Southern Football League Champions 2018/2019
TERRAS TIMES The newsletter of the Weymouth FC Supporters Association
ISSUE 16 August 2019
From the Editors Chair Yes I know its September! But I have been away enjoying a late summer holiday in the French Alps. Electricity was as sparse as wi-fi during the stay so I am slightly behind the times on Terras news and updates. However the latest new iteration of the club website has been brilliant in getting me up to speed since I returned and I was also happy to keep up with the Tonbridge game whilst queuing for the Dartford Crossing. The start to the season has been brilliant so far, despite the Management and Players being slightly unhappy with some of the levels achieved so far. Its going to be a long season, and as people kept telling me as I cycled through the Alps, its not how you start , its how you finish. And for reference I was finishing exhausted and sweat drenched, a true Fenlander on a mountain. As I write this we have seen some early season comings and goings as the Manager gets his squad to the level he wants. Its incredible to think that the club is in such a position and after the announcement of the revised land deal, I would also like to add my personal thanks to all at the club who worked so hard and diligently to get us back on the front foot. There is plenty to look forward to in the coming, days, weeks and seasons, so stick with the team even if things do get a bit sticky over the course of this campaign. It’s a great time to be a Terras
James FRIDAY 6th SEPTEMBER 2019. So pop along to The Bob Lucas Stadium As always there are plenty of prizes and Cash to be won. Cold and Hot Drinks are available from our well stocked Bar. Doors Open at 6.30pm Eyes Down at 7.30pm
Have you taken your shirt on holiday this summer? Weymouth fans have been off on their travels around the globe this summer, although the weather has been good enough to stay on the beach at home for some of it. We have had reports of shirts being seen in the French Alps and Fiji of all places. If you have a picture, why not send it to the WFCSA and we will publish them .
Chairman’s Chatter Welcome to the September edition of the Supporters Association Newsletter. The season is now well and truly in full swing and the Terras, at time I am penning these notes, have made a really excellent start to the season. They have won three and drawn two of their opening five fixtures, who could have predicted that when the fixtures were announced! I hope I have not jinxed the good start! Well, the hot topic this month is most certainly the land deal announcement. As the supporters representative on the Clubs Board for the past year, I can assure you it has been the one dominating topic. Whilst I hope you will appreciate I am not able to go into any specific details of what has gone on behind the scenes, I am breaking no confidence when I tell you it has taken an awful lot of determined hard work, and to those responsible, we owe a huge debt of thanks. The question has been asked, since the deal was announced to shareholders and subsequently reported in the Dorset Echo, was it a good deal for the club? Well, let me speak to you purely as a shareholder and a supporter. Before the deal was announced, Weymouth Football Club owned the stadium, the land it sits on and a small ribbon of land around the perimeter of the stadium, the remainder we did not own. I won't go into details of how we got there, it is what our Club Board inherited due to the actions of others and that is all there is to say really. The land deal announced that Weymouth Football Club was buying back, for £1, a large part of the land surrounding the stadium and would be granted licence to use the majority of the remainder for car parking on match days. Once the deal is signed, the club will get a sum of money. There is an option agreement that runs until 2024 to allow the land owners the opportunity to identify a suitable site for a new stadium, build that stadium and use the funds raised from selling the existing site to fund it all. No suitable site within the borough has been found to date and the general consensus is that no site will be found. Whist that remains to be seen of course, the reality of the situation is, Weymouth Football Club now has stability of tenure at it's current location with very little prospect moving. So under the circumstances from which the Club Board was starting in regards to trying to strike a deal, this is a very good one for us! In my opinion of course. We can now move on and continue to update, repair and generally improve the facilities at the Bob Lucas Stadium and as such, continue to build on the success that Mark Molesley has had on the pitch! Don't forget, I am more that happy to field any questions you may have on the subject and take them to the Board if appropriate.
Before I sign off, can I just remind you to that you can start playing the Claret & Blue Lottery at any time of the year and all the money we raise after prize money is awarded is going into the playing budget so you really can make a difference and maybe even win some money yourself! As ever, thank you for your support and to keep up to date with everything that is going on, check out the social media sites. Thank you for your support. If you wish to get in contact with me, please email terrasshop2017@gmail.com Pete Nash Chairman Weymouth Football Club Supporters Association