Sporting Khalsa step into unknown – with help from friends
Sporting Khalsa boss Ian Rowe admits he will seek guidance from his counterparts at both Halesowen Town and Chasetown as they enter the unknown this term.
Khalsa are competing in step four of non-league for the first time in their 30-year history following promotion to the Northern One Midlands.
The first test at the level for the Willenhall-based side is at home against Yaxley, coming up from Cambridgeshire, tomorrow.
They are a new opponent for Rowe, who said: “I don’t really know much about Yaxley, to be fair.
“They’re a bit off the beaten track, so we’re going into it quite blind, really.
“In some ways, that ain’t a bad thing. They can worry about us rather than the other way around.
“But it’s a trip into the unknown this weekend, and then we’ll take it from there.”
Khalsa, who have a thriving set-up at Noose Lane, had been working towards promotion for several years.
Rowe hopes to consolidate and work with other local bosses to get info on some of the teams further afield such as Cambridge City, Soham Town Rangers and Wisbech Town.
“We’re looking forward to it. It’s exciting times,” he said.
“We just want to be competitive and consolidate our position in the league.
“Obviously, it’s unknown. We know all the local sides – Coleshill, Sutton, Chasetown. We’ve played them all apart from Halesowen.
“We’ve got good relationships with them all, so hopefully we can tap into their knowledge about sides we don’t know.
“I’ll be relying on Neil Tooth at Sutton, Cam Stewart at Coleshill, Mark Swann at Chasetown and Paul Smith at Halesowen.
“Saturday is a blank page. Let’s see how we go.”
Rowe, who saw his side win 4-3 against Coventry Sphinx in the extra preliminary round of the FA Cup last weekend, added: “We’ve kept 90 per cent of the lads who were here last season. I’ve added five or six.
“We’ve had a few issues, as I’m sure everyone has, with Covid and everything else.
“We’ve had some injuries but, hopefully, we can get off to a good start.
“We got through in the cup and now it’s Saturday-Tuesday for about a month. Fortune favours the brave and we’ll give it a go.”
Halesowen get started on the road at Cambridge City.
Chasetown also have an away game to begin the new campaign, at Daventry Town.
