The responsibility of doing our best

It’s been a difficult week at the club after that disappointing men’s first team result at Weymouth and the nature of the performance. 

We have been spending hours and hours with Terry, Bill, John and Hakan reflecting on what is currently not right and how we can fix it. Everybody has their view on what to do and we appreciate this. 

However, we have the responsibility of doing our best to operate the club successfully and put things right when needed. We know we don’t have all the answers but we are working hard.

The team struggled on Saturday because we were missing at least five key players and because the team endured a five and a half hour coach journey after a closure on the M25, arriving at the stadium less than an hour before kick-off!  All this puts huge pressure on the team. To his credit Hakan made no excuses for all this but I will. 

This week we know the players and coaches will try their damnedest to get the win, recover some self-respect and give something back to the supporters. Having said that it will not be easy. Welling are in form and we will still be missing several of our key players. It’s up to the others to show some pride and extra effort for the cause.

More generally we are suffering somewhat off the field as well. Due to overspending on the playing budget since the beginning of the season, some below par performances and a 15% drop in attendances, cash-flow is extremely tight. This reduces our room for manoeuvre. 

As I say repeatedly, we cannot and will not operate like several other clubs in the National League, where owners subsidise annual losses to the tune of between £500K and £1.5M. 

We believe several clubs in National League South also run at a significant deficit. We can’t match that and sometimes it’s frustrating. 

We budget to spend less than we produce in income. It’s that simple and it will keep the club alive and kicking when others fall by the wayside.

As stated previously we are still trying to identify possible investors to help the club grow sustainably faster but for the moment we are no further than several preliminary discussions. 

We are therefore unable to create financial miracles as we toy with ways of improving performances. 

We are already considering carefully how to operate next season. Clearly there are choices and changes to consider and we hope to make an announcement about all that shortly. 

In the meantime all Terry, Bill and I can do is to thank you for your support and please continue to get behind the team whenever you can, even when things are not going the way we all want them to. 

The club is a great club and it needs you to push behind it.

Oliver

Still grounds for optimism

It’s difficult enough when the business you run struggles after so many successful years but when that business is the football team that you support, it makes life almost unbearable.

I know how the fans have felt over the past three years in the National League and although we enjoyed the feeling of relief when we stayed up in the first year, since then life as a supporter of the Stones has been testing at times.

As owners we have felt the financial impact of trying to stay in the National League. In previous years we have carried our profits into the next season and used the money for building works and improving the facilities.

We did, however, make a miscalculation when we increased playing budget by about 20% at the start of the 2018/2019 season. We felt this would guarantee our survival at this very competitive level, help to sustain attendances and see us push on to mid table and maybe even flirt with the playoffs.

The reality, as we now know, was the polar opposite, with a miserable season ending in relegation.

We have learned from our mistakes and will continue to learn.

Our business model will never be in a position to compete with the likes of Salford and Leyton Orient. In previous seasons, we have also been plagued with trying to compete against clubs who have thrown money into a playing squad and inflating the financial expectations of players.

While we are desperate to win matches for ourselves and the supporters it cannot be done at all costs, which would put the club’s long-term stability at risk.

I have absolutely no doubt that John and Hakan will bring the Gallagher back to life and bring a team together that we can be proud of.

The players we have signed so far have all demonstrated the same eagerness to play for Maidstone United, with one of the big reasons for signing being the reputation of the supporters.

I was humbled by the support and kind words I have received and the massive optimism that supporters show despite everything we have had to put up with.

Here’s to 2019/2020 being a season to remember for all the right reasons.

Terry Casey