Saturday would have been our last game of the season away to my former club Spalding united, unfortunately as we are all aware the season was cut short mid-March, with an outside chance of reaching the Play-Offs.
Having had plenty of time to reflect on my time so far at the football club I thought I would take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to all the players, you have been a pleasure to manage. Your efforts on and off the pitch was the main reason why we enjoyed such magnificent form and results.
To the supporters, we have had good numbers home and away and the welcome I received in September and the continued backing throughout the season was very special indeed.
A special mention to the volunteers who week in week out continue to put the football club as a priority so we can go about our business and focus on the job in hand – special mention to Dave & Neil who keep putting in the hours, day after day, to make sure the pitch & the ground are ready for next season
I would also like to thank Phil,Penny,Ryan,Jane, Ruth and the chairman Stuart Highfield for their continued support and making sure we have remained competitive in a very tough league, I know it’s not been easy to do and I have seen at first hand the unbelievable amount of hard work and dedication that’s been needed to allow this to happen.
My job has been made a lot easier by having a fantastic managerial team alongside me, Kyle, Damo and our physio Jordan.
They have been different class and work tirelessly hard to be as professional as we can be and make sure we are fully prepared on a matchday.
Our media team are without doubt the best in the land, Chris, Michael, Ken & Onion Bag it’s been an absolute pleasure working alongside you, the work you do is phenomenal.
By now you will have seen the statement made by the football club this week regarding changes at board level that Ryan McKnight will be leaving as a Director.
I would like to place on record my thanks to Ryan and we enjoyed a healthy working relationship together, I wish him all the best in the future.
As we know we are in unprecedented times and we are going to need everyone to come together more than ever to make sure we can keep this fantastic football club moving forward.
What has been evident is the way our loyal supporters and those from other clubs have rallied together in helping the club financially.
£6100 from the supporter’s club and other fund raising has raised £1000 from our Just Giving page & direct donations (including Boomers 5k walk dressed as Hulk Hogan) has been a phenomenal effort
Having held talks with my Managerial and Playing staff at the weekend, we have agreed that we are to donate £200 each towards helping the football club, this has come via family members, friends and work colleagues contributing to the total amount.
In total this has raised £4000.00 so far with more expected to come in.
Club captain Jacob Hazel has been instrumental in addressing the players on this fund-raising effort and I feel very proud of every single one of them.
I would also like to welcome our new goalkeeping coach Gavin Saxby.
He is an excellent addition and completes our managerial set up for the upcoming 2020/21 season.
As always, we are planning ahead, I am in talks with our existing members of last season’s squad and so far, 99% of them have agreed to stay.
There is a lot of hard work behind the scenes going on and we are going to need as much help as possible to get through these challenging times, however we are very positive about the future of Frickley Athletic Football Club and I look forward to seeing you all on the other side.
Frecks
