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Chairmans Update - Not in the SFL
July 3, 2008
Firstly I would like to thank the many people who helped us in our campaign - it was like a Scottish Cup run when everyone pulled together. This time it was all about producing a great submission, brochure and presentation rather than playing on the pitch. There are simply too many individuals names to mention but a big personal thank you from me to all of you.
I think everyone would be interested in the feedback we got…our biggest issues were:
- the Academy stadium pitch not being ready until mid September
- us being unable to explain the Academy Charity alongside the football club - ours is a structure which has enabled us to fund and build the Academy. Outside the Old Firm and the two SPL Edinburgh clubs no other single club in Scotland is trying to do what we are very close to achieving. Perhaps we were overly ambitious in expecting the clubs to understand the structure and follow what we were doing. From our perspective it is a really good structure and I’m not sure why we couldn’t get it across
- our presentation being seen as too polished and “glitzy” in addition to a media campaign which was picked up by some as overly aggressive
- the absence of a written agreement with Edinburgh City for use of Meadowbank - this was a strange one as the guys at Edinburgh City, as well at the EoS League and Meadowbank had been very accommodating and we thought the agreement we had would suffice.
We obviously have lessons to learn. To get to where we are we needed vision but we also needed aggression, imagination, to be on the front foot and at times to have quite naked ambition. We have had to knock down many, many barriers to get to where we are. Going forward I think different skills and approaches are needed.
Anyway we have a choice - we can blame the process or at least some of the individuals, we can look back and wish we had done things differently or we can look forward.
We will learn and we have a fantastic amount to look forward to. The opening of the Academy, the continued increase in the size of our Youth section, our new Ladies teams, our community programmes and a new season where I am sure we will use this setback to give us extra determination on the field. A number of new players and coaches across our 1st XI and 2nd XI have come to us in the last month because of our people and ethos, our vision and passion as well as our facilities. These important factors remain irrespective of what league we are in. They have kept us going since 1951 and I’m sure will continue to do so.
I’m absolutely sure the forthcoming season will be a fantastic season for The Spartans.
Topics: Chairman's Update |