GAFFER SAYS GOODBYE

Boreham Wood Football Club are extremely sad to announce that our long standing manager Ian Allinson, has tendered his resignation.

Ian spoke to the Chairman and cited that the changing from evening to a day time training programme, has been a big reason for his decision. He feels this change conflicts directly with his work commitments to Carlsberg and he cannot now give the managers job the justice it deserves..

After listening to Ian’s reasoning and after careful consideration, his resignation has been accepted by the Chairman..

As such the club would like to place on record its huge appreciation of Ian Allinsons hard work and endeavour over so many years. We thank him for his contribution in our rise up the leagues and in the clubs development during his time with us, both on and off the park..

Ian will obviously be missed by everyone but especially so by the clubs Chairman Danny Hunter, who has worked so closely with him, as both manager and as director of football for 11 of the 17 seasons that he has been Chairman..

Ian Allinson spoke about his reasons on leaving and said “This is a decision that I haven’t taken lightly. I have thought long and hard about this over the last few weeks before coming to the realisation, that the new training schedule wasn’t allowing me to manager the team to the level of my expectations”..

“This is not a retirement I still have plenty of fight in me and want to carry on with new challenges and hope to continue the success I have had over the last 25 years as a manager”..

“I am extremely proud of what I have achieved in the past seven and a half years at Boreham Wood. As when I took over the club for the second time, they had just been relegated to the Ryman North Division before being given a reprieve. I would like to go on record to personally thank The Chairman Danny Hunter for not only his support as a Chairman but also as a very close friend, I am sure this friendship will continue for many years to come”..

“I would also like to thank all of my management staff past and present, the clubs office staff, the great players I’ve managed and of course the supporters who have supported me and helped me give this club the success it has achieved over the last eight seasons. Finally I would also like to wish everyone at Boreham Wood Football Club continued success for the future as the foundations are there”..

Chairman Danny Hunter said “In truth I was at first stunned by Ian’s resignation as it genuinely wasn’t something that I saw coming. The transition from evening to daytime training though difficult, had seemed to go as well as could be expected”..

“The players and management team including Ian, were in the main all very much in favour of the change. However in hindsight and hindsight is a funny thing, Ian felt with the new training programme, that he was not in control and simply felt he was on the outside looking in.. It’s no secret that Ian and I have had a close working relationship but thats only to be expected after spending so many years together and putting in the thousands of man hours, needed to succeed and progress a club at this level”..

“We have shared so many experiences and we understood right from the start, that we would need to work hard to build a great working relationship and we based our relationship on old fashioned values like honesty, trust and hard work. We also looked for like minded players and staff to assist us throughout and both feel that the Chairman/Manager relationship is one of the most important relationships in any football club”..

“We have built a lasting friendship away from the football club, because we liked each others company, Thats led to so many wonderful memories, whether that be our promotions, our cup successes, the club vacations, family nights out or seeing our kids getting married, just so many special moments”..

“I also believe we have learnt so much over the years about what made each other tick, about how we wanted to run a football club and about how we wanted to deal with staff and players. We learnt to deal with problems as they arose but In the end It always came down to simply being honest, truthful and trusting each other”.

“That’s why Ian announcement was such a shock, as his job was safe.. I knew in terms of the National league, that we were going into unchartered waters but since going full time, there was clear evidence of progress being made both at the training ground and on the pitch. Dealing with a few defeats and a bit of supporter unrest was nothing too disturbing this early in the season and it’s not like we hadn’t experienced it all before when we first got promoted to the Conference South”..

“I knew this league would be intense but it is perhaps harder than either myself or Ian had imagined. Financially its certainly at a new level but for me the challenge is to prove the doubters wrong and after just 16 games it’s still a buzz to be playing at a National level. I am enjoying the fact we are an underdog club trying to succeed at a new level and it makes the challenge even more appealing”..

“With Ian’s departure, I now have an obligation to look forward, to work harder for my staff, my club and our small band of very loyal supporters. These people know I won’t quit on them and have backed me superbly over the last seventeen seasons.. Our progress without Ian must continue or all the good work we have achieved together, will go down the pan but with our infra structure already built and in place, I’m sure we’ll be fine”..

“As I said, the decision to go to day time training has played a massive part in Ian’s decision, as he cannot make the day time training sessions. He feels it compromises his management and unfortunately felt that it excludes him and limits his contact time with the players.. I understand that frustration but also felt that with delegation it was a very manageable transition and was something that we could of addressed at the end of the season if it proved too much of a problem.. That said, Ian made his decision to go and i have to respect that, understand his rationale and now do what’s right for the football club, for my staff and for our players”..

“I must also thank Ian from the bottom of my heart.. He is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met inside or outside football, he will be a friend of mine for life along with his wonderful family. We’ll I’m sure still share future family weddings and birthdays, a few decent meals and perhaps one or two very good holidays with our partners”..

“This is a very sad day for me both personally and as Club Chairman and it’s hard to find the right words to best define my feelings, so let me simply say..