Update from CFU Vice-Chair Jim Green

Ahead of this evening’s End of Season Awards, ChesterFC.com spoke to CFU Vice-Chair Jim Green for an update from within the club…

It’s less than a fortnight since our season came to an end and I think everyone – staff, players, and fans – probably needed a little time to reflect after such a demanding 12 months.

Ultimately, we lost out to a strong and experienced opponent, and although the result may have been disappointing for us, this team gave absolutely everything over 55 competitive games and the overwhelming feeling is pride. They are brilliant lads; I don’t think we could ask for better as supporters and I hope they are proud of what they’ve done for the football club.

Jim on…Calum:

Having worked with Calum for a number of years now, I know how much he demands of himself, and how passionate he is about the Club. He’s one of us and you could see the result was particularly tough on him, but he’s resilient and very quickly he was back on the horse and ready to go. 

He was appointed on a two-year contract because the Board believed he was the right man to take the Club forward, and the impact he’s made over the last 12 months has only strengthened that view. He’s someone we hold in the highest regard and I’m sure we’ll be sitting down together soon to talk about next steps.

Jim on…Season Tickets Sales:

To have surpassed 1,200 season tickets inside three weeks is phenomenal. We’ve already topped last season’s sales total and that’s a real indication of the progress we are making as a football club and the belief supporters have in Calum and the team. 

Jim on…Boost the Budget:

Boost the Budget has been a huge success story and the way the fans back the campaign year on year is quite incredible. We understand the climate is really tough and we never take it for granted, and the football club is under pressure too with costs rising across the board.

Our aim as a football club has to be to provide the manager with as competitive a playing budget as we can, but it needs to done in a way that ensures we remain sustainable and don’t spend money that doesn’t exist. 

Boost the Budget is ringfenced and it gives us, the owners, the chance to support Calum and contribute to what happens on the pitch. Last summer it enabled us to sign Kurt Willoughby and if we can beat our target again this year, it will create those kinds of opportunities again.    

Jim on…Retention & Recruitment: 

Calum did a huge amount of work last summer, not only in assembling a squad from scratch, but to make sure that we wouldn’t need to rebuild again this year, which means we’re starting from a very strong base with 13 players either under contract or having options. We believe in this group of players and their potential, and continuity is important when you are trying to build something. I certainly don’t think we’ll be looking to make too many changes. 

For us, it was right that the squad and supporters had the opportunity to celebrate the season together before we start talking about retained lists. We feel the players deserve that. Preliminary discussions have taken place, and these will be stepped up over the next week, with the aim of providing a full update before the end of next week.

Calum is really clear about where he believes we can improve, the profile of player he wants and his recruitment targets, who have been identified for some time. There’s huge competition between clubs at this stage and some of the figures being offered are pretty eyewatering, but we believe we have a lot to offer at Chester and we’re confident we can attract good players and good characters who will help us keep progressing.