FOLLOWING a football club in the summer months is an exercise in sheer frustration.

Any given club could sign 20 players between May and August and you can guarantee that fans would think it needed to be 21.

However, in terms of Newport County this summer, they are less interesting than they’ve possibly ever been. That’s not a criticism, far from it, the club are incredibly stable and that’s to their credit.

They’ve of course got promoted, meaning the start of the season will provide unbelievable excitement and a return to the Football League, but it’s been a somewhat anti-climactic summer.

Every player retained, most first choice transfer targets signed, but in terms of quality that’s fine, in terms of quantity it’s been comparatively sparse.

Even the number of triallists is diminished in comparison to previous campaigns, which makes even the pre-season programme less of a magical mystery tour than usual.

However, fans have been rewarded with a cracking trip to Jena and with Aston Villa still to come.

However, it’s those behind the scenes at the club this week deserving of praise.

I had no idea that promotion to the Football League came with such a heavy price for a club reliant on volunteers.

The Football League have their own guidelines that each member club must adhere to and the staff at Newport, led by Lisa Savage, have spent dozens of hours explaining the new protocol to hundreds of volunteers.

More and more modifications have been made at Rodney Parade with the board also doing their bit, a crash barrier erected in the Hazell Stand probably the most high profile job, along with the drastic work being done on the pitch.

It took a Herculean effort from Newport’s players to get them into the Football League, but it’s County’s backroom staff who will work hardest to keep them there.