The thoughts of Director Mark McGuire

What a few weeks it’s been! We’ve talked consistently about progress and professionalism, and the miraculous turn round from this time last year that Jim, Wardy and the players have achieved has meant that the rest of the club is having to run to catch up! It’s a great problem to be faced with and I’m delighted with where we are.

Of course I could use this page to celebrate the football side of things, but there is so much going on in the background that it’s worth talking about here.

The fact that we turned down such a significant offer for Ashley Williams during the transfer window, is testament to how far we’ve come, the money was very tempting, but the pragmatic thing to do was to hold out and hold on to a player who Jim sees as a key part of his plans and show are ambition to the players and the fans. Success is built on platforms, it would have been opportunistic to “cash in”, but it would have potentially de-stabled one of our key platforms – the squad and therefore potentially jeopardised our progress.

I met with Jim and Wardy last week before the Hereford game, (what a County moment that was with the send off for Stephen Gleeson by the way), and we planned the wage budget for the squad for the next five years, with all the various factors, not least which division we may be in! Its part of putting together a business plan which identifies how we see the club progressing over a five-year period, how we are going to increase revenues and indeed create new revenue streams. Jim and Wardy have a plan as to how they will develop the squad each year, the profile they want and the support they will need in doing so.

Our ambition is not just to be a Trust Run club, but to create a new model for a Trust Run Club; this is based on efficiency, on professionalism but more importantly an entrepreneurial approach.

Take sponsors as an example; for years the club has relied on the benevolence of local businesses and individuals to support the club financially. We’ve begged them for their support and frankly banked their money. Professional sponsorships are based on the company involved getting value out of their sponsorship, not only meeting our contracted responsibilities but creatively thinking about how best we can promote the sponsors brand and how they can promote County, we’re discussing this with our current sponsors and targeting new companies, delivering a new vision which escapes the benevolence of the past.

With regard to the stadium, we continue to work extremely hard to place ourselves in a position to buy Edgeley Park back; again it will be based on commercial partnerships and a creative approach. We spent two days this week putting together a five-year business plan, it had two scenarios, one continuing as we are, but growing commercially whilst progressing on the field. The second included the costs, and extra revenues of owning the stadium. It is a real possibility, but a real responsibility too and once again will only be achieved if we continue to progress.

To summarise, all of the foundations are being put in place to sustain our progress, what we share with Jim and Wardy is the desire to create a structure and base that will not only see the club progress over the next few years, but will be in place to ensure it thrives for many many years to come, its not only our responsibility but our ambition.

Its hard work but more than made up for by what’s going on on the pitch, I stand amongst our fans like I did at Hereford and feel so much pride, the humour, the passion, the commitment, and the emotion is truly second to none.

This truly is a very special football club, and it beginning to get a smile on its face for the first time in years.