Thank you. I think for most supporters, they’ll probably know me from various bits around the club over the last few years, but my role on the board has actually covered quite a broad range of areas behind the scenes.

When I first joined the board around seven years ago, it was really a case of helping wherever the club needed support. One of my first major projects was helping launch the Elite Academy back in 2019 alongside Lawrence Looney and Sara Newton, which was a huge piece of work at the time and something I’m still incredibly proud of today.

Since then, I’ve worked across commercial operations, retail, licensing including the Puma partnership, digital infrastructure, wider strategy and a number of operational projects as the club has continued to grow.

Last season naturally became an unbelievably busy year across the football operation. We had a managerial change, a huge amount of moving parts behind the scenes and, ultimately, a relatively small board handling a significant amount of work.

Because of that, I ended up speaking with Mark very regularly around football operations, structure, planning and how we evolve things longer term. Around the turn of the year, those conversations started becoming more serious around whether I should formally take on responsibility for football operations at the club.

At the same time, away from Altrincham, I’d actually started doing a bit of scouting work for an EFL Championship club. An ex teammate of mine who is now a Sporting Director asked me to watch and report on a player over a number of games. Having not operated in that space for a few years, I genuinely realised how much I’d missed that side of football.

As we then started mapping out what the 2026/27 season needed to look like operationally a few months ago, things naturally came to a head really. There was a decision to make around structure and responsibility, and ultimately it felt like the right time to formally take this on for the football club.

The role itself is not something completely new for the football club because we’ve had Directors of Football previously in different forms over the years. What probably changes over time at any football club is the scope and operational complexity involved around the role.

The simplest answer is that I oversee football operations across the entire club structure, so that includes the men’s first team, academy and women’s set up, alongside all of the operational and strategic work that sits around those departments.

A football club today is incredibly complex operationally. Supporters understandably see the matchday side of things, but behind that there are budgets, recruitment structures, pathway planning, contracts, player welfare, staffing structures, sports science, scheduling, compliance, communication between departments and long term strategic planning.

The role is really about ensuring all of those areas are aligned and moving in the same direction.

Part of that is helping define what Altrincham Football Club should look like football wise over the next three to five years, not just next Saturday or next month.

That means working closely with the manager and staff around squad planning and recruitment, ensuring we operate responsibly within budgets, helping shape player pathway strategy across the academy, supporting the women’s structure where required, and generally trying to ensure the club is making joined up decisions across all football departments.

I think one thing that’s important to say is this isn’t about one person suddenly making every football decision. Football doesn’t work like that, and good football clubs definitely don’t work like that.

This is about creating clearer structure, accountability and alignment across the football side of the club as we continue to grow.

The reality is the focus naturally gravitates towards the men’s first team because that’s the most visible area of the football club and, at this stage of the season especially, there’s a huge amount of work to do around squad planning and preparations for next year.

At the moment it really is all hands on deck to ensure we are diligent and thorough in our planning for the 2026/27 season.

That said, one thing I’m very conscious of is ensuring the academy and women’s structure continue receiving proper support and attention as well.

The academy is hugely important to the long term future of this football club. I’ve been involved with it since day one, so I understand both the opportunities and the challenges that come with operating that type of programme at National League level.

We have to continue improving player pathways, improving operational standards and ensuring we are protecting and developing talent properly across the club.

Likewise, the women’s side of the club will continue receiving the full support it requires. Women’s football continues growing rapidly and it’s important that our structure evolves properly alongside that growth rather than becoming disconnected from the wider football club.

Ultimately, the objective is alignment. Supporters should feel there is one football club moving in one direction, rather than separate departments operating independently.

I think the academy has made huge progress over the last few years and, importantly, it’s now reaching a stage where there is genuine structure and long term thinking behind it rather than simply operating as a standalone education programme.

When we launched the academy back in 2020, the immediate objective was creating a credible pathway for young players within the football club. At the time, there was a lot of work to do operationally just to get the programme off the ground and establish something sustainable.

Since then, the academy has continued evolving year on year, and more recently I’ve spent a significant amount of time carrying out a deep dive into what the next stage of that pathway should look like for Altrincham Football Club.

That work has led to the launch of a much clearer long term pathway and asset protection strategy across the football club.

The focus now is building upon the foundations that have already been put in place by strengthening alignment between the academy and first team, identifying talent earlier, improving our processes around player development and protection, and continuing to strengthen relationships externally within the game.

Most importantly, it’s about ensuring young players can genuinely see a route into senior football at Altrincham Football Club.

I think that’s a really important piece for us moving forward because if players believe there is a genuine opportunity here, it naturally strengthens the entire environment and culture around development.

At the same time, we also have to be realistic about the level we operate at and the challenges that come with being a National League club outside the EPPP structure.

One of the big focuses recently has therefore been around protecting the football club properly when we develop talented players. Historically at this level, clubs can invest huge amounts of time, coaching and resource into developing young players without necessarily having enough protection around those assets if bigger clubs come calling.

A lot of work has gone into strengthening that side of the operation behind the scenes.

That includes improving our internal processes around registrations, contracts, pathway planning and long term player development strategy, but also ensuring that when players progress through the system, the football club is in a much stronger position structurally than perhaps clubs at this level have traditionally been.

We will have Louis Fallon, Joel Bailey, Owen German and Remi Raymond all involved with the first team during pre season on professional contracts, and we fully expect more young players to follow that pathway over time as well.

We are also extremely excited about Max Beddow. Him and Louis are two exceptional young goalkeepers and I genuinely believe both have the potential to have very long careers in the game.

That’s exactly what the academy should be producing. Young players who can see a genuine route into senior football at Altrincham, whilst also creating long term value and sustainability for the football club if those players progress through the pyramid.

Most importantly though, the academy should never lose sight of its wider purpose. It’s still about developing young people, creating opportunities and giving players an environment where they can improve both on and off the pitch.

I genuinely believe the academy is becoming one of the most important long term assets the football club has.

Let me start by saying the women’s set up is in absolutely safe hands.

Duncan Jones, our Head of Women’s Football, is already overseeing a really successful operation within that department. He’s built a structure which has produced well publicised results, whilst also making the integration of the women’s section into the wider football club feel absolutely seamless.

That’s incredibly important because the most successful clubs are the ones where every department feels connected and aligned culturally, rather than operating independently from one another.

When you then add an exciting young coach like Daryll Abrahams into the mix, alongside a very strong support network around the squad, it’s clear to see there is a huge amount of potential within the women’s section moving forward.

From my perspective, the immediate priority is not going in and changing things for the sake of it. It’s about sitting down with Duncan, understanding where the club can further support the operation, and helping provide whatever additional structure or resource is required to continue building on the excellent work already taking place.

The important thing for me is ensuring every football department across the club feels supported, connected and aligned with the wider direction we are trying to move in as a football club.

Yes, unbelievably busy really.

Pretty much every evening over the last couple of weeks since the final fixture against Gateshead, I’ve been sitting down with Neil Gibson and Lee Jones as we work through plans for next season.

To be fair to both of them, they’ve spent a huge amount of time personally meeting with every single player individually. That’s something I mentioned on the radio and it’s a process I fully backed from the outset.

Whether a player was being offered a new contract, placed into discussions, or informed they wouldn’t be retained, we felt it was really important those conversations happened properly and respectfully face to face rather than simply becoming a line on a retained list released online.

Football can be a ruthless industry at times and people sometimes forget there are human beings behind these decisions.

I think the players will appreciate the personal approach because Neil in particular is very strong from a man management perspective and he understands the importance of communication and honesty, even in difficult conversations.

Naturally, that approach meant our retained list came out slightly later than some other clubs in the division, but ultimately we felt taking the extra time to handle things properly was the right thing to do.

At the same time, whilst those conversations have been ongoing, there has also been a huge amount of work happening behind the scenes around recruitment planning, budget modelling, squad profiling, player analysis and mapping out exactly what we want the squad to look like heading into pre season.

That work has been intensive, but it’s important we get these decisions right because what you do during this period ultimately shapes your season months down the line.

I think there are definitely some fundamentals that you have to start with.

First and foremost, there has to be a strong cultural fit because ultimately you want players to integrate into the dressing room and wider environment seamlessly. A good squad isn’t just built on talent alone. Mentality, professionalism, character and attitude all matter enormously over the course of a long season.

We also have to look very carefully at physical robustness and availability. The National League is an incredibly demanding division and you’re potentially asking players to cope with fifty plus matches across a season once you factor in cups, travel and the intensity of the schedule.

So naturally, part of the diligence process is understanding somebody’s playing record, their conditioning levels and whether they are physically capable of coping with the demands of the league consistently.

On a personal level though, one thing I never want us to lose sight of is entertainment.

Football is about winning, of course it is, but supporters also want to feel excited when they come through the turnstiles. They want players who can create moments, players who can get people off their feet, players supporters genuinely enjoy watching.

During my time at the club, we’ve had some fantastic footballers who have brought that excitement to the stadium and those are often the players supporters remember most fondly years later.

Those types of players are not always easy to find because naturally every club in the division is looking for quality, athleticism and consistency. But personally, if we can continue building a competitive side whilst also identifying players capable of bringing that bit of excitement and unpredictability, then I think that’s something really worth striving for as a football club.

The game has changed massively in that respect over the years.

The players are ultra professional these days and, generally speaking, they’ll report back for pre season in very good condition physically. It’s a far cry from my own playing days nearly thirty years ago.

I still remember one particular summer spending a few very enjoyable weeks in Majorca with some team mates and, looking back now, the odd run down the beach probably wasn’t the ideal preparation for a tough pre season schedule.

Modern players are completely different now. They’re far more educated around sports science, conditioning, recovery and nutrition, and ultimately they understand the physical demands of the modern game far better than players probably did years ago.

The current plan is for the players to return towards the end of June, with our first friendly currently scheduled for 11th July.

At the moment, we have seven pre season fixtures lined up in total. We’re still liaising with the various clubs around kick off times and announcement schedules before those fixtures are formally confirmed publicly.

What I would say is that the opposition has been selected very carefully.

Pre season obviously has to help prepare the players physically, but it’s also important tactically and psychologically as well. We want the squad to be properly tested, we want the management team to learn more about the group, and we want the conditioning programme to build correctly towards the demands of a very difficult National League campaign.

There will also be plenty of opportunities for supporters to watch the team across the schedule, which is important as well.

Supporters always enjoy getting that first glimpse of new signings, seeing how the squad is shaping up and reconnecting with the football club ahead of a new season, so we’re looking forward to getting that programme announced over the coming period.

I think the first thing to say is that everyone at the football club was disappointed with where we ultimately finished last season.

Expectations naturally rise when you’ve had the progress and momentum the club has built over recent years, so finishing 13th was not where anybody wanted us to be.

At the same time though, I also think it’s important to look at things with a level of balance and perspective.

If you look at Neil’s points per game record across the period since he arrived, projected over the course of a full season, it would ordinarily place you somewhere around the top ten in this division.

That doesn’t guarantee anything, of course, but it does show there are positive foundations already in place to build upon.

For me, success this season is about continuing to make incremental improvements across the football club.

That means having a strong and productive pre season, strengthening the squad in the right areas, improving consistency across the campaign and continuing to evolve operationally both on and off the pitch.

The National League is such a competitive division now and there are a lot of very good football clubs at this level with strong budgets and ambitions.

What we have to do is ensure we are organised, disciplined, aligned and competitive every single week.

If we can do that, whilst continuing to strengthen the culture and environment around the football club, then I genuinely believe we can be pushing ourselves into and around those top eight positions and competing far more consistently at the right end of the table.