CHAIRMAN'S REVIEW
Welcome to our website. Firstly a personal thank you to Tony Hay for his efforts in making the web site a reality. It is now up to all involved in the club to add their input.
To give you a background it is my first encounter with Gedling some twenty five years ago when I joined the club as a young player. At the time the manager was ex-professional Mike Connelly and the team played in the senior division of the Notts Alliance. After 3 successful years at the club I was given the opportunity to play at a high level. It was another 7 seasons before I rejoined the club with the intention of finishing my career there.
At this time it was touch and go as to whether the club would survive. They were at the bottom of the Notts Alliance division 1, with very little resources or funding. I was soon very much involved with the running of the club securing sponsorships and finally taking over as manager after breaking my leg during a match.
We bounced back to win division 2 in style also winning the leg intermediate cup and getting to the semi finals to the Notts intermediate cup. From then on things started to look up both on and off the field. Sponsorship was secured for the new kit from Newton Electrical Services.
The following season we signed a good calibre of players the season turned out to be disappointing. This culminated in the then chairman Wayne Osbourne resigning due to his work commitments. A decision had to be made on the future of the club. As the then manager I called an emergency meeting. Resignations had also been forward from his wife Jan Osbourne and the reserve team managements. This left just four people on the committee Norman Hay, Harold Hume, Mark Allison and myself. It was at this point that I took over the position of chairman. Mark Allison agreed to become manager and asked Duncan Broad to join him. Jan also decided that she had made a hasty decision and agreed as treasurer. I asked Wayne if he would reconsider his decision who was at this point the longest serving member of the club with a playing career spanning some 20 years.
This was also the time when we decided to make the move from Notts Alliance league into the Central Midlands League. After some fifty years in the Notts Alliance this decision was not taken lightly but was felt that in our current position the league could not offer us a future. This was the biggest single decision the club has ever made but it also proved to be the best. The club then started to grow with additional people joining the committee, all adding there help which allowed us to function in a very professional manner. At this point I would like to thank those involved with those offering their services in the help of the club running smoothly on match days.
The pitch surface has been improved to make it the best surfaces around, we also now run a refreshment bar and thanks to the ladies efforts on a match day are second to none in the league.
This was the start of the transformation of the club, the last three years has seen us rise to a level never experienced in the club history. The ground continues to improve with new changing rooms and club house which was one of our first major projects. Since then the ground has been completely enclosed with new perimeter and boundary fences, a new stand dug outs and turnstile entrances and hard standing which was installed this summer and the most important being the installation of floodlights. The next project will be the building of a new stand which will contain seating which will allow us to move up to Unibond level.
The club has a bright future and must thank all involved in whatever capacity for their unquestioned support. This has been a great learning curve but must continue to learn and improve.
On the pitch the greatest moment in recent years was the visit of Hucknall Town in the quarter finals of the Notts Senior Cup. A crowd of 600 turned out to watch Hucknall win the game by a slender margin of 2-1 but Gedling equitted themselves very well and this proved that they are capable of matching themselves with the best.
Hopefully we can improve on this in the forth coming season where the club will be breaking new ground with entrance into the FA Vase.
Well that's all for now as further developments unfold I will update you
Regards
Vic Hulme
Chairman Gedling Miner Welfare Football Club
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