Sent from a mate in Southampton from the local paper ...

Please come to the next forum it will be advertised on here.

You will also see in my notes about not being able to "go public" on what has been going on behind the scenes. All will be revealed very soon but it has been extremely frustrating not being able to explain the problems we have encountered and why progress has been slower than we would like.

As soon as we are able, we will hold an EGM followed by a fans forum when i expect a massive attendance to pose questions to us. There will be plenty of notice so please make every effort to attend as we will answer all questions honestly and transparently. If you are unable to make it due to geographics then i will accept questions emailed to me at admin@tauntontown.com or chairman@tauntontown.com.

I can assure you success will not be an option once we get everything in place however we must move forward sustainably and never put the club in jeopardy through poor plannng and poor decision making.

Please make an effort to read my notes throughout the season as i attempted to keep everyone informed of what was going on but the EGM and forum will be the place where i will be able to answer any question.

We just fail to perform when we have biggers crowds with keeps people away. they come and see we still lose and dont come back for a while! £7 at this level is far to high. But I think the league set it so cant really knock the club.

the club need to be more of a presence in the centre of town rather then hope people turn up on matchdays. For years the club were going to get a new multi purpose ground but what happened to that idea? the reality is the current ground is not really ideal is it? we would never be able to expand when the day comes.

at the end of the day all anyone who follows the club wants is to see them do well but how and when is this going to happen? investment and changes clearly need to be made as we are continuing to slump down the league and are being surpassed by clubs you would think should be smaller than us.

The presentation dinner is at Somerset CCC on the 19th May. It is open to everyone and is a really good night so why not come along? Forms are available today or download one from the website.

Enjoy the game and the summer and I look forward to seeing you next season if you are not coming to Halesowen!

Up the Town!

Kevin

Good afternoon everyone and I extend a warm welcome to the players, officials and supporters of Thatcham Town who visit us today. It’s been a long season and with two games left I thought I would sum up my thoughts with some of the positives and negatives. I had hoped to be able to report some news on the ground but due to some ongoing legal issues I can’t at present. Rest assured we will keep you informed of developments on the website and supporters forum as they happen. What I can say is that we will have something in place by the beginning of next season, it may only be temporary, but we plan to have a skittle alley and bar, and be open evenings and weekends.

There have been many positives over the last 11 months to counteract some of the negatives; we have our own youth team again in it’s own right. The youth team gained promotion to the premier division of the Somerset Floodlight Youth League at the first attempt by winning the south division. No fewer than 8 youth team players have made their 1st team debut, not as planned but injuries have blighted the 1st team which created opportunities for our own youth team players, where we have to have investment to produce our own players.
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Sponsorship has held up remarkably well as we have managed to get every match and ball sponsored throughout the season as well as a good number of programme adverts. The perimeter boards continue to be popular and more have been secured for next season. Despite all the problems we have still made progress off the pitch. We managed to secure two sponsors for the youth team namely R W Cload Bulk Transport and Shield Environmental Services, and both companies are committed for another season. We managed to secure both sponsors for two years which we hope will fund all of our youth team expenditure. In the current economic climate we could not source a main sponsor before the start of last season, so we brought back the draw which resulted in over 35 businesses having the chance to win shirt sponsorships, with Steve Raybould Construction becoming our main shirt sponsor for the season. Steve has been very generous and has sponsored matches and balls during the season in addition to his initial investment. We may run a draw again for next season unless a main sponsor is forthcoming. I am also trying to source a stadium sponsor and if we can’t find one, we may plump for a draw for the naming rights to Wordsworth Drive for next season. Due to the fire we could not build on the Patron scheme but we have plans in place to develop this further for next season.

We have had positive feedback on the pitch which has improved enormously but it is a three year plan. Our aim now is to sort the goalmouths out by removing the humps and firm them up with a renovation mix. Being voted in the top 5 pitches in the Evo-Stik Southern League has shown how far we have come - the hardest part will be continually improving and maintaining it to keep it in the best condition possible. Some of the nonsense I have heard about the pitch is that teams now play better against us at home; well, the facts for the last two seasons are as follows. 2010/11 played 20, won 8, drew 6 and lost 6. Before today’s game, the stats for this season are played 19, won 6, drew 7, lost 6 so by my reckoning that is pretty similar. The difference between our two seasons is the away form; 2010/11 played 20, won 8, drew 4 and lost 8 and this season with 1 away game left is played 19, won 3, drew 2 and lost 14. Last season we scored 49 league goals and conceded the same. This season with two games left, we have scored 45 goals but most importantly we have conceded 75!

The negatives have obviously been the fire which has set us back and after such an encouraging 9th place finish last season, our position in the league has been a big disappointment. Injuries have had a major bearing on our position but at all times we have put out a squad capable of getting a result. As I said in my last notes, we are very grateful to all of you loyal supporters who have continued your support throughout what has been a very difficult season. Thank you and I promise I will keep working how ever many hours it takes to keep us moving forward but only sustainably.

This time of the year is all about analysing the past and planning the future to see how, where and what we can improve. We have a Board meeting next week to discuss many areas which we do every month, and I hope we can keep adding more people in the right places to keep us driving forward. One of my main roles is to make sure we can secure the right people who share the same drive and ambition, and who can suggest ideas to improve what we have to take us to where we want to be.