By Lance Jenkinson
If you were framing odds for the first coach to be sacked from NPL 3 soccer next season, Doveton’s Tony Saunders would be 100-1.
Saunders is so highly-rated by his president Daniel McMinimee and has an impeccable record over the past three years that it would take one of the most dramatic capitulations by the Doves to unseat him.
“There’s absolutely no pressure on Tony,” McMinimee said.
“We know we’re batting above our belt now and we’re happy that he still wants to be there and have a crack at it.
“He gives 100 per cent and that’s all that we expect from our coaches.”
Saunders has worked wonders for Doveton since arriving four years ago.
After narrowly missing out on promotion from State League 2 in his first season, he rectified that by bouncing back in 2018 with a promotion-title double.
Last year, Saunders did what most felt would be impossible for a side not willing to spend beyond its means – earning consecutive promotions with a second-placed finish in their first crack at State League 1.
It was an incredible feat for Doveton, a smaller club when compared to some rival teams in the division and the neighbouring clubs.
“We were rapt to be promoted again,” McMinimee said.
“I thought it would’ve been a bit of an eye-opener in State 1 because you’re up against some decent teams, but we got off to a great start and ended up finishing second in the end, only a point behind Nunawading.
“The amount of money we think Nunawading is spending down there with all the former A League superstars, compared to what we’re spending, would be chalk and cheese.
“We basically jumped two leagues in two years.”
Only a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic could halt the incredible momentum of Doveton.
These are uncertain times for all clubs, and the Doves are no different.
McMinimee is confident the Doves are tracking well off the field, thanks to financial relief from the City of Casey – which has picked up the club’s steep electricity bills for the past six months and waived maintenance fees – the loyalty of clubs sponsors and the discipline of the club’s committee.
On the field, however, is more of an unknown proposition for the Doves.
McMinimee is hopeful of the Doves picking up from where they left off before the pandemic, but that is not a given.
“I thought we were on a reasonable footing going into this year, but obviously with Covid it’s all changed,” he said.
“Hopefully we keep everybody on-board and we’re able to start afresh and get going again.”
Doveton’s on-field recovery will come back to the Saunders effect.
He may well have helped the Doves ride the bumps of the pandemic a little better because of his philosophy of building from within where possible in recent years.
The foundations have been laid and all he needs is for players to recommit to the cause.
“He’s put a lot of young kids in,” McMinimee said.
“We’re unearthing one or two junior players every year and we’re not relying on buying players into the club.”
At the height of Doveton’s glory years, it was a club that played in Victoria’s top-flight division.
But the Doves could not sustain their success at the top due to financial mismanagement.
They are slowly working their way back up the Football Victoria pyramid, but it will never be to the detriment of a stable future.
“It’s taken us 20 years to bounce back a little bit [financially],” McMinimee said.
“I’ve always said, if we need money to go up, we’re not going to have it.
“We surround ourselves with people who want to play for our club and want to play for the shirt.
“We’ve got a lot of kids playing through the competition and we give everybody an opportunity because we don’t have the big cash, but we’ve still done well the last two or three years.
“We went bang, bang and got promoted two leagues in a row.”
McMinimee is proud of what the Doveton committee has achieved to get the club on a firm footing.
He is also grateful for the suite of sponsors who have backed the club and should now reap the rewards through added visibility in the NPL.
“In comparison to some other clubs, we’re quite small, but we’ve got some really good sponsors and some smart people involved,” he said.
“The sponsors have committed next year and want to be part of our club moving forward, which is great.
“The club is pretty stable at this stage.”
