As our league outcome is now confirmed as returning to Step 4, we feel it an appropriate time to communicate with our supporters in greater detail some of the challenges we have faced, and overcome, throughout the season. We hope it will help add context on what has ultimately been a tough and disappointing return to Step 3 for the first team.

Firstly, the Board, staff and players all share the disappointment of relegation and the results throughout the year, and we don’t shy away from it falling below what we had hoped we could achieve when arriving in the division.

This season has presented lots of problems to the Board with significant changes in personnel, as well as the departure of Gary Keyzor as Chairman. Gary took with him years of experience in the role and many operational changes were required almost overnight. As a Board, we set out to try and ensure it was a steady ship for Jamie, who was also facing challenges replacing staff and players who had deemed the promotion to our new league too much commitment.
By the time the season started, we felt relatively comfortable with the job that had been done on and off the pitch to ensure continuity.

As is regularly the case in business and football, lots of things changed during the season and we were forced to take action. It’s quite difficult — and not always correct — to share some of these bumps in the road as they happen, as it can cause greater unrest or needless panic within an organisation, something we didn’t want or need as we worked to navigate the problems.
As we got a clearer picture of the club operations, it became evident that we would need to streamline certain financial commitments to ensure that the club could operate in a sustainable way for the remainder of the season and beyond.

As a Board we had already started the process with our now, new manager, Andy Reynolds, to reduce the playing budget significantly enough to ensure we remain within new projections. Credit to Andy, he shared our desire to secure the club’s long-term future whilst continuing to work with the young talent we have at the club.

Many factors led to our revised budgets: postponed Saturday games, a drop-off in attendances, huge additional match travel costs, less sponsorship, etc. As a Board, we have already set in motion plans to be able to prepare for future seasons with the lessons and knowledge gained from the one gone by. Success on the pitch can never be guaranteed, but our commitment to offering all of our teams the best experience and opportunities to be successful is at the forefront of what we aim to achieve. We want our community and supporters to feel that same level of experience when attending a game or using our facilities too.

We are pleased to be putting the finishing touches to a 10-Year Plan that will soon be made public so supporters can see a map of the growth we want to see the club make — and you will all be so important to that.
We are already deep into planning for next season, both on and off the pitch, and look forward to sharing this over the coming months. Already we are excited about some really positive and progressive changes that are taking shape.

Many opinions have been shared regarding bad luck and questioning decisions made or not made, as well as a seeming lack of communication or action regarding many things. Timing is everything, and sometimes having too much information in the public domain can do more harm than good. We will continue to improve our communications through our social channels and fan events to keep you involved and up to date.

The Board of Directors