The 2021 Meet the Chairman event took place last Wednesday evening, with a capacity audience which saw a wide variety of topics discussed with Chairman Phil Wallace…
Read below for a Part One summary of the evening’s discussions, from the Community Careline to 2021/22 Season Tickets.
PW on Coronavirus Community Careline
We realised early on that as a football club, we had to give back to the town. We had staff and players who could help, and a great position in the community. It was a scary time for us all early on, but lots of businesses came and supported us. We had 150 volunteers including some of the fans who went out and delivered sandwiches and made calls.
The desire to work with the town to support the council and Lister Hospital really was incredible. The way our staff responded, because they could have stayed at home on furlough, was remarkable.
A lot of clubs did similar, and it is what should be expected of a proper community club. We know that what you really care about is winning football matches, but we are part of the fabric of the town.
PW on Alex Revell & Dean Wilkins
We knew Alex Revell was a good character with good attributes, what we did not know was what he would be like as a manager. We felt he would be a good fit for the job. In any business, you need to believe in your people, and you need consistency.
We brought in Dean Wilkins in December as we needed experience and quality. Alex Revell knew Dean from Brighton, and Dean had just left Crystal Palace as Head of Coaching in the Premier League. Things started going for us, you started to see the change.
Two years ago, the training ground had a dark cloud over it. Now, players and staff cannot wait to get to work. There is a really good feeling about the place, from the manager to the players to the admin staff.
Players know what their job is, they know who the Gaffer is, and they are completely clear on the way we want to play. It started to work from January/February, and it continued to get better.
Keeping a lot of last season’s squad was our intention. It was not easy as they are good players, we have added a few and we think we have done quite well.
PW on Training Ground Renovations
This summer, we have put drainage into all the pitches at Bragbury End. We have put money into that as well as refurbishing all of the other pitches across the three sites. We have completely restored the gym – we have moved on from years past and now focused on players’ flexibility and agility.
PW on Tom Pett
Tom is a great lad. He told us at the end of the season that he had a geographic change to make in his life. We did not know it was Port Vale, I do not think he knew either – but he knew he needed to be somewhere further North. Tom was outstanding towards the end of the season as soon as we put him into that central role. January was a great window for us.
PW on Leke Drake
It was a fantastic deal both for the young player and for us. Leke was watched by almost every club in the Premier League for a while, and you know when a club are interested when they invite you to play them at their facilities. We played at Chelsea, and they compared his statistics to their own players, and he was head and shoulders above.
Chelsea started conversations with us about a possible move for Leke, and then Man City joined in on the discussions. We set the terms of the deal, both Chelsea and Man City agreed – and the player chose where he wanted to go.
PW on the Transfer Window
We have got a little bit to go, but not much. Our target list is a striker, an attacking midfielder, left back and goalkeeper. We have a lot of talent already in those positions, players with a good pedigree who are still learning. We are a few players more, then that is us done.
PW on Season Tickets 2021/22
I was uncomfortable last year when we sold our Season Tickets, took their money and then could not deliver what we sold. I do not want to do that again; I want to wait until we know a bit more. I want to see where the Government is going with Return of Crowds so that when we sell Season Tickets, we are as sure as we can be that supporters will get a product for it. We have no intention of raising Season Ticket prices.
PW on Multihousehold iFollow Season Ticket Refunds
I am uncomfortable with what we have done regarding multiple Season Tickets to one household when only one iFollow Match Pass would be used, and not offering a full refund. I think we will change that. It feels like the wrong decision.
We will have to talk and see what we can do about that – we will have to put that right.
PW on a New Main Club Sponsor & Kits
We thought for a while that we might do another deal with Burger King. We thought they were a good sponsor so we kept that open for a bit longer than we should have done.
We have another one that we are at contractual stage with, and we are expecting it to be completed by the end of this week. They are a division of another huge brand – much bigger than Burger King.
Regarding kits, we made the decision to wait for the sponsor. We are expecting to go on sale with replica kits early September – the players will have the kit with a sponsor for the first game of the season. We are disappointed to lose the revenue, but it is worth it for the sponsor.
Part Two of Meet the Chairman will be issued next week.
---
2021/22 Season Tickets are now on sale at www.borotickets.co.uk. Purchase your ticket today and secure your space at The Lamex Stadium.
