The end of the month sees our chairman Derek Graham provide an update from our board to keep all of our supporters and partners, helping you keep up to date with the clubs progress. Please get in contact if you have any comments or suggestions.
As the days get longer and eventually warmer, thoughts turn to watching football again. Danny has arranged a great pre-season schedule with some really challenging friendlies. We kick off (pun intended) the home fixtures with Bath City. This should be a real test of where we are as a team - as we go forwards to the start of the season. We have had a lot of positive media coverage of the new contract signings and I know there is a real buzz in the squad.
Friendly tickets on sale
All the home friendlies are at the very reasonable price of £5 if booked online, and £7 on the gate. Not only do you save money if you buy in advance, but administratively it makes life a lot easier. We need your help, if you know of anyone that loves football, let’s try and get them down for the Bath City fixture and show them what it’s like to follow their local team!
Friendly match sponsors
We are on the look out for matchday sponsors (£200) and matchball sponsors (£80) for the upcoming 4 friendlies. Please let us know if you can help and both sponsors get a range of tickets provided, drinks and great exposure across the matches and social media.
Summer events
Before that first friendly, we also have our Fun Day #BA11LIVE on Sunday 4 July to look forward to. So make sure you book your tickets for your children to train with the team and our family keep fit session with Mojo Moves. In the afternoon there is a great music line up in the Clubhouse, so the chance to make a real day of it. Many thanks to Frome Festival for plugging the event and remember all these activities are FREE!!!
We do however need more businesses, food outlets, stall holders or activity companies to claim a stall at the event. Which is just £20 for a stall space.
Unfortunately, we have had to make the decision to cancel the Super Sixes tournament for this season, the logistics as we leave the Covid lockdowns, have proven to be a step to far. However, we hope to run it in the future, when all things football have settled down a bit.
Commercial focus
A lot of our last Board meeting was spent discussing various aspects of sponsorship for this season. I want to thank Scott for all the work he has done in this respect, and in particular I want to thank Elliott for all he did last season on this front. Due to his other work commitments, Elliott is stepping away from the commercial role, but I am delighted to say that Nick Haines has very kindly volunteered to fill the post. Most of you will know Nick, who has been associated with the Club for a long time and from his cheery disposition at the turnstiles. So I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from Nick over the coming weeks.
New faces at the Hill
Following the news of Nick Haines appointment and the recent appointment of Steve Jupp as our club historian. We have been busy filling a number of roles at the Club, and we will be making a formal announcement once all the appointments have been confirmed. We are in the process of building up a strong ‘back room’ team, who you will no doubt get to see in and around the ground on matchdays.
Season ticket update
You will have seen the announcement about season tickets going on sale and the recognition we are hoping to again provide to all of those who contributed to last year’s Crowdfunder appeal. Season tickets are fantastic value and we hope that you all consider this option. It sounds obvious, the more people that buy season tickets, allows us to plan carefully for the season ahead. The ‘unknown’ of large majorities of our crowd paying on the day, means that clubs often have to err on the side of conservatism when budgeting for the season. We have set an ambitious target of reaching 100 season or flexi ticket holders, to mirror our desire to get the average attendance up into the 400’s this season. So again anything you can do to spread the word.
Player announcements and sponsorships
I mentioned at the start of this month’s update that we have announced a number of signings and players committing to us for next season. We know that fans want to see settled squads and build relationships with the players individually. It won’t be another month or so until the full squad is revealed and we open up player sponsorships. I know some of you have your favourites and like previous seasons we will be offering people the chance to renew prior to putting players on sale! With the decision to carry the player shirts over, we will be in contact with last season’s sponsors about their options. Please remember as well as bringing in income it also means a lot to the players.
The clubhouse and grounds
It’s great to see the clubhouse opening, remember this is open outside of matchdays with open bars and space to hire for events. We’re starting to get back to the ground now. So expect some small changes as we move into the start of the season. We are hoping to launch a volunteer day to help us tidy up and get some paint brushes out. Also following the end of the current season the name of the Stadium will be resorting to Badgers Hill for the foreseeable future.
Around the club
Please remember that our other sides also need your support, so please take the time to follow our Women’s team who have been hugely successful over the last few seasons. As well as our fledging Development team run by Leah Poole, who are improving season on season. If you have younger robins, don’t forget the recent merger of the Robins into Frome Town United. These teams are all back in action. So it’s just the return of our Men’s first team and the Frome Falcons (Powerchair), that we are waiting for.
Our Supporters Club
It may have been a little lost over the pandemic period, but those of you that are close to the Supporters club, will know that following some retirements a new board was constructed. They are holding their first meeting since lockdown was eased this week and an AGM shortly after. We encourage all our fans to consider joining the supporters club. It’s important that fans have their say on club matters, with Chairman John Turner on the club’s board, we are much better placed to work together to a much brighter future at the club.
And finally…
By the time of my next report the somewhat delayed Euro 2020 competition will be in full swing. Let’s hope it’s a successful one, back in front of fans.
'Del'
Derek Graham
Chairman