Post by leemerrifield on May 11, 2022 19:56:34 GMT
The first new signing today seems a good opportunity for an update.
We're delighted to sign Ashley Wells and hopefully his signing gives a sense of the type of players James is looking to sign for the new season. Lots of positive discussions are taking place with other potential new players but it can be a game of cat and mouse at this early stage ...hopefully they'll be more positive news in the days ahead. In the meantime expect to see confirmation of 2-3 retained players from last season in the coming days.
James is also looking to strengthen his backroom staff with Bill Coleman confirmed as our new Head of Medical so far - again we hope to announce more on this soon. Oh and a big thanks to the outgoing John Macey who you'll have seen is bowing out after 50+ years in the game.
In terms of aspirations for next season then the aim is play-offs ...it's always difficult making predictions for next season only 2 weeks after the current season has ended and without knowing the official composition of the league or other teams aspirations, but James and Mark are aware that's the mandate for the new season and the players they are talking to reflect those ambitions.
The annual youth tournament took place last week after a 2 year Covid break and was another great success ...well done to Matty, Claire etc and a whole army of people who made this such a great event.
With the tournament concluded attention now turns to the pitch. I won't bore you with all the in's and out's, but short of some long-winded and expensive legal action (which there's certainly no guarantee we'd win anyway) we're not getting anywhere with the original provider and trust me we've looked at all the angles and taken loads of advice. I'm not going to go over old ground (pardon the pun) and start a long debate on the issue again - we need to look forward not back on this and so we pressing on with renovations to the pitch at our own expense which as well as seeding / feeding etc and all the usual summer maintenance will involve digging out and re-doing both goalmouths which are the most troublesome areas. We're hopeful that with extensive renovation over the summer, better maintenance going forward from our two groundsman (who are doing a tremendous job by the way) and investment in additional kit, this will do the trick.
Work should start this weekend and we'll have a better of idea on what that means for pre-season once the contractor gets to work but expect most to be away from home. 2-3 are being finalised and we'll announce dates / times soon.
We're in the process of reviewing our entry prices next season but are likely to leave these unchanged albeit with a reduction in season ticket prices as there are expected to be 20 teams in our new league (albeit there were 19 last season) so 2 less home games than in the Premier Division. Again more details soon.
Enjoy the summer break!
Lee
We're delighted to sign Ashley Wells and hopefully his signing gives a sense of the type of players James is looking to sign for the new season. Lots of positive discussions are taking place with other potential new players but it can be a game of cat and mouse at this early stage ...hopefully they'll be more positive news in the days ahead. In the meantime expect to see confirmation of 2-3 retained players from last season in the coming days.
James is also looking to strengthen his backroom staff with Bill Coleman confirmed as our new Head of Medical so far - again we hope to announce more on this soon. Oh and a big thanks to the outgoing John Macey who you'll have seen is bowing out after 50+ years in the game.
In terms of aspirations for next season then the aim is play-offs ...it's always difficult making predictions for next season only 2 weeks after the current season has ended and without knowing the official composition of the league or other teams aspirations, but James and Mark are aware that's the mandate for the new season and the players they are talking to reflect those ambitions.
The annual youth tournament took place last week after a 2 year Covid break and was another great success ...well done to Matty, Claire etc and a whole army of people who made this such a great event.
With the tournament concluded attention now turns to the pitch. I won't bore you with all the in's and out's, but short of some long-winded and expensive legal action (which there's certainly no guarantee we'd win anyway) we're not getting anywhere with the original provider and trust me we've looked at all the angles and taken loads of advice. I'm not going to go over old ground (pardon the pun) and start a long debate on the issue again - we need to look forward not back on this and so we pressing on with renovations to the pitch at our own expense which as well as seeding / feeding etc and all the usual summer maintenance will involve digging out and re-doing both goalmouths which are the most troublesome areas. We're hopeful that with extensive renovation over the summer, better maintenance going forward from our two groundsman (who are doing a tremendous job by the way) and investment in additional kit, this will do the trick.
Work should start this weekend and we'll have a better of idea on what that means for pre-season once the contractor gets to work but expect most to be away from home. 2-3 are being finalised and we'll announce dates / times soon.
We're in the process of reviewing our entry prices next season but are likely to leave these unchanged albeit with a reduction in season ticket prices as there are expected to be 20 teams in our new league (albeit there were 19 last season) so 2 less home games than in the Premier Division. Again more details soon.
Enjoy the summer break!
Lee
