A new season dawns

All the friendlies, all the discussion, all the waiting now (almost) over.

Not really sure why the Ryman start a week after everyone else (other than the Evo-Stick – or Northern Prem who also start tomorrow), and two weeks after the football league; but tomorrow we get going down at Hastings for a tough opener.

Hastings appear to have had a good pre-season so will be confident going into the game, and they only finished one place behind us last season. So it will be tough. Their chairman David Walters’ comments are interesting and I am sure we would echo much of what he has written.

We have a good side, with some good new signings and plenty of optimism in the camp – but they will be well tested tomorrow.

I’m sorry to be missing the first couple of games as I am on holiday at present enjoying a rest in the Maltese sun. I’m back briefly for next Saturday before going straight off to the US for business and hope to get back in time for the 4 September game.

So missing plenty of early games (3 of the first 4) – great planning! When I’m back though we will be organising an ‘Ask the Chairman’ session so that we can all hit the ground running for the new season.

Enjoy tomorrow.

Pre-season pace quickens

Two teams playing tonight and big decisions for GB to make about the squad soon. These decisions are tough but at least it is better than desperately searching for players at this stage. But as written before, the budget is set and through the supporters TaskForceTen we have been able to raise the budget for the season slightly. It all helps.

Off the field there are still lots of jobs to do, at the ground, with the press, with the League – simply picking up the matchballs for the season means Fingers needs to go down to Sutton.

Nick Dugard returns from his holiday this week despite demonstrating how expertly he manages the press even when he is away judging by the spread in the Non League paper yesterday.

Incidentally I have heard that Tim Edwards might be leaving the Harrow Observer soon. Tim has certainly made an impression in his time since taking over from John Comfort and it will be interesting to see how the Observer will staff the role in the future. We will also be losing Gordon Baxter, who has given us some great coverage on Hayes FM, really welcoming us into the local area.  Building up these relationships takes time and effort so now we will have to do it all over again.

Talking of the press, I had a good conversation with Simon Fyles from HA1 last week and we are hoping to continue developing some stronger ties with them during the season, especially looking at how we can use their students to give them experience in certain areas where we can benefit from – especially filming!

On Saturday we play Slough Town in the annual Brian Collins memorial game. Because of holidays we are stretched off the field, particularly in terms of running any sort of a catering service. If anyone wants to help – even for 45 minutes – with teas and coffees they would be most welcome.