Aldershot Town ceo explains club's future following managers sacking

Tue 11th Jan 2011 | Football Club Management

Following the departure of manager Kevin Dillon and assistant manager Gary Owers, Chief Executive Peter Duffy has released the following statement on the Club’s future.

Aldershot Town Football Club is one of the youngest clubs in the Football League. Our intention is to build and sustain a viable entertainment business whose primary product is the delivery of football and a great matchday experience.

Since 1992 the Club has made excellent progress, achieving five promotions along the way, culminating in reaching the Football League in 2008 and, indeed, reaching the League Two Play-Offs last season; a tremendous achievement.

However, our current position in the Football League accurately reflects our performance during the first half of the season.  Everyone employed by the Football Club must look in the mirror and accept that this level of performance is not good enough, and we each must improve our own individual performance but, more importantly, our collective performance as a team, on and off the pitch.

As we enter the second half of the season, it is a shared sense of direction, unity in working together and determination to improve that will begin the transformation. Replacing the football manager is not the panacea.

During the first half of the season, we have made some significant, tangible improvements. We have strengthened our Board. We have improved our financial stability, reducing our debt and improving our cash flow management. We have invested to upgrade facilities for supporters. We have also launched and established a new Centre of Excellence for youth development.  In all of these areas there is still much to do and we will continue the journey of improvement.

Our expectations were that with a strong squad of players we would by now be challenging for a Play-Off position, which in turn would help us to generate the revenue required to continue our investment programme, which will include training facilities commensurate with our professional Football League status. This will remain our strategy as we move forward.

It has been a difficult first half of the season and we have had our share of disappointments, surprisingly more so at home than away. Our core support has been fantastic but I understand why attendances have been steadily declining. As we enter into a crucial second half of the season I urge every supporter to get behind the team and the Club, and to encourage at least one other person to come with them to the match, thereby striving to achieve an average attendance of the season in the region of 3000.

In return I intend to be available and arrange a series of meetings with supporters so that there is greater transparency of information about our ambitions, priorities, our agenda and our progress. I am extremely positive and excited about our future and the way forward is to galvanise all the stakeholders of the Club and to instil a sincere sense of belonging and contribution.

We expect to appoint a new management team in the near future and I am confident that they will receive a warm welcome from all the stakeholders at the Club. It is imperative that the new managerial appointment provides cohesion amongst all stakeholders at the football club, internally and externally, to unite our Club as we look forward to a bright and healthy future in the Football League.

In the meantime, I have asked Geoff Warner (Centre of Excellence Technical Coach) and Russell Clash (Fitness Coach) to oversee first team responsibilities, and they have agreed to this request with the support of the senior players.

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