By Ron Fosker

It may have ended in the double disappointment of a play-off defeat and the departure of the manager, but the 2015-16 season will be etched in the annals of Braintree Town Football Club as memorable, magical and magnificent.

To finish as the third best non-league club in the country; to miss out on a Wembley final by just 15 minutes; to be compared with Leicester City as the outsider of the year; to feature on television three times in nine days; to take four points off the runaway league winners; to lose only one game against teams in the top nine places.

These are the stuff dreams are made of.

But it was here, in reality, another chapter in the long list of over achievements in the club’s recent history.

For the fifth year out of six, Iron achieved the highest position in their history: from Conference South champions in 2011 to 12th, ninth and sixth in the National League before a dip to 14th last season, and now up to third.

After those 12th, ninth and sixth places, Iron fans were confidently predicting, probably only half in jest, that it meant that the following year they would finish third.

They were only one year out.

Iron also kept up their record of producing a second half surge.

In all five years in the National League, they have finished higher than their position on January 1.

It was a rise of eight places this year, their best yet in terms of fractions if not quite as many places as 2013 when they went from 21st at the start of the year to ninth in May.

Of the top nine teams, only Forest Green managed to beat them and they were also the only team in the top nine to score at the Avanti Stadium.

And they were one of only two teams (Eastleigh were the other) to take four points off Cheltenham.

There was even a good cup story, not often a highlight of a Braintree season, when they came within a whisker of beating Oxford United, in second place in League Two both at the time and at the end of the season.

They were, to be fair, on the back foot for much of the match, but it was only keeper Benjamin Buchel‘s fingertip save from a Taylor Miles shot in the dying seconds of the match that prevented Iron going through.

That, the win over leaders Cheltenham and of course the play-off semi-final with Grimsby were the highlights of a season.

It had its ups and downs but without the downs, who would appreciate the ups?

Those downs included yet another disappointing cup display, this time going out at home to Stourbridge, 47 places below them in the league structure, in the FA Trophy, as well as a double league defeat at the hands of nearly relegated Boreham Wood.

And there was also that curious down-and-up finishing stretch.

Faced with six away matches in their last eight fixtures as they looked to cement a place in the play-off positions, Braintree lost to Aldershot, Macclesfield and Barrow, all in the bottom half of the table, but then after a creditable draw at home with second-placed Forest Green, they went to Grimsby, Gateshead and Wrexham, all in the top ten and fighting for play-off places themselves, and won all three.

They went five months without scoring more than two goals in a match, from the six-goal thrashing of Halifax in November, and then scored three in each of their last three league matches.

How does a club whose average gate is the third lowest in the league – and taking away the often substantial visiting support they would be in the bottom half of the National League South – manage it?

To Alan Devonshire must go the credit for keeping them in the National League, and to Rod Stringer for getting them there in the first place. But Danny Cowley and his brother Nicky took the club to a new level with their unbounded dedication, knowledge and efficiency.

While holding down full-time teaching jobs, they travelled the length and breadth of the country to ensure their team was best prepared for their forthcoming fixture, noting other teams’ strengths, failings and players to watch out for.

They came to the club untried at this level but with conspicuous success at Concord Rangers behind them.

Eyebrows were raised when they returned to their previous club for a collection of players who they were convinced could make it at the higher level.

They did not get everything right but Matt Fry has been one of Iron’s strengths in the league’s second meanest defence, Taylor Miles has popped up with some outstanding goals and most of all Alex Woodyard has dominated the midfield in many a match.

It was little surprise when he was announced as the manager’s player of the year and it will be even less of a surprise if he follows the manager up to Lincoln.

The supporters’ player of the year was the ever dependable Matt Paine, a tigerish presence in front of the back four and, during Fry’s lengthy absence through injury, a rock at the back.

Another astute signing, Mark Phillips, was a further reason why the team leaked so few goals and again it was no surprise when he was announced as the joint winner of the players’ player of the year, sharing it with Sam Habergham, now in his fifth season with Braintree and looking more accomplished each year.

It has also been a good season for Michael Cheek, stepping up a division to become top scorer, Simeon Akinola, whose skills have dazzled on many occasions, Mitch Brundle, who made a late run into the side after largely being on the fringes and the ever dependable skipper Kenny Davis.

Now they can put their feet up for a bit as the anxious wait begins to see who will follow the Cowleys to Lincoln or decide to head off elsewhere.