After the disappointment of 2004-05 pre-season did not show much promise at all. Stuart Hannan, the 25-goal man last season had left to join perennial Kent League strugglers Thamesmead Town FC. It appeared that nobody was ready to commit for another season unless they saw improvements on the field. Off the field Newpark were financially stable, albeit £300 down from the previous season due to owed subs and fines. Managerial changes took affect with Ben Murphy stepping down and John Norton replacing him at the helm. This move shook the foundations of the club and Director of football Mick Bartlett quit and Martin Roffe stepped down as treasurer. In terms of playing staff the outlook appeared bleak. Advertisement in newpapers only attracted poor players and Newpark would have a cluster of those for the pre-season training sessions. New blood included the fleet footed Gary McKenna and the tenacious John Fillery. One notable acquisition was the fiery, loose cannon Terry Connor who slotted in naturally at left-back and produced a string of consistently good performances. Tommy Mac agreed to stay "For the love of the club" and in his stay he bought along Bexley league veteran Joe Edler who saddled up alongside Maloney in centre midfield. Mark Logan was signed up after impressing in a friendly match and would prove to be one of the clubs shrewdest signings in recent years. Franklin and Morris signed on and the team looked strong and proved stark contrast to those awful early seasons sessions with half of Albania jogging around footscray sports. Nomad Chris Peters returned from the far east equipped with a Vietnamese pot belly and a pound of opium at the ready. Newpark were back. The opening game was a drab affair played in swirling conditions. Old Colfs, fresh from demotion scored early on before Fillery netted from 35 yards to salvage a point. Drawing would be the achilles heel for Newpark in the coming season. Next up were the newly promoted Tudor Sports who took the division 4 title by storm the previous season. After a initial hold up with a refereeing replacement the match got underway and inexplicably ended 5-5 a piece. Morris and Mark Logan grabbed a brace each and John Fillery added a fifth. At one stage Newpark were 5-3 up. A disappointing result but last season Park would probably have lost the game. Cray Valley 'A' were turning a few heads in the league with three wins from their opening three games. A 5-3 win for Park would inflict a rare defeat for Cray in the coming season. Franklin, Fillery, Morris, Jones and a terrific solo goal from Harry Fox clinched a great away win. A defeat by Oakdale 2-1 would end September with Park in mid-table. A drearily contested goaless stalemate with Avery Hill started October off but a 5-1 rout over Greenwich Royals heightened spirits. Among the scorers was Murphy who opened his Newpark account after four years. He bagged two, Morris, Roffe and Maloney completed the scoring. A severe administration error would render those points useless as Newpark were deducted 3 points for fielding Simon Dole who was unregistered at the time. Another eyebrow raising draw followed with Old colfeians who led 3-1 with eight minutes to spare. McKenna had given Park a 4th minute lead, his first of the campaign. Morris and an 88th minute equiliser from Jack Fox secured a point, but Park deserved it overall. Avery Hill were dismissed 3-1 in our next game. Hannan (2) and Jack Fox compounded their misery. A cup game with Parkhurst Rangers in the Queen Elizabeth Jacques cup ended 2-2 after extra time. Park, 2-0 down were given a lifeline through a Murphy whistler before Connor clinched the draw. Sub goalie Joe Edler proved to be the talisman for Park saving three from five spot kicks. Newpark through on penalties 4-3. Local rivals Blackheath Wanderers were beaten 4-3 a tough fixture annually played in great spirit. Murphy, Morris, McKenna and Maloney amongst the goals. Bexlians would inflict a rare defeat 2-4, Morris grabbing both goals for Park. Regan would break a hand in that game. A 2-2 draw with seemingly runaway leaders Ravens on a boggy surface over in Erith kept Newpark in 5th spot. Jones with a brace. An own goal from Macca put Ravens back in it. A much needed Christmas break punctuated the season nicely for Park who sat in 5th place quietly ruing those squandered points against Old Colfeians and Tudor. The year 2005 began with an emphatic 7-1 victory over Tudor Sports. Danny Jones netted four times, Gary McKenna lashed in two for himself and John Fillery completed the rout. Another draw would follow. Cray Valley grounded out a 0-0 in dire conditions much to the annoyance of Newpark. Desportiva Portuguesa were the opposition in the QEJ cup quarter final and Newpark went down 2-1 in a hotly contested game poorly officiated my Mr Seth Carr ( "I know where you live pal" ) who booked manager John Norton for ungentlemanly conduct whilst on the sidelines. Back to the league and a 1-1 draw with Ravens pushed Newpark further down the league to 8th! A Norton equiliser salvaged a point. A woeful 2-2 display over in Farnborough dissipated a further two points. Harry Fox and Chris Roffe sparing the blushes. A 1-0 win over Sydenham Town restored some confidence to the side. Norton again the goalscorer. A 0-2 reverse at bourne road versus Oakdale theoretically made automatic promotion a distant dream and Oakdale sealed promotion with 7 games left. Newpark had five fixtures remaining - they would have to depend on the above teams slipping up and failing to capitalise on a vacant promotion spot come May. A stonking performance in the depths of Catford Hill against Sydenham yielded a 5-1 victory. Withstanding terrible playing conditions Newpark were unstoppable. Norton and Connor opened the scoring before a dazzling run by Edler created a chance for 3-0 and the journeyman duly obliged. Further goals from Jones and Logan would complete the scoring. A tough game with old foes Bexlians would follow after going a goal down Newpark stepped up a gear and equilised via the penalty spot through Roffe. A goal bound header was flicked over by a defenders arm. Decision was spot on and the defender had to go despite fervant protests from Martin Roffe. "oooo ref....its not in the spirit of the game". A winner from the rejuvinated Norton clinched the points. With Murphy back in the managers seat things were looking up as Newpark closed the gap to 8 points on Avery Hill. A woeful Farnborough, already consigned to relegation were vanquished 3-0 with Norton, Hannan and Rowley among the goals. A re-arranged fixture with Greenwich Royals (ladssssss.....me grandkids need to see the game from the swings"). yielded another 3 points. A spellbinding hatrick from the man in form Norton accompanied with a brace from new signing Alan "erasure" sealed the win on a sunny day in April. The final game of the season proved to be an anti-climax. Newpark's fate was held in the weak grasp of an unlikely win for Tudor against Old Colfeians. After dominating a weak Blackheath side for almost 75 minutes Murphy made the changes. Peters was substituted much to his dismay (why...........why murphy have I been sacrificed?) and Newpark lead with three up top. A Fox penalty and a Norton header clinched the win. It was a tentative wait until the fixtures were published on goalnet.com. Could Tudor assist the Newpark quest for promotion? Sadly no, Old Colfeians ran amoke and consigned Newpark to another season in division 3. Despite losing only 3 times a 6th spot was all Park could muster. Hindered further by the fact 3 points were harshly deducted made the impact of the loss even harder to take. Those three points would have accumulated 41 points and promotion would have been secured. A sad end to what could have been a successful season.