Hello and welcome to the latest weekly update from the Board.
Preparations for the new season and all that that entails have continued this week; albeit, the preparations are hugely different from those in previous years. The Club website is undergoing a makeover and is now up and running. There is still some work to do so it’s not quite the finished article but I would like to thank all of you for your patience while it was unavailable.
I hope that you will all have seen the article that went out on the club website and our social media channels at the end of the week regarding the return of football. If you missed it, you can find it here. When we return to Hayden Road, there will be many significant changes to our normal match day routines and our Covid-19 officers are working incredibly hard with our volunteers to ensure that the site is safe for us all. There is an immense amount of work to do and, as always, we are incredibly grateful to our volunteers who are giving their time and effort in abundance.
Our pre-season friendlies have been announced and the first of those games took place yesterday. Please remember that all pre-season games must be played behind closed doors under current guidelines. This means that spectators, including Board Members not carrying specific match duties, are not allowed to attend the game. I know this is incredibly frustrating for everyone who wants to attend a match, myself included, but I hope that you all agree that it is absolutely necessary that we follow the advice and guidance given to us. In the meantime, we will keep you updated about the games via social media, although that may be limited especially for the first few games.
Following the departure of Sam Brown this week, we noticed some comments on social media and the unofficial form about use of the Team Building Lottery money and I would like to address those here. It is important to reiterate that the Lottery fund is ring fenced in a separate bank account, so it cannot, and will not, be used on other areas of the Club. Andy Peaks has been given the same playing budget as last season and the Lottery fund is there for him to use over and above that. The abrupt ending of the 2019/20 season had, as you know, a significant effect on the Club’s income and financial position so it should be no surprise to learn that the playing budget has not been increased.
With that in mind, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the new season and, therefore, Andy must be prudent in the spending of his budget, with or without the use of the Lottery money. We shouldn’t compare ourselves to other Clubs who may appear to be offering significantly better deals to players. We are, however, confident that the budget Andy has, and the measures we have put in place to review that budget are sustainable and that is a concept on which our Club is built.
We continue to sign players who want to be at our Club for the right reasons and give good value for money. If Andy and his management team find the right quality of player(s) to significantly improve the squad, before or during the season, the extra finance the Lottery fund provides is there to enable them to join us, should it be necessary.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who continues to help the Club in so many ways, often going unnoticed. We simply would not be able to operate at the level we do without our band of committed volunteers. One of the events that often goes unnoticed is the monthly quiz that has been organised for many years by Glenis Haynes and her fundraising colleagues. At the start of lockdown, Glenis thought they would have to postpone all activity until things changed. However, thanks to the commitment of Chris Hill, who now lives in Devon, the quiz has been operating successfully online, via Zoom. This means the quizzes, attended by AFC R&D supporters and some who are not so keen on football, have continued to raise much needed funds for the Club. The next Quiz will be held in September so please look out for details from Glenis on the website and our social media channels.
Finally, please be careful going about your daily routines and keep up to date with all the local information and advice that is being issued for areas across Northamptonshire. There are several areas locally, including Northampton, Wellingborough and Bedford, that are on the Government’s watch list, so please be extra vigilant over the coming weeks. The best place to get the information is here – https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus where you will find both national and local guidance.
