seen the club reach step three for the first time.
He told the Non-League Paper: “We’ve built relationships between players and supporters since we’ve come in – and that’s been very important. It’s brought the community together and the town, which is fantastic.
“Then all of a sudden you’ve got nearly 1,400 on Saturday [the day Leighton won the title] with people actually being turned away at the gate because they couldn’t get in for safety reasons.
“Ultimately, it’s helped that we’ve done well on the pitch. The boys have been phenomenal.
“I think out of the 40 games, we’ve been top for 35 of them – and this is a credit to the players, really.
“We’ve got a lot of the same players from last season as well, so that continuity and consistency has been a huge factor for us.”
Reed is well aware that with success comes the likelihood of Leighton’s best players being courted by other clubs, but he says he isn’t going to lose any sleep over that issue just yet.
“I just really want everyone to enjoy what we’re currently experiencing – and then the rest will take care of itself over the course of the summer,” he added.
“I back my players but I’m not naive. I know clubs are going to come in for a handful of them.
“There’s no doubt about that because of what they’ve achieved this year and because of the reputation they’ve built so success in one respect might be keeping hold of the group to start with rather than necessarily adding to it because they’re a real good bunch.”
Leighton fell to a 2-0 defeat at Welwyn Garden City on Saturday, just their fourth defeat of their historic league campaign.