Happy New Year to you all.
At the half way point of the season, we are on course for our objective of retaining our place in the Southern League whilst we build for the future. Andy Leader's young and newly-built side have established a place in mid-table and are comfortably clear of the relegation zone. The side had a great Christmas period, winning seven points from a possible nine, including wins over Bracknell Town and Andover and a creditable draw with Gosport Borough.
Our reserves are having a great season in the Wessex Combination, and look set for a top 3 finish following a ten match unbeaten run. Just as importantly, the reserve managers, Tim Cole and Danny Robinson, have provided a steady stream of young players to the first team, all of whom have made a great contribution in the senior squad. Our two youth sides are also having successful seasons, under the leadership of Tim again (U18) and Jon Oliver (U16) and we are still hopeful that one of these sides will be bringing some silverware back to the city Ground at the end of the season!
Off the field, our financial situation remains tight. We are very pleased to have brought Owen Taylor into the club as commercial manager. Owen has a great sales track record, and is keen to build the links between the club and the local business community which have been missing in recent years. Hopefully this will be to the benefit of us all, local businesses and club alike.
We have also been working with a number of other community partners, including the city council, local schools, sports clubs and the Army. We have a number of proposals to get the club working more closely with the city of Winchester, and hopefully many of these will come to fruition over the next few months. Our aim is for the club to have a much higher profile in the city, both to promote sport in general and the club in particular. We are a long way short of this right now, but I hope that we have started moving in the right direction.
All in all, given the very poor situation at the club last Summer, I think we can all be proud of what we have achieved, on the field and behind the scenes. There is still a lot to do, and the financial situation is still difficult, but we certainly enter the New Year better placed than six months ago, and ready to move on.
Regards - Derek
At the half way point of the season, we are on course for our objective of retaining our place in the Southern League whilst we build for the future. Andy Leader's young and newly-built side have established a place in mid-table and are comfortably clear of the relegation zone. The side had a great Christmas period, winning seven points from a possible nine, including wins over Bracknell Town and Andover and a creditable draw with Gosport Borough.
Our reserves are having a great season in the Wessex Combination, and look set for a top 3 finish following a ten match unbeaten run. Just as importantly, the reserve managers, Tim Cole and Danny Robinson, have provided a steady stream of young players to the first team, all of whom have made a great contribution in the senior squad. Our two youth sides are also having successful seasons, under the leadership of Tim again (U18) and Jon Oliver (U16) and we are still hopeful that one of these sides will be bringing some silverware back to the city Ground at the end of the season!
Off the field, our financial situation remains tight. We are very pleased to have brought Owen Taylor into the club as commercial manager. Owen has a great sales track record, and is keen to build the links between the club and the local business community which have been missing in recent years. Hopefully this will be to the benefit of us all, local businesses and club alike.
We have also been working with a number of other community partners, including the city council, local schools, sports clubs and the Army. We have a number of proposals to get the club working more closely with the city of Winchester, and hopefully many of these will come to fruition over the next few months. Our aim is for the club to have a much higher profile in the city, both to promote sport in general and the club in particular. We are a long way short of this right now, but I hope that we have started moving in the right direction.
All in all, given the very poor situation at the club last Summer, I think we can all be proud of what we have achieved, on the field and behind the scenes. There is still a lot to do, and the financial situation is still difficult, but we certainly enter the New Year better placed than six months ago, and ready to move on.
Regards - Derek
Document last updated: 09/01/2008
