Thoughts from the Chairman

[GAFC OFFICIAL NEWS]

Thanks for all of the likes, comments and questions on here following a busy couple of weeks of comings and goings at Grays Ath. Obviously, with the club finishing 21 points off of the play-off positions last season, it was inevitable that Jim would be making significant changes within the squad which would result in new signings and some popular players moving on. For those that are not aware (and I wasn’t til I got involved in the day to day business of the club), most players at our level are non-contract (all of our players are) which means that at any time during the season they can leave the club, or move to another team within seven days. Then at the end of the season ie 28/04/19 they are effectively a free agent and can sign for anyone they like. Every one of last years squad would have been given the opportunity to return to pre-season training with us on 22nd June, however, the likelihood is that all of them would have been contacted by other clubs and be given options to join them. This means that pretty much every season there is a large turnover of players at our level. The sad result of this is that the club has lost some good players and characters like Finners, Clarke, Pinto and Ryan. The flip side is that there are some new arrivals for the fans to watch and get to know. Every player that has left has contacted me to express their thanks to Grays Athletic for an enjoyable time at the club and they have repeated this on social media. All have been, or will be, snapped up by other clubs very quickly. Having met with Jim, Joyno, Steve King and Lewis last night, I can only assure you that the pre-season schedule has been set in stone and those guys expect to hit the ground running and intend to have a very successful campaign in the Bostik League and cup competitions. Thanks to everyone for their support of the club during the close season. I look forward to seeing you all soon.

If anyone has any questions, please post on here or DM me. 👍😁⚽️

Steve Skinner

[dcjarvis]

Thanks Steve, good insight in to pre-season shenanigans!

It certainly looks like Jim is serious with his ambitions for next year, which is only to be expected, and to be encouraged too.
You probably won't be in a position to say yet, but do you think next season's targets will be set soon?

For my own part, obviously it's great to be watching (in my case following!) a successful, exciting team. However I also think that it's a key 12 months for the club in terms of getting our future location sorted.

Without that in a more concrete place it's probably wishful thinking to expect to be challenging for the top spot. Or at least if we are, it won't make a lot of sense financially to be in the Bostik Prem without the ground, sponsors and revenue to support what the team would likely cost to stay in the Prem. Anyway, already looking forward to a few of the friendlies!