Battered, but not beaten for two months

Throughout Andy Leese's reign there has been a pattern of form dipping in the run up to Christmas, only for us to start the new year stronger and more consistent, picking up points that have seen us drive up the table.
Surely that would be different now we are in the Premier Division? After all there are clubs with much higher budgets, greater facilities, bigger crowds...hell, a couple are even full-time. So how come we are top of the form guide? Unbeaten since 11th December, only two goals conceded in 8 league games in 2011...

As I write this on the Monday evening before a huge match against Leamington tomorrow (tonight by the time this is posted), I'm still trying to get over what a fantastic Saturday we had; beating Swindon Supermarine 4-0 whilst so many of the other sides around the top lost. I know that defeat tonight and that will all change, but at the time of writing I do actually believe that we are probably the best team in the league at the moment?

It all seems a little bit too good to be true, way beyond expectations, the danger now of course is, what are our expectations? I've no doubt that if we do not reach the play-offs from here we will probably face criticism, no matter how improbable the thought of this was at the start of the season. Yes looking at it on paper over a pint in the pub during the summer it might be easy to say "Yeah, I reckon we could make the play-offs in the Premier Division", but that just rides roughshod over all the other trials and tribulations that are involved in a football club at this level.

Of course, to supporters it is all about the results and performance on the field, and so it should be, but I guess that is the purpose of having this blog to share some of the other going-ons behind the scenes like dealing with all the other costs outside of players wages (which always seems to be the main talking point at football clubs, but "only" actually accounts for about a third of our outgoings in a year) e.g. over £200 every time we need the septic tank emptied, or the cost of training facilities and pitch maintenance; and some of the distances referee's travel - i.e. expenses that need paying out - to take charge of games in our league are simply crazy. None of these things come cheap, and have to be taken into consideration when looking at the broader picture.

I mention this now because it has been another tough month and it is paramount that it is noted the importance of constantly busying at the task of generating income. It is far too easy to dig your head in the sand and ignore all what is going on around us (I use "us" in the blog as a generic term for the club, be it the Board, management, supporters, the town, whatever... I tire of hearing "you should do this" or "you should do that"' we are now a "us") outside of a matchday. It is easy to see how some clubs fall into the trap of financial difficulties, carried away on the crest of a successful football wave (and they don't come much sweeter than the wave we are currently on). In the past 7-10 days we have had to pay out our quarterly VAT bills and our PAYE/NI payments, of course they are accounted for, but that doesn't mean it does not hurt when they all have to go out in the same week. The fact that we have excellent management accounts that keep us abreast of forthcoming bills, outgoings and income is good news, re-assuring and commonsensical...but that alone doesn't pay the bills.

Since Charles Manchester stood aside in the summer we have been fortunate in that we had a period of continuity on and off the field; we held onto some of the sponsor contacts and donators, season tickets were boosted by promotion, our community aspirations came to the fore, we had a good pre-season friendly (£) with Wycombe Wanderers and then got off to a good start in the league. Day to day life was pretty easy. The reality over the course of the season is that, coupled with significantly less cup prize money, we are operating without significant five figure sums coming into the club this season compared to last.

The company budget made it very clear that it would require a lot of hard work, stretching ourselves into new territories and reaching out to challenging new targets and believing that a community focus will reap rewards. With the money built up in the bank, and things going well on the pitch, it becomes too easy to see that as a future issue...the distant future...we'll be alright.

With the pre-Christmas weather killing Christmas bookings and football fixtures, the future has come a little sooner than hoped. Well now it is head out of the sand time, and time to take note that the financial reports presented are not just hypothetical numbers plucked out of the air, they are real numbers that we need to work towards. Running a football club is a huge responsibility, lessons being learned all the time. So much so that next season remains another exciting prospect if we can continue to build on the current momentum throughout the summer, fully focused on the business of taking a whole year into consideration and not just sitting around content because there is over £30,000 in the bank account in July...that will soon be gone come Christmas.

When you consider that Windsor & Eton went bust last week over debts that are reported to amount to around £250,000 it makes you appreciate further what we have achieved within our finances. I paint a fairly gloomy picture up above, it need not be like that. The reality as we stand is that we need to look at generating an additional £10-12k over the next few months to keep the ship stable. That's no different to the outlook three months ago, up on the crow's nest, looking through the telescope, choppy waters were always forecast ahead; a change in the weather just means we have reached them earlier than first predicted. We have several irons in fires that should help us through these threatening waters, but all help from supporters and sponsors is welcome.

On the face of it £10-12k is quite a frightening prospect, but if you break that down into small chunks then suddenly all is not so daunting. We have a method of looking at finances in "bite-size chunks", ticking off the chunks every time we raise extra cash. We are very fortunate in that the Corporate Patron Scheme for 2011/12 has got off to a good start (every sign-up is another chunk), we have received some generous donations of late, a blitz on match and ball sponsorships last month has filled all of them for the remainder of the season (frustrating that we now effectively have a waiting list when earlier in the season - sailing the smoother seas - we had games without a sponsor; a significant lesson learned for next season). We still need to keep tapping away at these chunks if we are to succeed, and we know what needs to be done, there are discussions going on and plans being formulated, but we need everyone's help, no matter how large or small.

When I start updating the blog it is difficult to know what stance to take, what angle to come from and what detail I should go into, having to bear in mind the consequences of every statement. Back in the old days when I did my Chesham United travels it was great, just me, the fan with a big gob and a few pints inside me spewing out my own opinion on everything from players to management. Somehow I don't think that would be the right thing to do now (however much I might love to, believe me, it would make a bloody good soap opera behind the scenes sometimes!). I realise that I am getting an easy ride at the moment because things are going so well on the field, but at sometime in the future the criticism will become inevitable.

For the time being I live in constant worry about finances, but then I also take huge satisfaction from the model that we have created. It is a model that is attracting local interest, both community and business, if we can transform that interest into a community-focused club that generates enough resources for Blue Square South football then we will have achieved something truly special. People will always criticise, there are always flaws to point out (when you are a painting a wall as big as this, you'll always miss a bit, and there will always be somebody eager to point out those missed bits), but if we make the right choices more often than not, then I'm confident we can continue down the path we are on.

I always wanted this blog to be about more than you might just read in the papers or in the programme, and I will continue to try and do that as far as I can. I will never divulge players wages because I believe that to be personal and it just feeds any competitors with ammunition if they wanted to come in and make an approach for any of our players, because you can be assured, when you reach the position we are in, you are always generating interest from other clubs. Similarly we are constantly in the market for new players that might strengthen the squad, as long as they don't upset the equilibrium of the dressing room. Not so long ago we expressed an interest in a player, considered what we might be able to afford for his services and put forward the offer. It soon became apparent that another club in our league had allegedly made an offer for the same player of £500 per week plus bonuses. I'm not going to share any of our players wages, or what we offered for this player, but we are certainly not playing the same game as them - though we are above them in the league!

One other piece of news, we had our ground inspection earlier in the month as we strive for the C Grading required for this level of football. You may well have noticed the work going on in the toilets over The Pop side, that still needs finishing off (stainless steel trough to be installed - we have been chasing one on ebay from down in Torquay) before we pass the inspection, along with a few other minor things that are not difficult, but another pull on the finances. The recommendations from the report will need to be fulfilled and passed by a second inspection prior to 31st March otherwise all our hard work on the field will go to waste. If we don't do the work by then, we will be back in the Central Division next season - not a circumstance that we can even begin to contemplate.

Blimey, all of that without mentioning the prospect of a HUGE game tonight against Leamington. Last time we played them our young supporters took it upon themselves to try and embarrass the club with their behavior towards our guests. This year we have stewards visible around the ground and we quite simply will not tolerate anyone who behaves outside of what might be expected at a community football ground.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your support.