Sittingbourne
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Atmosphere
“ We have some of the best ( and noisiest ) supporters in the league and win , lose or draw they always clap the players off . This helps the mood which at the moment is pretty buoyant as we are not the richest club in the league by a long way , but we have had some decent results against the top clubs this year . We have an enthusiastic committee and all of that together means that the mood is good .”
This Season
“ The season has gone pretty much as expected with a mid-table position . The cup campaigns however have been disappointing with early exits in all competitions , and although you shouldn ’ t rely on cup income the fact that we didn ’ t receive any prize money this year has and is having a detrimental effect on our finances .
The club wants to finish as high as possible and to get to our highest league position for some years and this looks likely . It would also be nice to balance the books by the end of the campaign … but that looks unlikely .”
Youth
“ Youth football is very important to the club and to that end we have a number of youth teams as well as a Development team ( formerly under 21 ’ s ). The policy is paying dividends with a number of development team members making the first team squad .”
Facilities
“ We would very much like to improve the ground and plans are in hand to ‘ smarten ’ it up in the close season . We also have to review the dressing room situation in the light of the new FA edict that the home and away dressing rooms must have a minimum size of 18 sq Metres by March 2018 .
The problem of course is finance and it doesn ’ t help that the football foundation grants available must be matched with a 50 % amount from the clubs .”
Challenges / Ambitions
“ The biggest challenge is of course finance and that can only improve if a rich individual takes an interest , a supporter or committee member becomes a millionaire , or gates improve . Another challenge is the age of some of the committee ( including me ) and the expertise needed to take on some of the roles that we committee members currently do .
We pride ourselves in being a community club that gives opportunities to boys and girls in the Swale and wider area . Our aim is to achieve Isthmian Premier Division football within the next 5 years , and if finances improve that , I believe , is an achievable goal .”
112 Issue 69