Today we welcome our friends from Altrincham. May I wish their directors, manager, players and supporters a pleasant stay with us and a safe journey home.
This afternoon promises to be a real ding-dong encounter between two sides challenging at the top of the table and two clubs who like to play attacking, possession-based football.
Last Tuesday saw a very good Kidderminster Harriers side come here, but we proved far too good on the night and ran out deserved winners. Great credit once again must go to Luke, Charlie, the dressing room and staff for the squad strength and relentless way that they’ve gone about their work, not only over the last few months but over the last three seasons.
I feel I have every right to feel very proud of what they’re doing on our behalf and, on my side, I promise to remain driven in all areas of the club to find the small margins and extra monies needed that can improve us further.
I must also say a very big thank you to our sponsors, our local partners and our supporters, who I know are getting excited and absolutely loving our start to the season. Though I’ll temper that, in all honesty, by saying it’s just a start and, after today, we are just 25% through the season.
We must now look ahead and understand there will be plenty of bumps in the road, twists, turns, injuries, suspensions and setbacks throughout the season, as there always are… We just hope this season there are a few less than normal, because I’m sure we’ll need everyone in those pressure moments to stay calm, stay with us and remain supportive.
On the signing front, we’ve added Will Wright to the squad and we welcome Will and his family to the club. Will, in truth, has been a long-time target of Luke’s, has a good EFL pedigree and can only aid us in our quest to get ourselves to the EFL and stay there in the coming years.
The South Stand and associated facilities have now started in earnest and, though I’m still waiting for the final CIL agreements with Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council and HBC to be signed off, out of necessity I have decided to start the project now.
Put in simple terms, we do need the build to remain on schedule and on budget. So I hope the legal stuff will catch up very soon with the build, and I’m sure it will.
In terms of my personal investment, that’s already in place. In terms of BW PASE, Arsenal and the Football Foundation, that’s all agreed, signed off and also in place. So I can proudly tell you all that, no matter the setbacks and delays, before the start of October, it’s all systems go after 10 years in the making.
As with any £4 million-plus project, especially with multiple stakeholders at our level, it’s a huge risk and commitment for a club of our size. That said, as I’ve told you all many times, I believe it will change the landscape of this club and our town forever.
For me, it is a legacy project that’s been a decade in the making and I’m so happy that it will be delivered to you all before the start of next season. In terms of the impact on my time, these types of projects always need someone internal to get onboard and steer the ship. Put simply, someone must keep the architects, consultants and contractors honest in terms of each and every outlay and cost.
So many clubs and businesses are far too trusting, but for me you must be very aware that things can quickly run away from you, regarding both the budget and alterations to the design. As such, I’ll be using all of the skills I learnt as a prop master within the British Film Industry and will be scrutinising every change, alteration and last penny to the best of my ability to ensure we get value for money.
At this moment in time it’s all hugely time-consuming, there are not enough hours in the day and it’s all a tad stressful if I’m honest. That said, for the future of our club, my staff, the dressing room and our wider community, it’s very important i stay on top of the budgets and get the programming and schedules right.
My focus must be on delivering a Football League ground to our supporters, club and community if we are to achieve our ambition of getting to the Football League this season. We must also accept any pressure to ensure we are ready for next season, regardless of what league we’re in.
It’s important, if building costs rise over the coming months, that we ensure we continue to carry no historic debt or run up any other unsustainable debt into next season. As such as a club, we look forward with optimism and we will plan ahead, with every scenario on the table.
Anyway, it’s fair to say that things are going very well. Altrincham though, now stand in our way as we strive for another three points and arrive here in great form. They currently sit third in the division and come to Meadow Park with their own ambitions, looking to end our unbeaten run and further their own promotion goals.
We understand the job in hand, we understand what’s expected of us and in Luke and the dressing room we trust. Up until now our lads have found the answers, and we hope they can deal with the many problems Altrincham will pose this afternoon.
Lastly, whoever you support, let’s hope for an open, attacking game and may the best team win.
Take care,
Danny
