Local hero Perran Trevelyan had led Truro City to eight consecutive club record high finishes and a second cup competitions as they won the EFL Trophy in 2031. And he was keen to develop his young squad to build on last season’s League One playoff place.
However, the summer began with Truro losing star striker Martin Luczak for a huge new club record sale as Trevelyan negotiated Millwall up from £3m to £7.5m. Trevelyan continued his focus on snapping up discarded big team youngsters, bringing in centre backs Gordon Gray and Ben Hall from Man City and Arsenal. He also snapped up West Ham midfielder Chinazu Nwosu and goalkeeper Philip Wakefield from Rotherham. He also loaned in attacker Mohamed Kargbo from senior affiliate West Ham and left back David Njoku-Ikenna from Bristol City.
The Luczak sale and lack of a decent replacement prompted Trevelyan into a change of approach. He switched to a 4-3-3 that allowed him to play a little wider and a little less conservatively. That allows 18-year-old homegrown starlet George Bartley to move out to the right, exciting striker Rian Judge plays up top on his own, the exciting Kaelen Thwaite steps into holding midfield and Kargbo will play from the left.
Third Season In League One
The bookies didn’t love Trevelyan’s transfer business, boosting their title odds to 150/1 and predicting them to finish 23rd. Blackburn, who finished 11th last season, are 10/11 favourites followed by Oxford (6/5), relegated Wigan (3/1), Huddersfield (13/2) and relegated Lincoln and Wrexham (7/1). But Trevelyan knew better than to listen to what the bookies thought.
Truro began the season with a trip to Huddersfield and the new approach looked promising as Kargbo opened the scoring on debut before Judge and Bartley wrapped up a 3-1 victory. Their first home game saw a visit from fellow high-flying Chester, who’d just been promoted to League One having started the save in National League North, and Kargbo struck again to tap in homegrown captain and record appearances holder Sammy Raybould’s cross to edge a 1-0 win. Kargbo continued his superb start with an equaliser at Carlisle before a quickfire Judge double secured another 3-1 away success.
Judge scored two more as Truro thumped promoted Oldham 4-1 and went one better with a hat trick as Bartley’s late goal edged a 4-3 thriller at Blackpool. That saw Judge take a clean sweep of player, young player and goal of the month as Trevelyan won manager of the month for September. The winning start ended with an unlucky 2-1 defeat at home to Bolton, which of course sent them onto a run of five without a win, including defeats at Portsmouth and Blackburn. But Judge got them back firing with another brace in a 3-2 win at home to Newport before Bartley and Kargbo’s first-half strikes downed Wimbledon 2-1. That strong form continued, culminating in homegrown vice-captain Drew Meyler heading home twice and fellow academy product Marios Papadopoulos also scored in a 3-1 win over bottom-side MK Dons – which sent Truro top of League One in mid-November.
A run of huge games against teams at the top followed and they lost at Chesterfield, drew at home to Salford, nearly through an easy win in a 4-3 thriller at home to Rotherham, lost at Charlton and Judge nicked a 1-0 at Salford before a 2-2 draw at home to Portsmouth. And a 1-0 win at Newport took Truro 2nd heading into the new year, with the top five separated by just 5 points and Judge leading the league with 18 goals.
Cup Progress
Truro took their bright league start into the Carabao Cup, seeing off Cambridge and Bromley to tee up a disappointing home tie with Man United, which they only lost 2-1 to two penalties. Trevelyan sacked off their EFL Trophy defence to prioritise fitness and they cruised through the FA Cup first two rounds with away wins at Chester and Billericay. And that finally saw them get a big away day with a trip to Man City, who’ve won all 8 Premier League titles in this save (that’s 12 in a row). Truro unsurprisingly lost 3-0, but kept City honest until two late goals, and bagged £1m in gate receipts.
Pushing For Promotion
Truro’s record sale was again smashed in January as the in-form Judge attracted interest. Trevelyan negotiated Sunderland’s £5.5m bid up to £11.5m, and they got him back on loan for six months. They began 2032 with a solid 2-2 at Wimbledon and a rotated, injury-hit team earning an impressive 1-1 with supposed title favourites Blackburn. Meyler stepped up with a huge late header to nick a 1-0 win over Cheltenham before Judge snapped a goal drought with two goals in four minutes as they thrashed Peterborough 4-0 to go top with 12 games remaining. Their promotion hopes took a hit with a 2-1 defeat at 3rd-place Oxford, which coincided with a mass of attacking injuries, before Judge and Barton secured a huge 2-0 victory at home to 4th-place Charlton.
A late goal saw Huddersfeld nick a 1-1 at Truro Sports Hub but Meyler was the hero again as he headed the winner at Oldham. That took Truro back to the top on goal difference, confirmed an 8th successive club record high league position and, crucially, 6 points clear of 3rd-place Chesterfield with four games remaining.
The run-in began with Judge earning a point at Rotherham, which gave Truro a chance to gain promotion in their game in hand. That opportunity came at home to Crewe but a wasteful performance saw them blowing it until Barton stepped up with a late equalisr and went close to a winner. But that point virtually guaranteed promotion, taking Truro 6 points clear and with a 13 better goal difference with two to play. The next chance to seal promotion came at home to 3rd-place Chesterfield, ahead of which Judge was ruled out for the season with a back fracture, in Trevelyan’s 500th match. Truro started brightly and Barton was on the scoresheet again as he latched onto midfielder Derrick Aheebwa’s throughball after 12 minutes. Both sides struggled to get going after that and it drifted to a 1-0 victory.
Truro City were promoted to the SkyBet Championship!
Truro could also win the league on the final day as they went to Wrexham trailing Oxford, who hosted Wigan, by a point. Captain Fantastic Raybould lifted a tired side with a brilliant strike to notch his first goal of the season in 15 minutes. Wrexham equalised from a set piece but Oxford were trailing 1-0 at the break so truyro led on goal difference. Vice-captain Meyler powered them back in front from a corner just after the break only to concede again. But just as Oxford went 2-0 behind, Truro’s tired side capitulated by conceding from two more set pieces and they blew their chance at the title.
That saw Truro finish in 2nd place with 92 points after 27 wins, 11 draws and 8 defeats, scoring 82 and conceding a league-low 45. Judge was the best player in the league with 24 goals, 9 MOTM awards and a 7.26 average rating, Aheebwa had the second-most assists with 11, and Tom Wooster kept a league-high 16 clean sheets. At the other end of the table, last season’s beaten playoff finalists Wimbledon finished bottom of the league to suffer relegation back to League Two. Judge rightly won Player of the Year and Trevelyan scooped Manager of the Year with Roger James, Nwosu and Bartley making the Team of the Year.
Celebrating Promotion Joy
The remarkable rise of Truro City continued as Trevelyan led his little hometown club into the second tier of English football. There was no doubt in his mind that the team was nowhere near ready for this step up, but there was plenty of potential. However, they were of course losing their best player Judge, who led the way with 26 goals in 43 games this season, including 6 in 13 back on loan. Barton chipped in with 13 goals but only 1 assist and Bartley scored 11 with 8 assists. While Kargbo, Aheebwa and Nwosu led the way with 11 assists apiece.
There was plenty of promise around Truro, but the club had another fairly disappointing youth intake led by centre back Karnell Pook, who didn’t look great.
Trevelyan would undoubtedly have his work cut out as Truro made the huge step up to the Championship. That wouldn’t be helped by players demanding ludicrous wage increases but he knew he had to strengthen the squad on a threadbare budget in order to come close to competing.
Could Truro spring a surprise and compete in the Championship? Join us next Wednesday to find out!
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