Over the past few days I have been reflecting how far this great club of ours has come in the past 10 years.
10 years ago we had one team playing in the NPL on a grass surface. Then we became a community club, owned by the Supporters, and have gone from strength to strength. Thanks to the foresight of and investment by Tameside MBC we have a top class 3G artificial pitch, and in addition to the first team, we now have well over 400 junior players of all ages, a successful ladies team, and two under-18 teams with players who will hopefully progress to the Academy and continue their education with a football related qualification. This season has seen the formation of a veterans team which has opened my eyes to the potential of this club for people of all ages and ability!
Much of our success comes from the tireless work of volunteers, from the longstanding supporters who man the turnstiles and the tea bars, and clean the ground after matches, to the numerous parents who have taken up coaching roles in the junior section. We could not survive without your help and my thanks go out to you all. Thanks also to those who gave their time and materials in helping to renovate the Social Club, which now has a warm ambience when you enter. There is still more to do but we’re getting there.
We are now widely recognised as a well run club within and for the Community, but we can continue to develop further and are exploring how we may expand and include sections of the Community we are not currently reaching.
Over the past year we have been saddened to lose four former managers in Peter Wragg, Ged Coyne, Mike McKenzie and Steve Waywell, so it was an honour to celebrate the 90th birthday of Les Sutton in the Social Club last Saturday, with a number of the players who represented the club between 1977 and 1983 attending. It brought back some great memories.
On the footballing front, this season to date has seen mixed fortunes. Drew Baker and Harry Ditchfield suffered long term injuries before the season started, and we have only just welcomed Ditchy back into the squad. Following Nick Spooner’s surprise resignation in September, the board appointed Martin Coyne as the new manager with Harry Bunn returning to the club as coach, and they enjoyed instant success with a good run in the FA Cup, narrowly defeated 1-0 away at Tamworth in the 4th qualifying round, but bringing in significant prize money.
Results in recent weeks have not been so good, mainly due to individual errors, but our general football has been good without the rewards we perhaps deserved. The injury to Jack Redshaw in recent weeks has not helped. Martin and his team have been working hard both to cut out the errors and to strengthen the squad, and we will hopefully turn the corner and start to climb the table. Those attending the match at Ashton United on Boxing Day were treated to a great game of football, with the heartbreak of conceding the equalizer on the final whistle.
With our traditional New Year’s Day match being pushed back to Saturday, we welcome Ilkeston to the Project Solar Stadium, and I hope to see many of you there for what will hopefully be the start of an upturn in our fortunes.
It only remains for me to thank you for your support and to wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year.
