PEOPLE are beginning to sit up and take notice of Bowers & Pitsea.

A new manager, a new kit and a new style of play has won Bowers a host of admirers this season.

Currently eighth and fresh off the back of a 6-1 win against Sporting Bengal United on Tuesday, the club led by Rob Small has been quietly going about its business in the league, picking up points after a host of cup games had seen them drop into the danger zone in the early weeks of the season.

And, having finished in the bottom seven in each of the last six seasons, that may not have surprised many followers of the Essex Senior League.

But Small has got Bowers & Pitsea playing an exciting brand of football. A brand that saw them reach the first qualifying round of the FA Cup for the first time since they were reformed in 2004, and take 26 points from their first 13 games in the league.

A goal difference bettered by only the top three and having played four fewer games than two of those, Bowers are all set for a groundbreaking season.

Last week Small was given the approval of the club’s committee to apply for promotion to Ryman One North, a level the club has never paid at.

Indeed, this is the club’s 40th consecutive year playing in the Essex Senior League and Small says he is proud the club is backing his vision for the team having only joined from Southminster St Leonards in the summer.

“I requested we put the club forward for promotion and the committee supported it,” he said. “They seem pleased with what we are producing on the pitch and I am pleased too.

“We would be full of regret if we happened to win the league or finish in a promotion place but not applied.

“I believe the team we have now is good enough to achieve promotion despite our standing in the league. I have yet to see a team in this division and think they are better than us. So we applied this year just in case.”

Bowers are a whopping 25 points behind league leaders Haringey Borough although that would be cut to 10 points if Bowers were to win all their outstanding matches.

And, should they finish in second place and Haringey fail to meet the requirements set out by the league, they could be in line for promotion.

Although Small is keeping his, and his players’ feet on the ground.

“Realistically we are not expecting to achieve promotion this season,” he said. “Haringey look like they have the league sewn up and the chasing pack have all applied for promotion too. It would take a monumental collapse to allow us to sneak in and a collapse from not one, but four other teams competing!

“We are a brand new team, I’m a new manager at this level, and this is unchartered for the club. We have dropped quite a few points already and won’t go between now and the end of the season without dropping more. However that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t begin driving the club forward now.”

Bowers’ best league finish was back in 2006/07 when they finished fourth out of 16 teams. They won 16 of their 30 games that year but with eight wins from 13 games already this term, they are on course to surpass that total.

“From my perspective this is a big step from the club and a commitment to me and to the players. The current players will appreciate that as do I – we need something to work towards.

“I took Southminster as far as they could go and won the best honour they could win (Olympian Premier Division title). Now I want to progress up the pyramid so I wouldn’t have taken on the Bowers job if I didn’t feel there was ambition on the club’s part.”

Small believes the application will put the club in a strong position to prepare for the eventuality of promotion.

“It’s better we find out now rather than in 12 months time,” he said. “It will help on and off the field. By the end of the season the club will have gone through this process and learned from it. On the field it will no doubt make us a scalp for opposing sides.

“It’s also a big message to players outside of our club. Any player at this level would be lying if they said they didn’t want to play in the Ryman League and it may make us more attractive when we want to recruit players either now or at the end of the season.

“It’s a no-lose situation for us this year. The best case scenario is the impossible happens and the clubs above us have a terrible second half of the season and we somehow sneak up! Of course, you can never rule out last minute restructuring of the pyramid. You can’t rule out the other applicants ground failing the criteria. You have to be in it to win it.

“People may raise their eyebrows now but over the next couple of seasons we will improve and it’s exciting to be able to start a season playing for something – no matter how against you the odds are!”

Although, if they keep up this form, that may not be for much longer.