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 The 1996-1997 Vauxhall Conference campaign was
manager Brian McDermott's first full season in charge of the Rebels. He
had been appointed with a good pedigree and, using his contacts, secured
several notable pre-season signings in the form of Gary Micklewhite (ex-QPR),
Gary McGinnis (ex-Dundee United), Garry Smart (Oxford United), Simon
Stapleton (Wycombe Wanderers) and prolific non-league marksman Gary
Abbott, along with freshly released goalkeeper Paul Wilkerson (Watford)
and winger Danny Bolt (Fulham). These players complemented the talent
already at Wexham Park; Cliff Hercules, Steve Bateman, Gary Blackford,
Mark West and, of course, the legendary Mark "Billy" Fiore.
Considering the personnel brought in, it was perhaps no surprise that we
started the first month of the season at a canter, thumping Stalybridge
Celtic 4-1 on the opening day at The Park before a momentous 5-0 midweek
victory over newly-promoted Rushden & Diamonds, then under the
multi-million chairmanship of Doc Martens owner Max Griggs. The Slough
Town band were at full volume as we simply ran rings around our high
profile opponents, Gary Abbott's superb hat-trick topped off by Cliff
Hercules' 300th League career goal and our name was at the top of the
table. We then travelled to Title-favourites Kidderminster Harriers and
came from behind to win 2-1 at Aggborough. Sandwiched between these
results was a disappointing 1-4 defeat at Halifax Town before we ended
August with a frustrating 0-1 home defeat to Altrincham, at whom we
threw everything but the kitchen sink, only to lose to a last minute
breakaway goal.
September started brightly, Gary Abbott recording his second hat-trick
of the season in the 5-2 home win against Bath City. We then travelled
to Southport, where a hooked Mark West effort was enough to win the
points before a depressing midweek trip to Park View Road, where the
hosts - Welling United - occupied the bottom of the table spot. A first
half hattrick from bogeyman Lennie Dennis gave us a mountain to climb in
the second half, which we nearly overcame with two more Mark West goals
but ultimately fell 2-3. Bromsgrove Rovers were seen off 2-0 at the Park
before a 0-0 midweek draw at Dover Athletic saw us crawl back to the top
of the table, a position we scuppered with three successively poor
results - two home draws (2-2 v Hednesford Town and 1-1 v Kettering
Town) and a 1-4 end-of-month defeat at Bromsgrove Rovers.
Traditionally, the Rebels seem to nosedive around October, but this
season promised a little better, starting with a great 3-0 win over
Woking at The Park, a victory made even sweeter by the sending off of
two opponents (one of them having already been substituted) by a
nonsensical referee who seemed to lack any training whatsoever. A 1-2
home defeat to Morecambe frustratingly followed this, along with an
indifferent 0-1 defeat at Kettering Town in the Spalding Cup. The home
game against Telford United marked the full debut of youngster Lloyd Owusu, who showed us he was destined for higher things almost
immediately, grabbing an amazing four goal haul, completed with a full
length diving header as we routed the Shropshire side 6-0. Once again, a
great win was tarnished by another poor result; the following week, we
came unstuck at Hayes, limping out of the FA Cup by a 0-1 margin, with
Mark West picking up the knee injury which began the tailspin on his
Slough career. Another month, another win to kickstart us as Lloyd Owusu
bagged the only goal at Altrincham before we were soundly spanked by
Kidderminster Harriers, now fully in form and boasting the prolific Lee
Hughes, the 0-2 scoreline was most flattering to the Rebels. The
intrepid journey to Gateshead produced our perennial defeat there, going
down 1-2, before we recorded a good 1-0 win at Northwich Victoria,
centre-back Steve Bateman the matchwinner in what was our last League
win for four months.
We experienced two scoreless bore draws against Macclesfield Town (home)
and Kettering Town (away) as December got underway. We failed to hold
leads in the next two games, a Michael Murphy goal at Farnborough Town
was overhauled to 1-2 before we somehow contrived to concede two late
goals at home to Welling United, who came away with a 3-3 draw. The
festive period was not a happy hunting ground for the Rebels as we were
pitted against "local" rivals. On Boxing Day, we recorded a creditable
2-2 draw with Stevenage Borough at a freezing Broadhall Way before going
down 0-2 to Clive Walker's Woking and their impressive new stand at
Kingfield. The New Year couldn't have started worse, as a rampant Stevenage Borough side came to Wexham Park and thrashed us 1-6 in near
sub-zero temperatures.
 After a meek 1-1 home draw with Farnborough Town, the fans sensed we
were seriously starting to waver, despite a frosty 6-0 home victory over
Buckingham Town in the Berks & Bucks Cup. January was indeed consumed by
Cup football; the FA Trophy tussle with Dorchester Town of the Doc
Martens League brought about two replays. Having squandered a two goal
home lead to draw 2-2, Slough were forced to face a daunting midweek
trip to the South West, only for another draw (this time, 1-1) to force
a toss-up for a second replay. The Rebels won the coin toss, but then
failed to make home advantage count again, as the Magpies overturned
Cliff Hercules' effort to win 2-1.
Amidst all of this, we lost 0-2 at Title-chasing Macclesfield Town
before February took a hold, proving even less fruitless; two home
defeats came in the form of a forgettable 0-1 against Gateshead, then
a thrilling 3-4 debacle with Northwich Victoria, who snatched victory in
the final minute to heap more misery on the fans, even though former
Fulham forward, Gary Brazil scored on his debut. Just when it
seemed things couldn't get any worse, we travelled a second time to
local rivals Hayes, who included eventual Rebels Darron Wilkinson, Mark
Hall, Junior Haynes and Freddie Hyatt. We came away with a 0-5 thumping,
two dismissals in Hercules and Derek Simpson and a new joke figure in
the inimitable goalkeeper Noel Imber.
March seemed to herald a change in the Rebels' fortunes as they
travelled to the lush environs of Rushden & Diamonds' home, Nene Park,
where - although hardman defender Andy Clement missed a penalty - Mark
Fiore dug out a last gasp equaliser to earn a 2-2 draw. The following
week, we recorded our first League victory since mid-November with a 2-0
victory at Telford United, a match which paled in significance to the
midweek Berks & Bucks encounter with Wycombe Wanderers, who prevailed
with a 3-2 victory at The Park, the winning goal scored by eventual
Rebel Aaron Patton. We returned to indifferent ways in the League, a 1-3
home reverse to Hayes was followed by draws against Southport (1-1,
home), Bath City (0-0, away) and Dover Athletic (2-2, home).
We only played three matches in April, and seemed to sum up the season.
A 1-0 home win against Halifax Town, a 1-2 defeat at Hednesford Town and
a 0-0 draw at Morecambe before the season drew to a close in April, when
Slough Town travelled to Stalybridge Celtic, ending where they had
started, and battled out a 2-2 draw, Gary Abbott's brace looking to have
secured all three points until a dubious penalty decision in the dying
minutes saw us end the season with 50 points, not 52.
Final League Position: 16th
| Ply |
Won |
Drew |
Lost |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
| 42 |
12 |
14 |
16 |
62 |
65 |
-3 |
50 |
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