The development will continue this year, with plenty of things already in place to make sure we continue to push forward as a club, matching the ambitions of our manager and our fans.

We have started the season well, with a win and a draw in the league, and a thumping win today in the FA Cup with an excellent crowd. We also have a new all age group junior section, girls teams, and a competitive ladies team. We also hope to be able to announce a major sponsor and an enhanced community program within the month as a well as a number of other initiatives which we hope will guarantee the long term success and sustainability of our great club.

There will be a slight change to the structure of the Academy, with much closer links to our partner college, who are already fully integrated into the structure of the Academy. The new relationship strengthens the financial base for the Academy, which in turn guarantees growth and development of the daytime use of facilities at Ewen Fields. If it didn’t do this then we wouldn’t consider it. Myself, Gareth Prendergast & the coaching staff have worked too hard to develop an Academy which actually produces players for the first team to make a bad decision now. Our commitment to the club was clear for everyone to see today with the appearance of Pete Boyle in the squad and on the scoresheet in the FA Cup.

The future is bright, and LIKE IT OR NOT, it involves me.

Mark Worthington