Barrow AFC.net

Right. I reconciled a few weeks ago that we were probably going down, now it's happened it's time to look forward.

Positives -

Lower overheads - Going part time will certainly help balance the budget. We should be budgeting for around 800 average over the season. If we are playing attractive football in the top 8 of the league this is easily achievable.

Ground Maintenance - This is really coming into it's own now, with some sterling work being done. Over the summer WE all have to pull together to make the ground the best it can be, by either donating what we can be it money/equipment or even time. Its our ground, lets make it a place to be proud of.

Fundraising - The fundraising has been phenomenal, with the BDF, Forum and loads of individuals all chipping in. If we can keep this momentum going, it would be massive.

Youth - We have a great youth setup on the rise, and this shouldn't be understated. I was speaking to a parent of one of the lads who plays for one of the youth teams and she was saying how proud he was to be able to wear the Barrow badge now. Lets not underestimate that,

The oppo - Looking at the leagues this will be our oppo next season -

Altrincham
Bishop's Stortford
Boston United
Brackley Town
Bradford Park Avenue
Corby Town
FC Halifax Town
Fc United
Gainsborough Trinity
Gloucester City
Harrogate Town
Hednesford
Histon
North Ferriby
Oxford City
Solihull Moors
Stalybridge Celtic
Stockport
Vauxhall Motors
Worcester City
Workington

Granted not as glamorous as the previous 5 seasons, but some meaty ties to get stuck into. Workington away is always a "full blooded affair" and the festive ties against either these or Alty will get good crowds in.

I'm not saying all is rosy. We have debt which needs to be addressed, we have some way to go to connect with the local community and we really need to work out a way to get more youngsters into the club.

But we have a board who are trying the best they can with the help of lots of other volunteers. We need to match the passion off the pitch and translate that onto the pitch. How we do that is up the Dave Bayliss, as I do feel he'll still be here next season.

Looking forward to the challenges ahead already because this season has been very dificult on and off the pitch. I actually feel more positive about the relegation than I thought I would. I am certainly a lot calmer than I was with some of the results we've had. Finally- we know where we are and can start looking ahead and have a bloody good shake up.

my hopes moving forward-

-Do not shut down the club over summer.

- Training facilities- Is Rochdale the best choice? We need to be accessible to the best part timers out there. What about somewhere a bit further up the M6 and making us more accessible for the best part timers from the North Lancs, Cumbria / North East region.

- Make every use of volunteers, not just in cleaning up and maintenance, but also marketing the club, and securing sponsorships, merchandising and welcoming fans ideas.

-The board need to remove barriers and make things happen. Use members / ask for fans opinions/ (fan survey over summer?) There are things that can be controlled to make coming to the game a better experience.

-Can we consider our own weekly draw / lottery as I don't think the Gold Bond is visible? Just my perception of it- (tell me otherwise if it's bringing in £1000's every season). What about our own equivalent of the Rugby lottery?- it raises £1000's
We must sell the club to the fans over summer.

-Get those season tickets up as soon as poosible nd keep the income coming in. Aim for as many as possible- lets have a record number bought in advance of the new season. Get those finances stable.

-Do not leave anything until two weeks before kick off. Keep it going now so we hit the ground running at the start of next season.

- Finally and most importantly- Make sure every bill is paid on time- local businesses, players wages, HMRC. Then and only then, when everything else is paid- re-invset in the squad.

Get things right and we can get next season's average attendances back over 1000- That's over 1000 Barrow fans at every game as I can't see many clubs bringing a lot of fans here.

USE THIS RELEGATION TO COME BACK STRONGER AND READY!

BRING IT ON!

Planning for next season must start now

- season tickets for next season on sale from next week
- commercial activity throughout the summer
- setting up of some kind of commercial / marketing committee
- shirts and sponsors for next season sorted as soon as possible
- a clear statement from the BOD about the direction they intend taking the club
- a more honest approach to running the club - if there are problems tell us so we can help in some way
- a volunteer structure that can utilise all the skills of the fans

there wont be north ferriby, hednesford and fc united. think only two go up.

Attila wrote:there wont be north ferriby, hednesford and fc united. think only two go up.

Correct, but i couldn't pick between Hednesford and North Ferriby as they are neck and neck on points. FC united could easily be one of the other teams in the play offs but i have a feeling they will nick it.

A late push from Chorley would be nice

FC United dont do well in the play offs.

AFC Fylde - imagine how many we would take there on a Saturday!

Eric Cartman wrote:AFC Fylde - imagine how many we would take there on a Saturday!

20 min drive for me. A little ground surrounded by farmers fields. It's right behind a pub which is always a bonus.

We could actually lose both Bishops Stortford and Oxford City to Conf South.
With 3 Northern/Midlands teams coming down from the Conf Prem one team will be moved from Conf North to South.

Another issue is the Evo Stik Southern Prem as there are Midlands based sides at the top there. Leamington are looking good to be champions and go into Conf North but Stourbridge and Barwell are in the play-offs and they are both more northerly than a number of existing Conf North sides so its possible another could be moved if one of them are promoted.

If AFC Fylde are promoted I can see that being a Tuesday night game but that would be fairly local for Xmas/New Year if the police object to us playing Wukkie then.

There was a ruling made a few years ago if it is still in existance that any clubs that were moved from BSS TO BSN would stay in the league for a minimum of 2 seasons, Oxford have only done 1 season, therefore if either Stourbrridge or Barwell won promotion via the play offs Gloucester would return to BSS as the most southerly team. Leamington will replace Bishops Stortford

I am hoping we can re-visit the Priory at Oxford (when we play Oxford City), which is 5 or 6 miles from the City ground.

ruins wrote:A late push from Chorley would be nice

Sel, Self, Self Oreet Daz.

GTBLUE wrote:

ruins wrote:A late push from Chorley would be nice

Sel, Self, Self Oreet Daz.

Actually Graham, he was thinking of me, Whittle Bluebird, Leyland Bluebird, SGTFoster and all the other Central Lancs Barrow fans.......werent you Daz?

Jock wrote:There was a ruling made a few years ago if it is still in existance that any clubs that were moved from BSS TO BSN would stay in the league for a minimum of 2 seasons, Oxford have only done 1 season, therefore if either Stourbrridge or Barwell won promotion via the play offs Gloucester would return to BSS as the most southerly team. Leamington will replace Bishops Stortford

That's only when clubs get shafted from one league to another. When Worcester went south they wanted the 2 season thing because of the fact they had a lot of northern based players so had to completely revamp their squad. Iirc Oxford have never wanted to be in the North (understandably) so would be quite happy to move South; therefore the league will more than likely allow it.