Press Release 16th April
As you will all be aware, the Hinckley AFC working group have been totally focussed in the last few weeks to secure our ‘home’ for next season. We are delighted with the arrangement we have with Heather St John’s and look forward to a great season in partnership with them. They have a vital home game on Saturday 19th April against Gornal Athletic, so why not go along to support them and get to know the ground!
The Club is totally committed to bringing football home to Hinckley as soon as practical and is in receipt of a fifty year offer of secure tenure from the prospective owners of the Greene King Stadium, Steve and Joy Jelfs. Contrary to some rumours that have circulated recently, Steve and Joy are 100% committed to football and football related activities in the area, with the objective of securing the freehold of the entire stadium no matter how long that may take, matching perfectly with the Constitution of Hinckley AFC. They also made this clear in their interview with BBC Radio Leicester a couple of weeks ago.
The Business Plan has now been submitted to the Football Association. This is a highly detailed document of 137 pages and covers all aspects of the launch and development of your club. Highlights will be presented at the next public consultation meeting, which as of yet has not been arranged.
When the Business Plan is ratified, the F.A. will then place us at a level in the League pyramid whereupon the leagues will be formulated. At this time we cannot say which league we will be placed in, as it is not in our power to decide, but we expect to be at Level 5 or 6.
We are now seeking your First Team Manager, and applications are invited up to Thursday 17th April. Interviews will take place before the end of the month, meaning we will be in great shape to start recruiting players immediately when the close-season starts.
Membership of your club stands at 184 at the time of going to press, which is ahead of our target at this stage of development. However, this is still well short of our ultimate goal when the season starts, so please help by spreading the word locally to encourage your friends and family to become members. Every one counts, because everyone has an equal say!
The Working Group apologise for the technical issues with online membership, which are currently being fixed. We expect to be able to accept membership through the website channel by Tuesday, 22nd April. We will announce through Twitter, Facebook and the Website when this is completed. Thanks to everyone for your patience!
At the last public consultation meeting we announced that we would be offering membership number one to Sarah Gadsby, in memory of Matt, who died while playing for Hinckley United in 2006. We are delighted that Sarah has accepted the offer, with the share going to their daughter, Amelia. We will be honoured to present Amelia with her share in due course.
Funds are coming in to the club and are currently sufficient to meet the club’s immediate requirements. Now that the Business Plan has been submitted we move to a period of intense publicity and fund raising, whereupon the Working Group will be grateful for assistance from the wider membership. The club belongs to all of us, and will thrive by everyone contributing to its success and development.
The Working Group have decided that the interim Board of Directors will be appointed later as we are operating effectively for now. The first General Meeting of club members will be convened near to the start of the season when the first Board will be elected by the members. By that time the membership will have swollen and be fully representative to give the Board the necessary mandate to operate.
The next public consultation meeting will be called in a couple of weeks when we will have more points to announce and outline plans for important activities in the early close-season, primarily support for fundraising. In the meantime, any ideas or offers of help can be addressed to any of the email addresses on the website at www.hinckleyafc.org.uk
