The 2004/05 season will go down as the toughest to date under the Management of Shaun Pates, Albion for the first time since 1997 included a Reserve side after much thought by Pates following a tricky previous campaign in which the club struggled for stability and depth amongst the side. Under the guidance of UEFA qualified coach Steve Pritchard, Albion's pre-season was strong, but the lack of quality opponents in friendly's left Albion still a little unsure as what they were to expect from the up and coming campaign after the club failed to impress in the weeks leading up to the first match at Bottesford.

With the amalgamation of the Notts Alliance and Notts Amateur leagues (the latter, the club were already part of) a much tougher season was expected than the one previous in which Albion finished third. With desperate signings made by the club, noticeably the good late arrivals of Jason Elliott, Luke Adcock and Joel Mulvany, being overshadowed by the departure of Vinny Toulson (pictured right) to Sneinton Town, the club fielded an almost new and untested side in the seasons opener at picturess Bottesford. In baking conditions it was the former Alliance outfit that took an early lead and playing the better football, Albion though began to make their mark on the game and thanks to the influential Brodsky, and goals from Elliott and Rawson, clawed themselves to victory despite a late home strike. Albion were made of sterner stuff on the day, optimism reaching another level, a top six finish was predicted. That optimism was hardly dented by the so called league favourites the following week, AC Bulwell had won their Alliance title in 2003 and finished the highest placing team to enter the NAA for its debut amalgamation year. Bulwell however were shocked after Albion fought bravely only to go down fighting with a goal in the final five minutes scored by the eventual league champions.

Albion's early months were mainly tight keenly contested games with odd goal wins over Premium, Vernon Villa, Keyworth in the County Cup & Cotgrave sandwiching closely fought defeats to Sneinton, Basford, Lady Bay & Limekiln. With star midfielder Richard Brodsky (pictured left) returning from a jail sentence to strengthen the midfield with former Hucknall star Lee Wood and the recapture of Vinny Toulson who came back from Sneinton, Albion should have looked strong enough on paper to improve on their tight run of games. It was to get worse however against top notch opposition, first Notts came to the Rec and conquered, and then Retford Town on their luscious big pitch deservedly won if not a little flatteringly 3-0.

By the time Albion came to face Oakdale (a side that had beaten the club on their previous five occasions) Albion had lost the services of Wood & Richard Brodsky, and were struggling for stability in the starting eleven, with Scott Nally, Steve Parry and Dave Donachie, all stepping up from impressive runs in the Reserves, Netherfield played out a first half which although down a goal at half time, in front of a big crowd were optimistic of ending their losing sequence to the defending champions, and with belief, a bit of luck, followed by a bit of magic from Oakdale's former player Steven Brodsky, his double saw Albion to a 2-1 win which should have boosted the sides season, despite the squads problem with depth.

A week later, Albion could only muster a last minute draw against lowly Westside, worse was to follow, after hearing the news that Oakdale would be thrown out of the league with our victory no longer credited for, the dismal match v Westside was to be Albion's last point for some nine games.

Humiliating post Christmas results against Limekiln & AC Bulwell followed close losses to Bottseford & Premium, Vernon Villa, Basford (with Albions heaviest defeat under Pates 0-10) and Matrixgrade all got in on the act, and following a nine game losing run, Manager, Players and supporters alike were wondering what would be the clubs future.

A 3-3 draw against Westside ended that particular seemingly endless run, and improvements followed in the later games. With Simon Pongetti installed in goal and much needed cover from the Reserve team, Albion were minutes away from victory over both Bilborough & Retford in both ties, not believing their misfortune, After being outboxed by Matrixgrade however, the club finally won their first game of 2005 with a much needed win over Bilborough to jump the club out of the bottom two, and leave relegation destiny in their own hands, needing a win over bottom of the table Cotgrave to finish out of drop zone. Albion saved their finest till last, a comprehensive 5-0 win secured status in the NAA Premier Division, with plenty of pride displayed through the side in the closing weeks, Netherfield would hope to build on foundations of squad solidarity, for a successful 2005/06.

Key: F-Friendly Match, L-Notts Amateur Alliance Premier Division Match, LC-Senior League Cup, CC- Notts FA Intermediate Section Cup. n-neutral venue, h-home, a-away.

Notts Amateur Alliance Premier Division Table

Luke Adcock 20(2)-3, Tony Aplin 3-2, Alex Bowles 2-0, Richard Brodsky 8(1)-2, Steven Brodsky 29(1)-13, Matt Cooper 19(1)-0, Tom Creswick 23(2)-0, Dave Donachie 2(1)-1, Jason Elliott 6(2)-5, Craig Fewkes 0(1)-0, Kirk Gregory 2-0, Oscar Gulcay 3(3)-0, Chris Hodges 0(1)-0, Richard Hopkin 1(1)-0, Nathan Ions 0(1)-0, David James 23(1)-0, Dave Mantle 1-0, Dave Marshall 0(1)-0, Desmond McPhee 2(2)-1, Nicholas McBheen 1-0, Andy Merrin 25(2)-11, Paul Moxey 2-0, Joel Mulvany 25-0, Red Nally 1(1)-0, Scott Nally 3-0, Karl O'Rafferty 3-1, Steve Parry 1(1)-0, Shaun Pates 0(1)-0, Danny Peacock 22(6)-1, Simon Pongetti 11-0, Jason Rawson 16-3, Andy Richardson 28(1)-2, Ben Rowson 14(5)-0, Phil Schofield 7(7)-1, Daniel Stevenson 0(1)-0, Matt Stone 24(2)-0, Vinny Toulson 16(2)-1, Jerome Wilson 1(2)-1, Lee Wood 3(3)-0.