Published at 10:48, Saturday, 29 May 2010

TEACHING THE YOUNG GUNS: Barrow joint-managers Darren Sheridan and Dave Bayliss will be coaching Bluebirds camps for kids

AS the dust settles from the Wembley success, and we start to put together our plans for next season, it’s time to take stock of how far this club has come over the past few years.

I’ve always said success will bring its own problems and, to an extent, that has happened.

There is now an expectation we will deliver these successes year in, year out, but that won’t be the case, and we have to be aware of that.

That’s why, as a board, we have to stay firm on such things as budgets and the expectations of the fans. Yes, we want to play at the highest level possible and bring more success to the town, but this is a long trip, not a short-term plan. The most important thing now is to control the growth I mentioned the other week.

Playing at this level is expensive and the impact of the gates and sponsorship massively affect what we do. We have to be aware of this and have contingencies in place for when things don’t go our way.

Next year, the travelling involved will be less than the last couple of seasons due to the teams who have gone up and come down, which is great news. We’ve been spending more than £50,000 per season on travel costs, so now the league contains more northern-based clubs should bring that figure down.

The close season is a big time for preparing the club and we are looking to this summer to do some new things.

Hopefully next week we will be announcing our first coaching schools, to run over a four-week period. It will be a chance for your kids to be coached by Darren and Dave and some of the first team players on Holker Street, so please look out for more details in this week’s press.

If this is a success, we will be involved in more of these events during the summer holidays.

We want to make the club open to everyone and it’s the community side that can really make the difference.

One thing that has been great to see is people proudly wearing Barrow AFC shirts around town. A few years ago this would not have been seen, but now you see it all the time on both adults and kids. That can only mean good things for the future.

The club has changed so much and we hope to have the new reception area open over the next couple of weeks, which will finish off the work we have wanted to do in the Crossbar over the last couple of years.

Business is going really well, with the meeting rooms now used daily by all sorts of companies and organisations – again great news as this type of work will allow the club to move to an even more full-time basis in the future. That’s what we have to do if we real have ambitions of the Football League.

It’s funny all the work that goes on.

We forget it was only four years ago the club would be open just on a match day. The growth has truly been incredible and is a credit to everyone who has been involved.

Not even we could predict such growth, but now we’ve got to keep growing and growing. There is some way to go until we are where we want to be.

Regarding the feasibility study, work is on-going and progressing. These studies are not quick and we want to make sure that when we present the findings, we get it right. We are probably a month or so off communicating anything to you, but once we have something we will present it to you.

The friendlies look great this year, with Man City and Blackburn bringing sides.

If you look on the Man City website, we are actually featured in an article telling fans that a team is coming to play the FA Trophy winners, so hopefully we’ll get plenty of Man City fans, plus our own, watching that one.

We will be providing hospitality for the friendlies this year, so if you are interested please contact the office and they will take your bookings.

Also, it’s the World Cup soon and again the club will be open for the games. If you fancy a pint while watching England’s progress, there is no better place in town to watch football.

All these things help the club. All the money made from everything we do goes back to the club to improve things both on and off the field, so at least you know when you’re handing your hard-earned money over it’s going to improve things here and not go into someone else’s pocket.

Have a great bank holiday, whatever you are doing.

TONY KEEN

BARROW AFC DIRECTOR

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