Chair Update

I just thought we would provide a brief update on the managerial search and recruitment process and again say thank you for the amazing response last week and again last night.

It has been tough 10 days or so, there is never and good time to make significant changes on the playing side at a club, but the reaction from the players, coaches, support staff, supporters and everyone else involved at Twerton and at the Club has been remarkable.

We have played 3 tough games already, 2 against full time professional clubs, and were unlucky not to win against a strong Maidstone team and get a draw away at windblown Eastbourne. It was wonderful to get over the line last night and that win is also a great psychological boost. A huge thank-you to the whole club personally and from the Board.

Lee has done a great job in stepping up, and we really appreciate that, and the good support offered from Kieran and the senior players, especially Elliott, whose coaching experience has been invaluable straight away. Training last Thursday was great to watch, with a very positive atmosphere at Filton, with everyone pulling together and giving feedback on what had worked earlier in the week and what we could do better in future.

We are finalising the plan to run a comprehensive and professional process to get the right person to join us and coach a strong group of players and lead the football department. We have had a number of strong applicants already and will advertise the role then set up a panel to short list and interview the top candidates as soon as possible.

Football is clearly the number 1 priority now, but we still need to work on resolving our long-term issues – removing the debt, growing our income and improving Twerton Park. The redevelopment is still slowly moving forward, and we want to combine the 3G with some other improvements around the ground (eg floodlights, a café, better toilets), so the costs have risen, and we are looking at potential funding options to enable that to happen, without increasing our debt.

And we are always looking for good people with relevant experience to help the club progress these projects, we are all volunteers, as you know, so please come forward and offer some time and help if you can? Project management, sales and marketing, sponsorship and hospitality, finance and HR are the key skills we would like to augment in the team and on Board!

Thank you again for your great support for the Club.

Nick Blofeld
Chair