Interim CEO Paul Maitland has issued the following club update.
Carrying on my promise to keep everyone in the loop with what’s happening at the club, I would like to bring you all up to speed on our current position.
On the pitch, it’s clear to see that Bobby and the team are starting to turn the corner and beating Welling on Saturday will no doubt help to build the players confidence, as much as the cup is special and the finances gleefully accepted, league points are now a must. On the squad, there have been ins and out’s, but just to clarify, Jack Seddon, Claudio Ofosu have both left the club and Ryan Sandford will return to Millwall on the expiry of his loan period this week. I thank all three for their efforts and wish them every success in their future careers. Zaki and Tyler joined us Thursday and both left an impression on Saturday. Ben signed before the game Saturday, and I thank Bideford for waiving the 7-day notice of approach to speed things up. Ben needs no introduction from me and I’m sure will add to the squad on and off the pitch. The u23’s suffered their first defeat last week, but are going well under Paul Tapper and his staff. Whilst talking of Paul, we are pleased to announce, as well as his roles with the Youth Section and Welfare, we have appointed him as Head of Women’s Football. My congratulations to the Women’s team for a fantastic 4-0 win yesterday in the FA Cup!
Off the pitch, things continue to improve as we are sailing on calmer waters. We still have challenges ahead, but some cracks of light are now appearing. One disappointment from last week was the conformation from Dormeo that they wouldn’t be continuing as our shirt sponsor. With that in mind, we will be launching a patrons draw to take place at the end of October, with 1st prize being the front of the shirt for the remainder of this season, details on that will be released later today. If you have or know a company that might be interested, please share the details when they emerge, alternatively you can make contact with bob.russell@weymouthfootballclub.co.uk. The draw will be made on Friday 28th October, where anybody wishing to, will be able to join us for the evening to witness the draw. Other fundraising efforts are also going on with the Claret and Blue Lottery, Matchday Scratch Cards and Bingo to name a few. On top of this, we will be holding an evening with four ex-players/managers hopefully on November 11th at the club for a Q&A, with supporter’s tickets being made available as soon as we can confirm that all four can do the evening. On top of this the Hall of Fame will be coming back in the New Year which the SA will be undertaking the running of this time. The Youth Tournament and Ashley Wells testimonial have also been scheduled in for the end of the season with dates for both to be confirmed at this week’s board meeting.
I know a lot of you and rightly so are asking the question, “What are we doing to ensure we don’t find ourselves in this position again going forward?” The simple answer is as much as possible! The long answer I hope to share with you in the coming weeks at a fan’s forum, for which Bobby will be present. We have overhauled some parts of the company already and we are continuing to do so on a weekly basis. Will it ever be perfect? Not many businesses are, but it will better than it was. I mentioned in my notes on Saturday that we are working on a structure to give a far clearer line of responsibility to which we will be held accountable and some independent figures to keep an eye on the club’s finances.
Finally, but most importantly thank you to each of for your support. I know it’s been hard, disappointing and upsetting but I know we will get our club back on the front foot. Bobby and I share a few things in common that we will not take a step back and we will drive this club forward again and we want to do that with all of you.
COYT
Paul Maitland
