Non-League and Academy football writer

Daniel Gibbs is the manager of Guru Nanak FC, a club that under his leadership were promoted from step 8 (Kent County League Division One East and Central) to step 7 (Kent County League Premier Division), for the 2024/25 season. Guru Nanak FC finished in third place in the Kent County League Division One East and Central, last season, but they were promoted to step 7 for next season because of league champions Deal Town Reserves having moved over to one of the development leagues. It was great to talk to Daniel Gibbs, recently, to talk about the club a bit, their 2023/24 season, as well as looking forward to the 2024/25 season for Guru Nanak FC.

Could you talk me through a bit about your footballing background, prior to becoming the manager of Guru Nanak FC’s men’s first team?

Daniel: So me and my brother had helped to set up a a Sunday league club, and so from about 27, I’d been managing that Sunday league club. We had a good four/five years there, progressing to the senior division, and finishing as runners up in that league. I moved on from there, because I had a family, and so I couldn’t commit to the four days a week of football, that I would have to do. At my Sunday club, it wasn’t your typical Sunday club, and it was pretty well run.

Metrogas were looking for a manager for their reserve side, and so I was asked by them to become the reserve team manager, and I took that role to get my eye in on Saturday football. We were quite successful, and I’d arrived at the club with them on -3 points, and we ended up six points off the top two teams in the league. In the Kent County last year, we had the second longest unbeaten/winning streak during that season. So I enjoyed being there and managing at that level, but with us having had six points taken off the Metrogas Reserves last year, it was disappointing to accept, because we’d been up there with the top two teams in the league, and so I told the club that I would be moving on.

The director of football at Guru Nanak FC, he was also managing in the same Sunday league as my previous club, and when he found out that I’d left Metrogas, he got in contact with me and we went from there.

What did you make of Guru Nanak FC’s 2023/24 promotion winning season from step 8, in the Kent County League Division One East and Central?

Daniel: It was a good season. We had a difficult spell during the middle of the season, but overall it was good. We had a good pre-season and we knew that we had a good squad, and we started last season well. We went the first five/six games of the season unbeaten, and everything looked like it was going really well and then we picked up a couple of injuries, one to one of our biggest players, and then our top scorer went on holiday for three months, which we knew was coming. The other striker with him had kind of lost heart with things because his strike partner had left, and so things pretty quickly had started to derail. 

We had to reset and get points on the board, and after we lost some games in the league and had a difficult time for a while and we were dropping silly points in games, even though we were doing well in the cups. But then towards the end of the season we went on a nine game winning streak, and at one point last season we were significantly behind everyone else in our league, for games played. People were saying that we were in a relegation battle, but we weren’t thinking that at all, as we were a team in form.

Last season was a bit of a strange one, because everyone that we’d played towards the end of the season, they were teams who were kind of fizzling out towards the end of that season. Had a number of those teams had the same mentality as us, then they could’ve got that third place and been shunted up to the league above, because of Deal Town Reserves being moved over to the SCEFL development league. We as a group set high standards and we just wanted to win as many games of football as we could, and finish as high up the league as we could. The season before that wasn’t a good one for the club. Thankfully we managed to finish in third place in the league on the last day of the season.

Every star aligned, and we ended up having a really good season overall in 2023/24, and I was proud of the lads when we were at the league constitution a couple of weeks ago, and it was confirmed that we’d been promoted to the premier division, for next season.

What did you make of the 2023/24 Kent County League Division One East and Central season as a whole?

Daniel: There were some good teams in that league last season, and Deal Town Reserves are a good side, and they had a good balance to their side. Playing them at their place, it’s always not an easy place to go, in front of a good crowd. So Deal Town Reserves are a good side, and they would’ve done well in the premier division, easily. Snodland Town Reserves might not have been as good as a ball playing side, but they were a tough and physical side to play, and they would play to their strengths more. So it was harder to find weaknesses in their game than it was for Deal Town Reserves, even though they had won the league comfortably in the end.

Hollands & Blair Reserves were the only team to do the double over us last season, and they were a good side who were a bit similar to Snodland, but they could also get the ball down and play as well. Kings Hill were probably the best footballing team in our league last season, despite finishing further down the league, but on ball retention and chances created they were probably right up there in the league. It was a good and competitive league last season, and there weren’t many teams in that league who you’d watch and think that they were out of their depth.

Since you’ve been the manager of the first team, who would you say has been the most difficult team that Guru Nanak FC have faced?

Daniel: That would be Hollands & Blair Reserves, definitely. They were the only team that we didn’t get any points against last season, even winning 5-0 against us at their place. 

For those who haven’t seen Guru Nanak FC’s senior men’s team play before, how would you describe their playing style?

Daniel: We mix up our football depending on who we’re playing, but we’ll always be a ball playing side. If we’re on a bit of a boggy pitch, or for whatever reason we can’t really play our game, then we will adapt, but we are mainly a ball playing side who like to get the ball out wide and play attacking football. I’d say that the majority of people would say that we’re a good side.

Could you talk me through some of your standout memories of being the manager of Guru Nanak FC, so far?

Daniel: My standout memory of last season would probably be beating Fleetdown in the semi-finals of the inter-regional challenge cup, and they were a good side from the premier division, having only lost one game at home all season. Their manager had been presented manager of the month for the previous month when we got to their ground that day, and so everything was really against us, as we also had a couple of players who were missing for that game. But I would say that the game against Fleetdown was the biggest for us a group. The lads really dug in on that day, keeping a clean-sheet and getting the job done. If I’m being honest, we could’ve won that game 2-0 or 3-0, rather than 1-0 on the day.

How much are you looking forward to competing in the Kent County League Premier Division, during the 2024/25 season? And also, what are some of your thoughts ahead of next season?

Daniel: We’re looking forward to it as a group and we’ve had some good lads trial with us recently, and so we’re in a good place. We’re also in a good place as far as player recruitment goes, as we haven’t really lost any of our players for this season. 

Who are some of the teams that you are looking forward to facing next season?

Daniel: I’m looking forward to going back to Metrogas FC, and also playing Peckham Town (away). Also, I’m looking forward to all of the local games, such as Fleetdown and Cuxton, as well as the games that are further out. I’m looking forward to the season as a whole, and there won’t be any easy games in that league next season.