“I always thought we were in with a chance of doing something special,” said Salford City captain Luke Garbutt, sitting in the stands overlooking the Peninsula Stadium pitch after one of the team’s final training sessions in preparation for their biggest game of the season.
Ahead of The Ammies final game at Crawley, one which could see the club clinch promotion to League One after seven years in the fourth tier, Garbutt described how the players have come together as a “collective” to pursue the “ultimate goal.”
Despite winning a club-record 80-points in League Two across 45 games, his side must win against relegation-threatened Crawley and hope rivals Cambridge drop points at Crewe to earn promotion on the final day.
Garbutt is hoping that the “footballing gods” look favourably on Salford with Cambridge in control of the race for a top-three finish. “I know it’s out of our hands, hopefully something can happen, he said. “The pressure is on Cambridge to beat Crewe, but we will not change our philosophy for the game at Crawley; we have to win.”
14-years have flashed by since the defender made his debut for Premier League Everton as one of the Merseyside club’s brightest young talents. The senior player has had to draw on his experience of football’s highs and lows when marshalling the defence in an inconsistent Salford side ravaged by injuries throughout a rollercoaster campaign.
Manager Karl Robinson confirmed Kelly N’mai, Kallum Cesay, Ben Woodburn and Kadeem Harris have all returned from lengthy injury lay-offs and could feature in the crucial game at the Broadfield Stadium.
“Most clubs have an injury which makes it difficult at times throughout the season. Though I think ours has been a bit of an exception. It is a testament to the recruitment team and the people behind the scenes that the club has been able to cope.”
Garbutt’s grin dropped for a moment as he was forced to remember the small blot on his otherwise blemish-free season. He is irked that an “unfortunate” red card in Salford City’s 3-2 defeat to Cheltenham in February has kept him from playing every minute for The Ammies this season.
He said: “If we were to achieve promotion, it would be special because I have captained the team, played the most games and if I had not got the red card at Cheltenham, I would have played every minute of every game. That means a lot to me personally.”
Across Garbutt’s 14 seasons in professional football, there have been few moments as heartbreaking as the 2-2 final-day draw with already-relegated Carlisle that cost Salford a play-off place twelve months ago.
“It was a really bitter pill to swallow,” he recalled, looking back on the moment the final whistle blew after Salford had fought back from 2-0 down in Cumbria. “I need to use that memory as fuel to make sure the boys don’t come off it on Saturday.”
Garbutt admitted that the Ammies were shocked as Carlisle scored twice in two first-half minutes, with the side feeling that the job was “done” after they beat Colchester 4-1 in the penultimate game.
A shooting drill on the sun-soaked Peninsula Stadium pitch provided a relaxed ending to the full squad training session. Earlier, the Salford squad had been Crawley’s style of play, which Garbutt said could make for an entertaining final game with the hosts needing a win to stay up.
“They are a team that looks to attack at all costs. We have to try to stay in control of the game and do what we do best. If we execute the game plan, we will win the game, it’s as simple as that.”
Gone are the days of transistor radios being smuggled into football supporters up and down the country, desperate to hear if a goal elsewhere could propel their side towards promotion or condemn them to relegation.
The advent of the mobile phone providing live scores from around the grounds with just a few taps all but erased one of football’s iconic sights.
“There’s always someone on the bench with either an iPad or a phone looking at the scores, and then that filters onto the pitch and no doubt that will happen on Saturday,” Garbutt said.
No doubt the Salford captain will have his ears peeled for updates from Crewe, as the Ammies bid for promotion to League One for the first time.
