Hello and welcome to our August update!
Starting off with on the field matters, fuck-a-doodle-do what a start to the season we’ve had! Personally I was expecting it to take a few games for the lads to find some form with us having somewhat of a disjointed pre-season where we didn’t see many of the starters play a great deal, and we didn’t bring in the likes of McGowan and Knight until late on, plus the likes of O’Donnell, Mitchell, Hooper, Evans and others all missed canny chunks of pre-season for one reason or another.
With that being said, the lads have absolutely smashed it in these opening 4 games this season. From day one they’ve gelled together seamlessly, playing some brilliant high pressing and attacking football which has been a delight to watch. It may be early days yet and in all honesty, while I think a promotion push probably isn’t on the cards at the moment, it’s been encouraging to finally have a team that plays this way and grafts constantly after some of the football we’ve had to endure since 2019.
Off the field, things have finally begun to change as well. If you’ve been to Croft Park this season you’ve likely seen the new fanzone (sponsored by TUS) which is a welcome addition, alongside the new burger van. The van seems to have gone down well so far, and is obviously a marked improvement on what we had previously. Planning work has already began on the new kitchen facility where the old toilet block is as well, though a proper update on that should be coming soon and I’m led to believe the hunt for kitchen equipment has already begun. Once the kitchen is built, I believe the fanzone may be extended along past the gate near the F Southern stand.
Alcohol in the ground seems to have gone down well, so far at least. No negative feedback has been received so far to my knowledge and the clubhouse made and extra few quid than it expected on Saturday against Hereford, which is always a positive. It’s a bit of a head scratcher as to why the club are now finally taking these suggestions onboard now but I’m certainly not complaining. I know internally Colin Blackett has done a lot of work to help get changes pushed through, and deserves a lot of credit for implementing supporters feedback.
On the subject of feedback, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank anyone that completed one of our surveys in the last 2 years. As feedback from those surveys has been worth it’s weight in gold, and actually gone a long way to helping improve things in and around Croft Park.
On top of that, the 1899 Club has FINNALY received a reboot which I’m sure you’ll be aware of by now. Scott Gibson is now at helm when it comes to the 1899 club, and has been hard at graft sorting out the subscribers. I’ve said previously but again, the work Scott has put in over the last few months to push through these changes has been brilliant and he deserves a lot of credit for his efforts. If you’re wanting to join up, here’s how you can do so!
1. Email scott.gibson@blythspartans.com stating how much you want to contribute each month, based on the table below.
2. Scott will confirm your draw numbers and the reference you need for your standing order.
3. Set up your standing order with your bank on whichever date is best for you, and you’re all done!
At present, the 1899 Club numbers have increased by about 40% which is wonderful to see. Personally I’d love to see the numbers increase to what they were at the peak (320?) but of course that will only happen over time.
As for the how things are developing with Green Army at the moment, it’s safe to say things almost couldn’t be better! The new podcast is now 5 episodes in as of today (23 August) and I think were about to break the 1000 listens mark, which is pretty class in all honesty. I’ve said before I’d be buzzing with 50 listens an episode, so the response so far has been tremendous. The website is doing pretty well also, as a whole that’s averaging about 2,000 views a month as well which is well up from last seasons average of 1,200 views a month but most of all, I hope you’re enjoying the bits of content we’re putting out!
The Summer Raffle did okay, raising about £150(ish) for us but that was well down on the Christmas 2022 raffle. That being said, we did have a lot more prizes this year upping the costs, and people have buying memberships etc so I can totally understand why people couldn’t commit to purchasing tickets.
Membership sales however are doing well again this year, as were on just over 80 members signed up for this season. Again, a huge thank you to each and everyone one of you! If you’re looking to get signed up, you’ve got until 31 August to do so. This months prize draw will be done on Friday (25 August) and we’ll be giving away Will McGowan’s away shirt from last season, which can be signed if required. Fancy signing up? You can do so here.
Regarding awaydays, we had a great first awayday at Warrington and I know the lads and lasses are buzzing for Buxton this Saturday! That being said, we’ll be doing our best to keep bus prices down going forward. That may be harder than some people may think, as bus prices from companies aren’t exactly what they used to be. That being said, I’m sure you can understand that some of the companies are just putting prices up to match the rising cost of living, and some are doing that while still trying gouge us for money.
As for the dumb shit the lads have been up to, honesty things have been reasonably tame. Hendy has been behaved (sort of) hasn’t totally disgraced himself. The only major ‘What The Fuck moment’ was young Owen Elliot, getting the first ever Green Army tattoo! Fair play Owen, €100 well spent.
Apart from a few messy nights in the Masons, it’s been a tame few weeks by our standards. Mind the start of the season and the return of awaydays will no doubt change all that again.
Anyway, thank you once again to everyone who supports us! it’s weird but brilliant to have a ‘feel good factor’ around the club at the moment. Long may it continue!
Cheers, Dan