A four-division drop in under two seasons would see many ex-professionals lose their appetite for the game. Not John Dreyer, however. Once a Premier League centre-back on the books at Bradford City, Dreyer featured in an injury-affected 2001-2 season and was appointed on a semi-coaching role at Broadhall Way.

Dreyer arrived at the start of the 2000-1 campaign on a free from Cambridge. He featured sporadically during his two-year spell at Broadhall Way due to age and fitness. Coming to the end of his playing career, this experience was valuable and saw him take over as boss on a caretaker basis once Wayne Turner left in December 2002.

After leaving, Dreyer was handed a managerial role at Maidenhead United before joining up with Graham Westley at Rushden and Diamonds in 2006 as assistant. It was a role that Dreyer was to reprise when Westley was reappointed as Stevenage manager; completing a full circle for the Alnwick-born defender.