BLACKFIELD & Langley boss Ashley Vickers reckons winning the Sydenhams Wessex Premier League has been the perfect answer to the club’s critics.

Having secured their first Wessex title with a 4-2 win at Alresford Town last Thursday, the Watersiders celebrated in style after finishing the season with a 2-0 victory at Totton & Eling on Saturday with two goals from top scorer Alex Baldacchino.

That was their 31st victory in 40 games, they finished just a point shy of the 100 milestone, and Blackfield only conceded 31 goals in those matches too.

Vickers, a no-nonsense centre half with Dagenham & Redbridge during his playing days, says the “disrespect” shown by rival managers has helped motivate his players.

He insists that Blackfield’s title-winning achievement – in addition to a record run to the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup and the last 16 of the FA Vase – has been fuelled in part by what has been said by his opposite numbers.

Vickers said: “I’ve kept my own counsel all season but some of the comments made to me and my players by other managers have been at worst atrocious and at best really disrespectful.

“They’ve been belittling my players and trying to score points by talking about our wages and the budget we spend. “Yes, we pay our players but we run things professionally which is how clubs should be, wherever you are in the pyramid.

“Graham Kemp, for example, was quoted in the Bournemouth Echo questioning why any of his players would want to leave Christchurch to go to Blackfield for footballing reasons.

“I particularly want to thank him and [Bournemouth Poppies manager] Kenny Vaughan for not showing us the respect we deserve. “There are some really good, genuine guys in the league who might call me names to my face but will shake my hand afterwards.

“But Kenny made some particularly derogatory remarks before we dug out a 2-2 draw against his side a couple of months ago – and it was a defining moment in our season.

“We knew we hadn’t played well that day, but we showed great strength of character and those comments were a driving force for all of us.

“They gave us the impetus to go on and win the league. “It’s easy to shout and bark from the dugout but I found it disrespectful in the extreme.”

Several players followed Chris Farrell, one of Vickers’ assistants, from Poppies to Blackfield in the summer.

“When we inherited the club it was in great danger of being relegated so I’m delighted for [chairman] Sam Davies, he’s wanted this for a long time, and for Chris Farrell, Glenn Burnett, John McFarlane, and Reggie, our goalkeeping coach, as well as the players,” continued Vickers. “I’ve worked mostly on organising a pattern of play. Defensively I’m a stickler, but John and Glenn’s enthusiasm has been something else. “We started off with a very good pre-season, which is why we’ve produced results like coming from behind to win at Alresford with ten men the other night.

“I’ve never been anything but proud of my players. We’ve all fallen out at times – desire comes out in different ways. “We’ve got characters but lads who have apparently been difficult at other clubs have thrived with us. “Dave Ewen won’t mind me saying we’ve had our moments.

“He’s the only one who’s stood up to me over me after leaving him out for one game. But we’ve made him a better player and I wouldn’t now go into any game without him, he’s a winner and a talisman for us. “Nathan Lynch has had too many clubs for a lad of his age but his potential is massive. “We’re bringing out the best in him and that’s down to Nathan taking things on board.

“I’ll naturally be most critical of our centre-halves as they play in my position and at the start of the season I questioned the heading ability of Joe Byrne and Scott Sampson.

“They were already athletic and quick and strong but they’ve come on in leaps and bounds. “Apparently we have the second meanest defence in Wessex history.

“It’s the foundation I’ve built things on and that’s also down to the likes of Tyronne Cuthbertson and Leigh Mills. “Then there’s Kevin Gibbens, who’s been phenomenal in playing through the pain barrier in the last few weeks of the season. “He’s a leader and Ekow Elliott can win you a game at any time. “We’ve worked on his discipline but he once told me it felt like I was ‘suppressing’ him! “It was a great quote, but we’ve been trying to get him to affect games defensively as well as offensively and that work ethic has improved him. “For a lad just out of uni he has a very bright future. The same goes for Jake Rowley and Alex Baldachinno. “The average age of our side is only 22/23 but they’ve listened from the word go.

“Earlier in the season I asked myself whether it was possible to win the league with players so young but they’ve surprised me and I think, if we had gone up, they would have held their own without the need to strengthen.

“I could take any of my players and put them at a higher-level club and they would do well.”

If Blackfield repeat this season’s success next year, it may be enough to earn promotion to the Southern League, having fallen short on ground grading requirements this year.

“Not being able to go up was hard to take but we stayed focused and made sure we won the league,” continued Vickers. “The quality of the floodlights was the main stumbling block but we’re going to upgrade them and try to make the club a going concern.”