Ex-QPRs: Gary Waddock's Aldershot Success Profiled & Waddock Comments...Nikki Bull Considering Staying at Aldershot

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Mirror - ROCK-BOTTOM TO CALLING THE SHOTS Wadd an amazing trip back from oblivion Wally meets.. ALDERSHOT MANAGER GARY WADDOCK

Along a window-sill in the manager's office, the cards from well-wishers were more neatly aligned than Aldershot's ragbag offside trap.
Although it was approaching Christmas, they all wished Ian McDonald good luck in his new job, and the Shots boss knew he was going to need it in spades.
Two years after it had been rescued from financial collapse by 19-year-old property developer Spencer Trethewy, a Walter Mitty chancer later jailed for fraud, the club was hurtling towards insolvency.
Aldershot had just played out a bleak goalless draw with Doncaster - even though Rovers had arrived so late their pre-match meal had been a bottle of pop and a bar of chocolate from the petrol station next door to the Recreation Ground.
McDonald weighed up the odds, which were stacked against survival, and faced the music stoically.
"If we go under," he warned, "that could be it. The people of Aldershot may never see League football played in this town again."
Sure enough, the liquidators had their day. Three months later, inMarch1992, Aldershot became the first club to fold in mid-season since Accrington Stanley 30 years earlier and they ceased to exist.
By sunset tonight, however, McDonald's forecast could be proved gratifyingly wrong. Just 16 years after the grim reaper's visit, they are dead certs to reenter the Football League as Conference champions.
Five promotions after the club was reformed as Aldershot Town by a supporters' group and rebooted in the Isthmian League third division, they are just a heartbeat from completing the long haul back.
And when it happens, anyone with football's wider interests at heart should celebrate their makeover from Shots in the dark to the vibrant team for whom Gary Waddock could take the chequered flag against Burton this afternoon.
Forget Mickey Mouse franchises who take short cuts by abducting the heritage of a club in decline and rebranding it 65 miles away. Aldershot haven't just done it the hard way, they have done it the right way.
Four years ago, they were pipped on penalties by Shrewsbury in the Conference play-off final. But goodbye heartbreak - this time they are romping home, 15 points clear, and manager Waddock, 46, recognises the significance for the club that refused to die.
His first season in charge has been spectacular redemption after he was dismissed by QPR, 23games after succeeding Ian Holloway.
Waddock said: "Aldershot Town is a great role model for clubs who go bust and then rise from the ashes. To start all over again from scratch and reach the Football League in just 16 years would be an incredible achievement.
"If we make it, I will just be the manager who is lucky enough to have taken them the final step on that journey, but promotion this season would be a great tribute to the people who have rebuilt the club from nothing.
"It would be the greatest day of my career - and that's quite a statement for someone who played in an FA Cup final at 20 and who won 21 caps for his country (Ireland).
"It's been a bit of a rollercoaster, but I will be forever grateful to the people at Aldershot for giving me the chance to deliver what would be an amazing feat.
"When things didn't work out for me at QPR, I could have been just another bloke who fell by the wayside.
"If we can bring League football back to the Recreation Ground I will be as pleased for chairman John McGinty, the town and people as for myself." Mirror

And Meanwhile Another Ex-QPR at Aldershot...Nikki Bull

BBC -Bull admits to a change of heart
Aldershot goalkeeper Nikki Bull says he is reconsidering his future at the Blue Square Premier champions-elect.
The 26-year-old announced in October that frustrations over contract talks last summer meant he would leave in May regardless of how well the club did.
He has now told BBC Southern Counties Radio nothing is decided: "I maybe said what I said back then a bit hastily.
"Once we get it won, we'll sit down. I think I'm one of 13 players out of contract so the club will be busy".
Aldershot need just four points from their remaining five games to win promotion back to the Football League.
And Bull is now glad he stayed: "One or two players may have left prematurely thinking the grass is greener. But as life always proves, the grass is never greener.
"I decided to stick it out through the bad times, and now hopefully I can come out the other end a league winner with Aldershot and part of the team that gets them back in the Football League." BBC