Truro City were beginning to feel very comfortable in the SkyBet Championship as, following two unsuccessful playoff campaigns, Perran Trevelyan and his exciting young squad prepared for a sixth season in the second tier of English football.
Trevelyan moved on a few underperformers for a profit of £2m. And he saw off derisory bids from Arsenal and Man United for academy graduate midfielder Kane Atkinson and centre back Euan Whyte. However, disaster struck just as the season kicked off as Brighton met the £11.75m release fee of star goalkeeper Jack Bartram. Off the field, the Truro board agreed to Trevelyan’s request to enhance the club infrastructure. They spent £3.7m to improve the training facilities and another £2m on increasing the youth level.
Trevelyan trebled the club’s record transfer fee, finalising the loan move of new Uruguay international midfielder Alejandro Silva for £4m from Nacional. He was joined by exciting Argentinian centre back Enzo Parra for £2m from All Boys, Nigerian striker Afeez Akinde on a free from Midtjylland, midfielder Carlos Obama on a free from Real Madrid, which in itself was a bit of a statement signing, and striker Rodrigo on loan from Sporting. But the most important signing was Bartram’s replacement, a player with even more potential for just £1.2m in Carlo Canessa from Universidád Católica.
Trevelyan decided it was time for a tactical switch, instilling a 3-5-2 approach he’d been considering for a while. The team’s strength was through the middle, especially at centre back, so Parra, the improving Gabriel Larrea and Whyte will patrol the back line, with able assistance from Karnell Pook and captain Drew Meyler, with Atkinson in behind Silva and vice-captain George Bartley. That sees newly monikered wonderkid Bertrand Touré, who became the first Truro player to earn £20k a week, move up front with Rodrigo and homegrown Frederick Adade steps up as the starting right wing back.
Season 6 in the Championship
The bookies no longer have Truro as relegation favourites, predicting them to finish 22nd with title odds of 50/1, ahead of Wrexham and promoted Plymouth. Somehow, Leicester, who finished in the bottom half last season, are 11/8 favourites ahead of Nottingham Forest (4/1) and Bristol City, West Brom and relegated Wolves and Ipswich (all 9/2). But Touré and Silva are two of the four favourites to win the league’s best young player.
For the third successive season, Truro began the season at home. And last term’s defensive strength shone again as Touré teed up Silva to curl home the only goal against Blackburn. Canessa conceded three on his debut, but the attack unusually bailed him out as midfielder Abdul Turay, Atkinson, Touré, Rodrigo and Bartley secured a 5-3 win. And Trevelyan couldn’t remember the last time they scored five goals in a match. There was a surprising number of goals next time out too, as Bartley, Rodrigo and Touré earned a 3-2 win at home to Forest. Things calmed down a little with 1-1s at Wrexham and Millwall before Canessa finally got his first clean sheet as Meyler scored the only goal at Plymouth. And they got going with a great performance as Rodrigo’s first-half brace earned a 3-1 at home to Bristol City.
The new formation continued to surprisingly deliver more goals at both ends. Akinde got his first senior goal in a strong 4-2 win at home to Fulham, Silva stole the show with two goals and an assist in a 3-1 win over struggling Burnley, and Truro’s players made the Ipswich manager, who accused them of “not being direct enough,” eat his words with a thumping 5-2 home win. They had a few struggles on the road, but imperious home form sent Truro top of the Championship for the first time this season in mid-November. And they maintained that position led by the relentless form of Rodrigo, who scored in all six games in December and got 10 goals in the final eight games of 2037. That earned Truro a 5-point lead over Fulham and Sheff U heading into the new year.
Historic Carabao Cup Run
Rodrigo got his first two goals in a 3-1 Carabao Cup win at Macclesfield, then nicked a 95th-minute winner at Ipswich. Touré scored both in a 2-2 over Everton before Canessa saved three penalties to send his side into the fourth round for the first time in three seasons and they won 2-1 at Mansfield. That set up Truro’s second-ever quarter final at Forest, and Meyler and Rodrigo earned a 2-2 before Canessa made another penalty save to set up an historic first semi. In the FA Cup, Truro were yet again drawn with Brentford and a 1-1 at home forced a replay that they lost 3-1.
Truro got the better half of the semi-final draw against Southampton while Brighton faced Man City. The home leg was up first and Truro put in a solid defensive effort to nullify Southampton and Bartley smashed home the only goal. They got a rare week off between the legs, while Southampton had to play an FA Cup game against Oxford, and the away leg marked Trevelyan’s 800th match in charge of Truro. And the extra fitness counted as, despite Southampton levelling things up in first-half injury time, Atkinson and Turay strikes put Truro through 3-1 on aggregate. And Truro were going to a major cup final!
Unsurprisingly, they faced joint-record 10-time winners Man City in the Final. Trevelyan had no selection issues, but decided to stick with long-serving Bartley over an exciting January addition, and picked the following squad to proudly lead out Cornwall’s first major cup finalists:
Navalón; Parra, Meyler, Larrea; Adade, Atkinson, Pereira; Paulo, Silva; Rodrigo, Touré
Subs: Akinde, Canessa, Whyte, Paulo, Ortega, Turay, Pook, Egan, Cabrera
Truro started fairly brightly and Bartley was unlucky not to win a penalty that was ruled just outside the box. They more than matched their opponents to go into halftime at 0-0. And it was Truro who had the first half chance as Bartley’s speculative 25-yarder was pushed over eight minutes into the second half. But City soon got ahead as a low cross was turned in by Endrick, who looked well offside. Then, predictably, the ref gave them a dodgy penalty… but heroic goalkeeper Navalón (more on him later) saved it. Trevelyan threw everything at it but to no avail as City earned a tame 1-0 win.
To put that in context, City spend £7.3m per week on wages – that’s 46 times more than Truro’s £156k. They also have 16 players earning more per week than Truro’s entire squad combined, six players earning double Truro’s entire squad combined and two of their under 18s earn more than Truro’s top earner! So to only lose 1-0 is one hell of an impressive effort.
Defence Tightens And Goals Flow Ahead Of Promotion Fight
Two casualties of the formation change moved on for decent money in January as Emiliano López went to Osnabruck for £2.1m and long-serving Kieran Joseph, who scored 42 in 171 league games, moved to Salernitana for £5.25m. Trevelyan hadn’t been impressed by the number of goals conceded – 35, compared to 44 all of last season – so he picked up goalkeeper David Navalón for a bargain of £200k from Dep. Armenio. The South American contingent was bolstered by striker Marlon Ortega on a free from Alianza before a potentially gamechanging signing on deadline day as Brazilian wonderkid Joao Paulo arrived for a new club record £5m from Curiabá.
Truro began the new year with a mass of injuries, and Touré and Turay at the African Nations. That showed as they lost for the first time at home this season, 1-0 to Coventry. But Navalón announced himself in style on his debut, making 11 saves as Ortega nicked a 1-0 win at 3rd-place Fulham. He then kept three more clean sheets in 0-0s at Ipswich and Sheff U before Touré returned to nick a 1-0 at home to Millwall, which surpassed Canessa’s three clean sheets in 25 games. And he made it five clean sheets from five league games as Silva’s screamer and Akinde’s late header earned a 2-0 at 3rd-place Leicester.
Navalón eventually conceded before Touré’s late goal nicked a 1-1 at Burnley. Paulo eased himself into life in England, but exploded onto centre stage with two goals and an assist leading an impressive 4-0 win at Middlesbrough. And their goalscoring potential took off as Adade laid on a ridiculous four goals in a new club record 7-2 crushing of bottom side Plymouth.
The good form ended with defeat at Sheff W but home wins over Derby and Preston put Truro right in the driving seat. Akinde scored the only goal at home to Wrexham to move them 8 points clear with five games remaining, before a 1-1 at Forest narrowed their lead to 4 points over Leicester, who had bizarrely played two games more, but a 9-point gap to 3rd-place Sheff U.
Game 1 – Oxford United (12th, away): Sheff U only drew at Plymouth while Fulham won at Blackburn ahead of Truro’s trip to Oxford, where they would win the Championship with a win. But they struggled to get going in a poor game and looked to be falling to a 1-0 defeat until Rodrigo’s turned in Adade’s low cross to earn a point in injury time.
Game 2 – Luton Town (15th, home): Truro could seal promotion with just a point at home to Luton and clinch the title with a win. You wouldn’t have known it based on their first half performance in a really poor match. But a rally cry at halftime livened things up and Touré went close with a freekick before Silva sent him in for the opener. Nothing else happened and Trevelyan killed the game off for a 1-0 win.
Truro City were Champions of the Championship and gained promotion to the Premier League!
They wrapped up the season with a rotated team losing 3-2 at Leeds before Silva scored the only goal at home to relegated Watford. That saw Truro top the pile with 95 points after 28 wins, 11 draws and 7 defeats, scoring 89 and conceding 48. Silva and Navalón were the 2nd and 3rd best players in the league with 7.30 and 7.24 average ratings respectively. Akinde was the 9th top scorer with 16, with Rodrigo and Touré joint 12th with 15 each, but they were miles behind Fulham’s top scorer Daniel Gudjohnsen, who scored 39 in 46. And Silva and Adade were the 4th top assisters with 13 apiece. Silva was named Championship Young Player of the Year and Trevelyan won Manager of the Year, while Meyler, Parra, Adade and Bartley were named in the Team of the Year.
Truro Celebrate Promotion To The Premier League
Trevelyan was the talk of Truro as he and his exciting young squad paraded the Championship trophy around the city on an open-top bus tour. The title saw Trevelyan finally named as a legendary figure in truro history, alongside his former striker and assistant Stewart Yetton and former backroom staff members Ian Leigh and Deba Siddhu. Indeed, that trophy was their first league title since winning the Vanarama National League 11 years ago and their first trophy win since winning the EFL Cup in 2031. Truro finished the campaign with five wonderkids among their ranks, with Silva, Paulo and Touré later joined by defensive duo Parra and Larrea.
Trevelyan’s switch to two up top and finding strikers who can score goals was undoubtedly the big shift this season. Rodrigo led the way with 19 in 46 backed up by surprise Akinde, who only started 28 games, and Touré with 18 apiece. The midfield pair of Bartley (9 goals and 12 assists) and Silva (8 goals and 15 assists) both impressed and late arrival Paulo chipped in with 4 goals. Adade was superb with 14 assists from wingback, but the arrival of Navalón was the key piece in the puzzle as he kept 10 clean sheets and only conceded 11 in 18 league games.
Trevelyan was beyond delighted to have achieved his dream of making Truro City the first Cornwall club to reach the Premier League. But now the really hard work began as, after 15 years at the club, the local hero now faced arguably his toughest test yet to keep them there.
Could Trevelyan strengthen his squad for a push at Premier League survival? Join us next Wednesday to find out!
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