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A Message from the Chairman

A Message from the Chairman

Richard Clark3 May 2016 - 05:33
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With the season over, Chairman Andy Pountney reflects back, and gives us his thoughts on how things have gone...

The end of any season is always a time to reflect on the highs and lows over the past months, and to look forward to the future.

Naturally, we are all still feeling the disappointment of the Salford game, which meant that we missed out on a play-off place by just two points, but now that the dust has settled that should not detract from what has been a memorable season in so many ways.

Two wonderful Cup runs, which again saw us reach the Second Round Proper of the FA Cup for the third time in five seasons and then reach the last sixteen of the FA Trophy for the first time in over 40 years, have given us some glorious memories. Who can forget the two wins over our neighbours Kidderminster Harriers, or the amazing scenes when the final whistle blew at Dover, not to mention the Club being featured live on BBC “Football Focus”?!

At the same time, we have enjoyed an excellent season in the League, with some equally memorable wins against the likes of Blyth Spartans, Darlington and Salford City. At the end of it all, we have come up just that bit short, but the manager, his staff and the players have hopefully laid the foundation for even better things to come next season, as well as banishing the ghosts of twelve months ago.

It is easy to forget where we have come from on the pitch. This time last year, we were looking back on a very disappointing first season in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League, one in which performances, certainly after the New Year, had not been up to the level we had expected. Make no mistake, to have turned things round to the extent that we have is great credit to Gary and everybody else on the playing side.

Away from the First Team, it has been another excellent season for the Club. Our Youth Team has gone from strength to strength, winning their League with two matches to spare, and carrying off two County Cups, as well as reaching the semi-finals of two other Cups, and pushing Chesterfield close in a pulsating FA Youth Cup tie, and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dave King and everybody involved with the Youth Team on their successes this season.

Stourbridge Ladies have also enjoyed another fine season, finishing as runners-up in the Premier Division of the Birmingham County Women's League in their first season after promotion. They still have the final of their League Cup to come at Wyrley on 22nd May, so fingers crossed that there may be a little more silverware to celebrate yet! Again, our congratulations to everybody!

Our Junior section - both boys and girls' teams - continues to flourish, with fifteen teams in total at various age groups, and more to come next season. There have been several successes on the pitch this season, but the main thing is the development and enjoyment of all of the players. We would also like to express a great big Thank You to everyone who helps running all these teams, There are so many to mention as we will have over 340 players playing for Stourbridge FC next season, and that does not include the First Team. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

The Youth, Ladies and Junior teams are a great example of what we are trying to achieve across the board at Stourbridge. It is not just about the First Team; our aim is to be a Club for the whole community, and for the development and growth of players at all ages.

Moving away from the playing side, we have continued to develop the ground, and there will be more work over the next twelve months. Indeed, following last Monday night's final Youth Team game, contractors were on site at 7.00 am the next morning carrying out pitch renovation works in readiness for the Cricket Club's first games this weekend just gone!

As I mentioned in my programme notes against Salford, we will be laying a hard-surfaced accessway round the outer perimeter of the cricket pitch so that access to the "Shed End" will be available from both sides of the ground for the majority of our home games. The toilets in the club will be completely refurbished, with new disabled and baby changing facilities. The car park in front of the club will also be re-surfaced.

We would love to say that it will all be done in time for the start of next season, but we are dependent on funding from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund and the cricket season finishing before we can start some of the work. So we do ask you to be patient with us once the work commences.

Should we be fortunate enough in the future to achieve promotion to the National League, there will be a lot more work required. As you will know, we have plans in place for this, and we will keep supporters posted as time progresses. But the work outlined above will all fall in line with the requirements that we need to achieve for ground grading should we gain promotion.

The end of the season is also the time to thank those who have contributed throughout the campaign.

Firstly, we would like to thank our growing band of sponsors for their continued support. It is always a pleasure to welcome you to the War Memorial Ground, and we appreciate all the backing you give us, not just for the “big” games, but for the bread and butter matches week-in, week-out. We look forward to seeing you all again next season!

Thank you as well to everybody who puts their time and effort into helping the Club on matchdays and non-matchdays alike. There are far too many to mention individually, and probably far more than most supporters realise. When you consider that at games such as the FA Cup ties against Kidderminster and Eastleigh there are perhaps as many as 100 people working around the Club in some capacity, large or small, it does make you realise that we could not function without all that help. Certainly the Board of Directors could not do it all on their own!

Non-League football is built on those who give their time as freely as they can to help their clubs. We are very fortunate to be blessed with a great band of volunteers at Stourbridge but we are always looking for more help, so if you feel you can contribute in any way please do get in touch with us.

Remember, there are always tasks to be done around the ground over the summer, and details of working parties will be announced shortly. If you are able to lend a hand now and again it would be very much appreciated!

Lastly, and by no means least, we would like to thank our supporters for your backing. It’s been quite a journey this season - in more ways than one! From Workington to Dover, and from Blyth to Colwyn Bay on a Tuesday night, your support has been tremendous at each and every game.

Crowds for Evo-Stik League games have grown from an average of 462 last season to 605 this season, and we have, of course, seen the War Memorial Ground packed to the rafters on no less than four occasions. Unthinkable just a few years ago!

One other thing we would like to acknowledge is your unfailing generosity in supporting a number of causes throughout the season. Again, there have been too many to mention them all, but causes as varied as Leon and Emma’s Marathon run for Children with Cancer UK, Prostate Cancer UK and the bucket collection for Ramsbottom United have seen you dig in your pockets time and again. Not to mention our annual Charity Match, which this year raised just short of £15,000 towards Mary Stevens Hospice, beating last year’s record of just over £10,000 raised for Parkinson’s UK. We believe it is important at times to support different charities has this allows our club to be introduced into other parts of the community that we would normally not reach. Thank you to everyone who kindly supported and helped in all of the charity events!

One thing to remind you all about is our Presentation Evening on Friday 20th May, when we will be presenting the Awards for this season. The evening starts from 7.30 pm, with the Awards ceremony from around 8.30pm onwards. There will also be live music from the “Starving Rascals” so a great night is in prospect! Admission will be free to all, so please come along and join us!

As for next season, we hope, of course, to give you even more to shout about. Rest assured, promotion will be the aim, and with your backing we will hopefully be in the running in what promises once again to be a very strong and competitive League.

Season ticket details for next season will be announced in the very near future, as will our pre-season schedule. The Evo-Stik League season kicks off on Saturday 13th August and we can’t wait to get going again. See you all then!

ANDY

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