The last two weeks have been very exciting at the football club. The arrival of the new management team of Andy Leader, Micky Read and Jimmy Ball has attracted a huge amount of media interest, culminating in an appearance on Meridian TV for Andy and Jimmy - it is almost unheard of for a club at our level to appear on TV without winning anything! Away from the media spotlight, Andy has been continuing to build the squad for next season, I think we have now signed 20 players, with discussions continuing with a number of others. The squad will get together for the first time next Saturday, 30th June, when pre-season training commences.
 
There will be a chance for everyone to meet the new management team on Thursday, 5th July. We will meet in the clubhouse at about 9pm after training - you are welcome to turn up a bit earlier and watch the training session if you want to see the new squad in action.
 
There has been a lot of activity at the ground over the last few weeks. Jimmy and Andy led a team of committee members and supporters to renovate the pitch last week, and our supporters have been working at the ground every weekend this month to get everything ready for the Tournament on 20th-22nd July. Many thanks to everyone who has helped, particularly Gary Englefield who has been working hard arranging for the new stand at the City end of the ground to be built. Special thanks also to Len Eades, our president, who at the age of 91 has shamed us all by painting the entire pitch barrier himself, and is still busy most days at the ground smartening the place up.
 
I am delighted to welcome our first major new sponsors of the new era - Dessports, a sports business consultancy, will be generously sponsoring our U16 and U18 youth academy this season. We are very pleased to have them on board. We will work with Dessports to raise the profile of the academy - this is great news for the future of the club.

Just four weeks to the Tournament now. This is an important occasion for the football club, so please help in everyway you can. We are especially looking for people to sell tickets. If you are able to sell a few for us, or help in anyway over the weekend, please drop me a line at city_editor@hotmail.co.uk
 
Regards, Derek