Further to Sundays announcement detailing the new proposed club structure, leading the club into a fan owned community club, co-chair Glenn and Darren have issued a joint statement
Since we took over the football club back in October, we quickly identified that the club had several problems that needed addressing straight away.
When we spoke to the hard-working committee, they explained that the club has lost many elements that made the club special, they added that they struggle getting fans in early as they don't have a club house and fans are spending money elsewhere before games, watching the early kick offs, and leaving at full time to watch the late kick offs.
Immediately we refurbished the clubhouse and installed Sky & BT Sport's to give the club the ability to generate more revenue, both on and off matchdays.
We created family tickets for match days to try and bring the family atmosphere back to the club, something that the club strongly believes in. All children under 12 are now free, and all junior coaches also receive free admission.
We have secured partnerships with Fisher Moore High School, Mike Phealens Sensible Soccer, Pendle Leisure Trust and we will continue to have dialogue with other partners to try and make our club a real asset to the local community.
We are trying our best to engage ourselves with local schools, which was strengthened by our new mascot "Leo" being named by Laneshawbridge Primary School.
For far too long the club has relied heavily on you, the fans to support the club financially, and we appreciate the cost of living crisis has hit many of us in different ways.
We've gone from having minimal volunteers throughout the club to having a dedicated board, backed up by a healthy sized committee, all to try and assist in our journey.
With that in mind, plans are already afoot for next season, and the new season tickets & pricing structure will shortly be released, with payment options for those that want to show the club your support, in a more affordable way.
We want all the juniors to feel a part of this journey, all the young boys and girls that represent us over the weekend, they are a vital cog of what makes this club special. We want them to feel important and a part of the club, we want them to wear the same shirt as the men's, the women’s and the youth teams, after all, we are all one.
Not only are we creating pathways from the junior academy to the men's team, but we also want the women's team to be as prominent, too, we're working hard to bring in the right people to assist in this, so that #GirlsCanToo.
We've had some great discussions with ex-pros about how we can progress the club both on and off the field and some of these have committed to help us going forwards in different capacities. We strongly believe that both go hand in hand in the quest for success.
Where we believe our predecessors have failed in the past, is with transparency. On the very first meeting we had with the committee it was clear to see that both the committee and the fans needed this and we outlined transparency as one of our primary objectives.
During the 5 months we have been involved, we have unearthed tens of thousands of pounds in debt from before our time, which the committee was unaware of. Naturally this wasn't expected and has slowed down our progress somewhat, however as we all work tirelessly to get on top of the situation, we are pleased with the progress we have made, despite losing some Saturday games to midweek fixtures through cup runs and postponements.
Throughout all of this, you, the fans are at the forefront of our minds. Without you, we wouldn't have a club, a club we're both proud to be chairmen of.
We couldn't think of anything better than having you alongside us to join us in enjoying the ride of being a true part of this football club.
There's nothing we enjoy more than standing side by side with fans on a matchday and hearing your take & opinion on the game, or even on our club.
Having your say, your vote & your voice heard means that the future of this football club will be shaped entirely around our fan base, and we are truly excited to see what we can achieve together.
With the application still with the FSA, we are unable to give exact details on the membership scheme, but we will soon be holding a meeting to give you more information.
Colne Football Club, without its fans is nothing, and we won’t forget that.
This is our club."
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