From The Chairman's Office
Ian Barry's website notes
End of season review
The recent game against Aylesbury gave us the point we needed to secure our future at this level and I hope in this Division. It's been a long, tough and especially demanding season here for sure and one personally, I am glad is over. In my time here, I saw us get relegated from the Southern Premier Division the season I joined half-way through (2006-07), then we got 'moved' to the Ryman League Division 1 North for a couple of seasons; finishing 10th and then 6th and then of course this season.
However, there have been a number of significant changes here this time around and rarely have I had had so much to deal with in one season. You will all know the various changes that have taken place and some of you will agree with them and some won't. I can only give my opinion and I felt we were destined to be relegated and in came Gary Meakin and his team. Thankfully, Gary brought in some much-needed quality and under him, we have achieved our aim of staying up. Again, some will have the opinion we would have done that and some won't.
Fortunately, the change has had the desired effect and I am delighted at the progress that has been made in such a short space of time. Having already structured his pre-season schedule, without tempting fate, it does seem that at least one Football League club will be coming to Chestnut Avenue around mid-July. If this happens, it will put the club ‘back on the map’ a little bit more than we have got used to, and hopefully attract a crowd that will not only boost our revenue, but bring back some local fans who can see what we are doing here and entice them to return again during the up-coming season.
Whilst writing, one of the most infuriating and pointless things that happens at our club are the 'scumbags' who have persistently (and for many years) vandalised this club and lately having broken and 'melted' seats, left endless bottles on the pitch, broken fittings around the stands and turnstiles and even stolen our sponsors advertising boards, I am stepping up the protection of the club and all I would say is that they have been warned!
As I always point out, the club cannot and would not survive without a tremendous amount of hard work behind the scenes and for these reasons, I thank everyone connected with the club for all their hard work and support. I see a future for us and one that is brighter than this current season would lead us to believe. Changes still have to be made in certain areas, of course, as we are far from where I want us to be, but we will get there. We still need many more volunteers to aid our progress and if you feel you can help in any way, please contact myself or any one of our committee; your involvement really would make a difference.
Football is only a game, but one we all take seriously. There are more important things, in life and two people who have suffered from illness in recent times are our Club President, Pat Byrne and a very loyal supporter in Phil Everett; two people whom I certainly class as friends and hold in extremely high regard. Please be assured that on behalf of myself and all at the club, we sincerely wish you the very best of luck in your recoveries.
The future of this club is paramount and it’s fair to say we have struggled since I took over in January 2007. At that time, a mounting debt as well as on-going commitments had to be dealt with. We made some great strides forward by coming to agreements with our main creditors and now bills that were once ignored are paid. However, we are still always battling against the odds in terms of our outgoings against our incomings. All sources of income are way down on previous years and more importantly, what we would need them to be.
For these reasons, it is important that all ‘members’ and people associated with the club are made aware of the situation and how I see our future. As such, I am planning one or possibly two sessions at the club in early June (details to be announced shortly) where I will give a presentation of the whole position and what we need, in my opinion, to not only improve the club, but secure our long-term future. This will include things like a complete refurbishment of the clubhouse, fund-raising committees and a pro-active main committee. I am frequently told how many people ‘love’ the club: this will be your chance to come along and show us how much you really do. There has been a football club at Northwood since 1899, and with more help right across the board, we can make sure we are still around in another 112 years time!
A Questionnaire will be on this website soon, and it will be of great help for us to get as much feedback as possible before the presentation(s), so please take just a few moments to complete it. As I anticipate and hope the event(s) will be busy, it should be noted that at this stage, I am not looking for ideas as to how to improve things, I am looking for help to implements the ideas we already have; rest assured, there is not a lot both myself and the current committee haven’t thought of, but having so few people to help makes it impossible to continuously improve.
Please support the event and do this by coming along. More details will be available shortly. You can confirm your intention to attend by emailing me at: chairmannfc@hotmail.co.uk.
Ian