Sutton United: Boss Matt Gray wants EFL newcomers to marry ambition and change with continuity and community

Sutton won 14 of their 21 National League games at Gander Green Lane last season

Telling footballers that a non-negotiable part of the matchday routine is visiting the bar after the game seems like an easy sell.

It's certainly worked for Sutton United.

But there's no drinking culture for the famous FA Cup giant-killers as they prepare for the first Football League season in their 123-year history.

"The least the players can do is come into the bar and mingle with supporters after the game," manager Matt Gray told BBC Sport. "I want that togetherness. I don't want the players finishing and driving straight off home.

"It's actually one of the rules - something I instilled when I got the job. They go in and have a drink or half a coke. That's hugely important and the players and staff do that after every home game.

"From top to bottom we are all in it together. It's a community club and has been for years."

Until now, all those years have been spent in non-league football, with the successes coming in high-profile FA Cup runs - notably the 1989 2-1 third-round win over a top-flight Coventry City side who had lifted the trophy just 18 months earlier.

The cup runs and unforgettable memories will forever be a link that the club - and former Crawley Town assistant boss Gray - rightly embrace.

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"We are known for the giant-killings," said Gray, who secured promotion in his first full season as boss. "I remember watching highlights of the win over Coventry in the late 1980s and you see them every time there is a giant-killing."

Gray's predecessor Paul Doswell - who was in charge for 11 years - carried on the tradition in 2017, taking the U's into the fifth round.

"Paul did a great job and got the club back on the map. Beating Leeds and facing Arsenal was an unbelievable achievement," Gray said. But making it into the EFL "surely has to be the club's greatest feat".

Times are changing as well as leagues. And progress has come at a cost, with promotion bringing plenty of upheaval and significant challenges - as well as kudos.

EFL regulations mean the club's 3G pitch, so vital for bringing in revenue and fostering that community feel, has had to be ripped up. The result is a financial outlay of around £500,000, while loss of earnings from being able to hire out the pitch will also have a huge impact.

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Delays to installing grass have meant the first four games of the season will be away, with the first home match against Oldham Athletic on Saturday, 28 August.

New turnstiles and floodlights have also had to be installed, while a stand for visiting fans is being built.

A crowd of just over 5,000 saw Sutton play Arsenal in the FA Cup four years ago and there is hope capacity will be somewhere near that when the work is completed.

Thankfully, the playing side has been smooth.

Continuity reigns at Gander Green Lane

"I've managed to keep all 18 players who were the hardcore nucleus that did so well in winning the title last season," added Gray, 39.

Sutton beat Hartlepool 3-0 to secure the National League title with a game to spare

Five new faces have arrived, including Dutch winger Enzio Boldewijn, and while Gray acknowledges it will obviously be a "transitional season", hopes remain high.

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"We have recruited really well and still have a few weeks to get one or two more if needed," Gray said. "If I get the right group of players with ability, hunger, fitness and energy and we can get them organised with our style of play to hurt and also stop teams, it's a good recipe for success.

"The budget from last season was probably a bottom-eight budget in the National League and could well be lower in League Two.

"But you never know what can happen. A budget is irrelevant."

Gray and assistant boss Jason Goodliffe have both been assistant managers in League Two and there is plenty of experience in the squad too, with captain Craig Eastmond, fellow midfielders Harry Beautyman and Rob Milsom all having played plenty of games in the EFL.

Matt Gray's playing career started as a junior with Tottenham

"That will really help," said Gray. "And I have a real blend with some young up-and-coming players with bright futures.

"Going up obviously helped my cause in keeping the team together; they want to be part of what we are doing."

Bruce Elliott, who has been chairman since the mid-1990s, said everyone at the club is still "pinching themselves" about the coming season.

"The 50-point target was the aim last season," he added. "But the players and the manager never knew when they were beaten and the longer the season went on we still found ourselves in and around the top places.

"We beat Stockport away and suddenly people believed and thought 'hang on, we could do something special'."

'I missed one game in 16 years until the pandemic'

Special and surreal as it transpired. Sarah Aitchison, a supporter for 26 years, said her club's achievement still "doesn't feel real".

"We all have our dreams for our football clubs but being in the Football League wasn't on my radar," she said.

"It was hard not being there. It's a major part of my identity. Before the pandemic I had only missed one game in 16 years so there was a huge vacuum in my life. I watched games on the stream - obviously it's not the same, but being back for the final game was incredible. The atmosphere was dreamlike.

"At first I was worried we would come straight back down again but I am feeling a lot more confident now because we have managed to keep the same squad.

"They are so good together as a team, the way they bounce off each other and the way they communicate. They have a great team spirit. I'm not expecting to finish near the bottom."

Efan still a U's fan

Efan Ekoku joined Bournemouth after leaving Sutton and also played for Norwich and Wimbledon, as well as Nigeria

Nor is Efan Ekoku, one of the club's most famous old boys and now a respected pundit. He was shining in local non-league circles and joined Sutton just before the famous win over Coventry, playing his first game following the subsequent fourth-round loss to Norwich City.

The club was homely, welcoming and run within its means, but lacking in serious ambition.

"I thought all non-league clubs were like that," Ekoku told BBC Sport. "But soon realised there were professional clubs and players earning a lot more money than we were."

Ekoku was only at Gander Green Lane for 18 months before joining Bournemouth. But he made a big impression and fondly recalls his "fun" goal-laden spell in south London.

"I knew there was a good chance I would get a move because I ended up scoring 32 or 33 goals and there was a lot of interest," he added.

"I've always kept abreast of how they are doing. It was fantastic to see them get promoted and now it will be tricky for them not to show a bit more ambition, playing against some big teams.

"They have to spend a bit more money. I will be keeping an eye out. I am sure they will drag a lot more supporters from the other non-league clubs around the area."

Being able to see teams of the size of Bradford City, Swindon Town and Bristol Rovers will be a "big attraction" and help bring in "decent revenue" on matchdays.

"They cannot completely move away from what's been so good about the club for the past 40 years and longer," Ekoku added.

"But ultimately fans and players want to win. Don't spend what you haven't got and don't betray your roots.

"This is where good scouting and coaching comes in. They have to make players better. That's where the work will be done.

"They have to use the enthusiasm and feelgood factor and a good start is essential. And they have the opportunity to surprise a few teams as a newly-promoted side."

'Failing' the chairman

Boss Matt Gray (centre), chairman Bruce Elliott (right) and vice chairman Adrian Barry savour Sutton's promotion

Another season of surprises cannot be ruled out but a manic and testy summer is likely to continue.

Gray chuckles as he apologises for repeating the 50-point target cliche. But it comes with a caveat.

"As we proved last season, anything's possible," Gray added. "If we can get off to a good start then I don't think anything will surprise us. But first and foremost, if we get mid-table I will be very pleased."

If Gray manages that he will keep Elliott happy. Last season he was tasked with keeping the U's in the National League and he "failed" his chairman by winning promotion.

"I would never just say to any of my teams that we want survival and that's it," Gray explained. "Survival would be an achievement - a success - and mid-table would be unbelievable. But why set the barriers there?"

Come what may, the division they play in makes no odds to the ethos.

"Being a community club isn't about what league you are playing in," Gray added. "It comes from the top. That unity and spirit is what Sutton is known for. The supporters take that on board and that was one of our biggest strengths last season."

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