Buxton striker De Girolamo - ‘Everything is top quality both on and off the pitch’

​The 28-year-old is one of just three players that remained with the club as they transitioned from being a part-time outfit over the summer, the next part of the club’s continued growth following promotion to the National League North two years ago.

But rather than it being a gradual process that would take time to implement, De Girolamo says that on the playing side at least, that transition has been thorough and remarkably seamless.

He said: “I’ve been here a long time and as I’ve said before, each year we return for pre-season there is always something better about the club than the previous year.

"This year was obviously going to be a very big change but straight from the off it’s all been very professional.

"Everything has been provided for us, right from all the relevant meals at training through to the relevant fitness tests that had to be carried out at the university, and it’s been brilliant and is already starting to show in our performances.

"I’ve been at league clubs and also part of the international setups with Italy when I was younger, and I thought that things wouldn’t be as professional as that but from minute one we’ve had nothing to moan about at all.”

With Buxton’s manager John McGrath having been a professional throughout his playing career, that has no doubt helped inform the club what’s required to make full-time football work effectively, particularly from a football perspective and with the day-to-day schedules and requirements being so different.

De Girolamo added: “I’ve known the gaffer for many years and if we had any other manager in charge I may not have gone full-time.

"When you’re a footballer, pre-season shouldn’t be enjoyable – it’s a necessary evil – but it’s been made enjoyable here and everyone is looking forward to coming in each day.“The gaffer knows what he’s talking about in a football sense of course but also how to manage people, whether it’s the young players or the older, more experienced lads.”

One of the key factors when any player has the chance to move from part-time to full-time football is how it might affect what they do as their main job away from football.

For De Girolamo, it has been a case of getting the best of both worlds, as running his own business he has been able to concentrate on his football but dip into his other commitments as and when possible .

He said: “When I was offered a new deal I sat down with the manager and he said that I’d be able to still do bits on the side and that if I needed the odd day off training or whatever when necessary then he’d be understanding.

"So far I’ve not needed to – I’ve worked on some afternoons and one on or two days off but it hasn’t got in the way at all.

"Connor Kirby also stayed from last season and has been fine, while Tom Elliott signed a new deal but has been allowed to remain part-time as he also has his own business that it would have been too hard to step away from.”

Buxton have also been able to recruit from further afield, with several players from different parts of the country now within the squad rather then more locally-based players as before.

De Girolamo added: “We’ve had some lads come from quite a long way away but we’ve all gelled really well. Some of them are being put up in houses by the club, with other players in a similar situation, which perhaps is where it’s different as they don’t have the same complete escape from things as the rest of us that go back to family as they go back home with the other lads.

"But everyone is getting on really well and it’s actually quite surprising how good the bond has been.”

In terms of on the pitch, De Girolamo was speaking not long after the Bucks had begun the new campaign with a 2-1 win over Leamington FC, sealed by Ben Sault’s 94th minute winner.

And he hopes it will be a season of further progression for Buxton following a mid-table finish last year.

He said: “Obviously when you’re a player you always want to aim high and we’d of course like to be up there challenging for the play-offs but this is a transitional period so we’ll have to see how it goes.

"But while I’ve been really surprised how well we’ve been playing, I still think we’re quite far away from what we’re going to be – by Christmas I think we’ll be even better than we are now.

"This is the best team we’ve had since we won the title and off the pitch everything is top quality too so it’s exciting times.”