Tonight we welcome Everton Under-21s to the Mangata Developments Stadium, Meadow Park, for another National League Cup clash. Can I wish their directors, manager, players and supporters a pleasant stay with us and a safe journey home.
A win tonight puts us on the brink of qualification for the quarter-finals and, as a reminder, these group games are all heavily discounted in terms of entry prices, with all kick-offs at 7pm. They are also free to BWFC season ticket holders.
Please note, there is no segregation for these games. The East Stand, West Stand and North Bank are all open to everyone, but the South End of the stadium is closed.
Last Saturday, I thought, was a hell of a game. In fairness to Harrogate Town, though it was never a 4-1 game, there is no doubt we deserved the win. As such, and as I often tell Luke, when things are going your way, just embrace it and enjoy the good times.
Now’s not the time to over-analyse the past too much because the next game is already in front of you. You have to move on quickly and find solutions to the next problem you face.
Having said that, I feel there is a great attitude and desire amongst our players and staff. On Saturday there were some gritty and gutsy performances from the likes of Whitey, Clarke, Bainbridge, Allarakhia and Bird, great quality at times from Brunt, Booty, O’Connell and Bush, and then the magic of a Ben Whitfield volley that is already a Goal of the Season contender scored in September.
It must also be said that Saturday was a very tough game for the squad for many reasons, as we had one less preparation day and one less rest day compared to Harrogate. We played away at Scunthorpe on the Wednesday night, while Harrogate played Fylde at home on the Tuesday.
Put in simple terms, we travelled north on the Wednesday afternoon, had a right ding-dong up there and scored late on to beat a stubborn Scunthorpe United side 2-1. We then journeyed back, getting to the club at 2am on Thursday morning, with many of our players and staff then having another onward journey before they finally got home.
So, for me, on Saturday though tired, they were magnificent. They dug really deep and I’m very proud of the manager, these players and our staff. We still sit top of the league, we are digging deep when need be and, after nine games, we remain unbeaten in our league campaign.
As I told those who read my notes on Saturday, the downsides are starting to add up. We have lost striker Matt Rush to injury, we’ve lost a couple of players to international call-ups and, after tonight, we will lose Regan Booty to suspension.
On the upside, as I also told you in my last programme notes, we’ve brought in Ted Curd, Jay Bird, Ben Whitfield and Conor Wilkinson to bolster our ranks, and I expect more reinforcements to arrive at the club in the next few weeks.
After ten years of trying, we have now begun in earnest the building programme down at the South End of the stadium.
In truth, it’s such an exciting project and will take around 10 to 11 months to complete. For me, it’s a legacy project that will take up so much of my energy, focus and time, but it will change the landscape of this club forever.
To repeat myself, it will encompass two new community changing rooms, officials rooms, offices, a rehab/tiny tots astro pitch, an away fans’ zone, new digital turnstiles, new toilets, new catering and bar units, plus a new maintenance and grounds building, a new maintenance office and a new control room, along with the normal mechanical and electrical groundwork.
On top of that, we must look to the future and build new supporter pathways, new entry and exit roads, and new fence lines and security gates. We also have cctv, wifi, new lighting designs, new signage and, oh, of course, a brand-new shiny South Stand to build that will take us to EFL level in terms of our ground grading and increase our capacity to well over 5,600.
Finally, I would like to thank our supporters once again, especially those who got themselves to the home Harrogate game and made themselves both loud, proud and importantly heard. As I said in my last programme notes, it never goes unnoticed and, trust me, you are making a huge, huge difference to our season.
Hopefully, I’ll see many of you up at Solihull Moors next week and, having spoken to Grant Morris, I believe we are again running a supporters’ coach.
Anyway, back to this evening. It just leaves me to say that, whoever you support, let’s hope for an open, attacking game and may the best team win.
Take care,
Danny
