In brief: Jersey Bulls manager Elliot Powell has won the Isthmian League Manager of the Month award for October, having guided his side to the top of the Isthmian League South Central division without a single defeat in 34 league and play-off matches. Powell says he would gladly trade the personal honour for a league title come May, with the Bulls a point clear of Bognor Regis Town and holding a game in hand.
Powell Eyes the Big Prize
There is nothing quite like a man who keeps his eye on the ball, and Elliot Powell is very much that man. The Jersey Bulls boss was named Manager of the Month for October after steering his unbeaten side to the summit of the Isthmian League South Central, but he was refreshingly unbothered by the personal accolade.
“It’s obviously a good testament to the work that we’ve done as a coaching team, and as a playing team as well,” Powell told BBC Radio Jersey. “But there’s other awards I’d prefer, and if I could swap one out for May time, I would do that right now. I’d bite your hand off for it.”
It is the kind of honest, focused ambition that supporters love to hear. After 15 league games, the Bulls sit top of the table, one point ahead of Bognor Regis Town, with a game in hand. Their unbeaten run in league and play-off football stretches back 34 matches, reaching all the way into last season, with their only losses coming in the FA Cup and FA Trophy.
A Run That Demands Respect
The Bulls have not lost a game outside of cup competitions since 30 December, a streak that Powell himself describes as “impressive.” However, the BBC reports that the run came close to ending last Saturday when Jersey Bulls needed a late equaliser to draw 1-1 with Hayes and Yeading United, a result that clearly did not sit entirely well with the manager.
“We want to take that to 35 games this weekend,” Powell said, with the Bulls travelling to 16th-placed Hartley Wintney on Saturday. That is the first of three fixtures against sides currently sitting in the bottom seven of the division, before a potentially pivotal home clash against title rivals Bognor Regis on 28 November.
Powell has set a clear internal target: “We want to try and get as close to 40 games unbeaten as we can, and if we do that, we’re going to be in a very good position come Christmas time.” Forty unbeaten. In the eighth tier of English football. From a small island in the Channel. Not bad at all.
History, Heartbreak and Hunger
Context matters here. Jersey Bulls have never won a league title. Their early history includes a promotion via a Covid-19 restructure, having been clear at the top of the Combined Counties League Division One South when the pandemic halted play in their first season. They earned promotion to the eighth tier in 2025, but last season ended in painful fashion: beaten on penalties by AFC Whyteleafe in the Isthmian League South East play-off semi-finals after finishing third.
Powell, who told the BBC in the summer that he would consider stepping down if the Bulls failed to win promotion this season, has been blunt with his players about avoiding a repeat of that play-off lottery. “I said straight after the play-off defeat last year that we don’t want to mess around with the play-offs this year,” he said. “It’s a message that I’ve been very clear with the players.”
The message from the top, then, is simple: win the league, skip the drama. Given the form on display, nobody in Jersey would argue with that ambition.
Source: BBC News
