Season 2007-08 was the greatest in the history of Aldershot football.

Thanks to that Conference-winning campaign, The Shots are today back calling the shots where they belong, in the Football League.

And, while Gary Waddock’s team are busy making that smooth transition into life in League Two, Aldershot Town fans can relive last season’s wonderful action, thanks to The Aldershot News Group’s book The Shots Are Back!

The Shots Are Back! tells the story of the momentous season in full, from the arrival of Gary Waddock as manager at The Recreation Ground in May 2007, through the triumphant march to the Conference title and Setanta Shield double, and up until the eve of the current campaign.

All of last season’s match reports published by the News Group - from every competition - are included, accompanied by colour photography, news items, quotes from Waddock and his players, plus the regular ‘Day Thinks It All Over’ column from skipper Rhys Day.

The foreword is written by Nikki Bull, who won both the players’ and the fans’ player-of-the-year awards for his heroics in goal last season.

There is extended coverage of the magical night in April, when Day lifted the Conference Championship Trophy, as well as the evening promotion was sealed at Exeter City, the Setanta Shield victory over Rushden & Diamonds at ‘the Rec’ and the open-top bus celebrations through the streets of Aldershot in early May.

The Shots Are Back! is compiled and largely written by Charlie Oliver, the News Group’s sports editor.

Charlie joined the News Group in October 2007, when The Shots’ fans were just beginning to entertain the hope that the encouraging, table-topping start to the season from Waddock’s exciting young team was no flash in the pan.

“I regularly watched Aldershot FC as a teenager in the last five years or so of the old club in the Football League,” Charlie says. “But I didn’t really dare hope that this would be the season when The Shots won back their League status.

“But there was something different with Waddock’s team. The squad’s spirit and work ethic were exceptional and Waddock managed to keep his players’ feet on the ground but still install a swaggering confidence to their play.

“I think many Shots fans had an inkling that they were watching a special team build a special season but, being a superstitious lot, the word ‘promotion’ was shied away from.

“Only after the momentous win at Torquay in March did we really start mentioning it in the paper - and Gary Waddock was so circumspect I don’t think he said the ‘p’ word until that wonderful night at Exeter City.”

While Charlie’s colourful match reports help light up The Shots’ triumph, it is the colour images, mainly taken by Alistair Wilson and Chris Whiteoak, the News Group’s resident photographers, that bring The Shots Are Back! to life.

Waddock’s side won the Conference on the back of thrilling, attacking football, married to a knack of nicking narrow, exciting wins, and the photographers have captured the thrill of the chase for Football League status in style.

There was one desperately sad moment in the season and The Shots Are Back! includes a tribute to Aldershot Town director Paul Muddell, who collapsed and died on Boxing Day at Woking.

On pitch disappointments were led by the FA Trophy semi-final loss to Ebbsfleet United but The Shots Are Back! illustrates how Waddock’s side bounced back from the odd adversity.

“The Shots got completely outplayed in an abject league defeat at York City in January; it was hard to see them winning promotion with more displays like that,” says Charlie. “But that proved to be their last league defeat.

“While there were magical moments to come, especially the home defeat of Stevenage Borough and Scott Davies’ last-minute winner at Torquay, the scrappy 1-0 win at home to Oxford United, three days after that York debacle, was perhaps the most significant win of the season.

“Later, missing out on a final at Wembley in the Trophy hit the manager and players hard but it made them determined not to miss out on the Football League.”

And they didn’t - and now, thanks to The Shots Are Back!, Aldershot fans can now relive, over and over again, the greatest season so far in the history of Aldershot football, when the dream came true and the Rising Phoenix that is Aldershot football nestled once again in the Promised Land of the Football League.

The Shots Are Back! is a 144-page, full-colour paperback, priced at £12.99.

It is available now from The Aldershot News Group’s offices at 35-39 High Street, Aldershot, and the Star Courier newspaper’s reception at 192 Victoria Road, Aldershot. Cash or cheque payments only. You can also order a copy by sending a cheque to the High Street address. The cost including post and packaging is £15.59.