Southern Football League Champions 2018/2019
TERRAS TIMES The newsletter of the Weymouth FC Supporters Association
ISSUE: July 2020
From the Editors Chair I am giving up predicting anything after recent weeks. I had even made peace with the fact that the playoffs weren’t going to happen and was pleased to see the squad re-shuffle starting to take shape. It was nice to see us ahead of the game in terms of trying to make the best of the situation and being ready for 2020/2021. This feels like the appropriate time to thanks the players who were with the club on a permanent basis and have moved on. Brett Williams was reliable in his season with our club and we wish him well in his coaching role at AFC Totton. Abdoulai Baggie arrived at the club with a minimal amount of fanfare and a reputation as a bit of a journeyman. It’s fair to say that Mark Molesley and his coaches managed to get the best out of him and despite some contract related murmurs last summer he was outstanding this season and deserves to go back full time. Such is out progress as a club I do wonder if Eastleigh is so much of a step up, but hey I am a Terras fan and I want the best players in our shirt. Callum Ward and Brennan Camp have returned to AFC Bournemouth with plenty of kudos for their performances in a Weymouth shirt. Ward has been outstanding between the sticks and any video of review of the season will feature some of his acrobatic work, and what can you say about Camp? For me he is our player of the season (although Super Jake might have reason to complain) and if his progress continues at this rate will probably follow Mark Trav-
ers and Sam Surridge in going from Weymouth to the Premier league. We thank both and wish them well. So the play offs are back on (getting back to my original point) and by the time the next newsletter is out we will have proper confirmation of what division we are going to be playing in. The efforts of the club and its volunteers and fans in getting the money together to help prepare the Bob Lucas Stadium and sort out Covid tests should make us the envy of clubs all over the country. Let’s do this !!! Up the Terras
James
Football’s staying home– guest column Tim Bluff Firstly, thanks to James for asking me to add a few lines to the newsletter. It’s probably been twenty years since I wrote something for publication, and if you manage to get to the end of this you’ll probably understand why. So, it’s early June and for most of us the season that didn’t exist is now well and truly over. We’re already into the flurry of pre-season activity with players and clubs announcing where or who they’ve signed for next season. I say signed, but of course non-league clubs can’t register players yet, and no doubt some of these players and clubs will have parted company long before a ball is kicked in anger – whenever that may be – but at least it’s something to keep us fans in touch. I’ve long since given up being interested in the goings on in the upper echelons of the domestic football world and being a supporter of a non-league team has helped that, although the current wrangling's over the fate of the league season have fascinated me. Premier League and Championship teams are preparing for a mid-June restart while ending League Two at its current point should be a formality as the clubs have already signalled their wish to do so. League One, however, has proved rather a stumbling block and today’s the day that League One clubs get to vote to agree a framework for how to settle the season. In opting for this conciliatory approach the EFL have laid themselves open to individual clubs putting up amendments and alternative frameworks – no doubt to further their own cause and, having resolved which framework to adopt, there will still need to be a vote to end the season early, albeit with a simple 51% majority required which, on the face of it, could well be achieved. It’s important to note that the financial circumstances of many League One clubs differ greatly from those in the Championship, let alone the Premier League. Whilst the latter are driven by having to pay a £750m rebate to broadcasters for failing to conclude the season, in League One it’s more about clubs surviving through to a time of relative normality. It has long been the case that matchday fans are an irritant to Premier League clubs. The cost of hosting them outweighing the income they bring with them – why else would clubs allow Southampton to host Newcastle on a Sunday lunchtime when the first train out of Newcastle won’t get fans to Southampton before half time? You only have to look at the changing nature of kit sponsors and touchline advertisers to know where the power base in top flight domestic football is. A resumption of the League One season means having to take players off furlough, getting them back to full fitness and playing games with little or no revenue to cover the estimated cost of £250,000 to £300,000. Added to which a number of clubs have players whose contracts expire on 30th June. Clubs with no interest in seeing out the remainder of the season are unlikely to want to (even if they’re able to) offer enhanced short term deals to these players, some of whom have already announced that they won’t play), which could lead to an influx of youth team players or pay as you play free agents. Neither scenario being particularly satisfactory. By the time you’re reading this the fate of the League One season will no doubt have been decided, albeit consigned to the inside pages, subsumed by the drama of wall to wall Premier League football beamed directly into your living room. Football’s staying home if you like. Actually, any drama created by watching twenty two blocks kicking a ball about from the comfort of your favourite armchair is nothing compared to the plight of your local club struggling to survive in these difficult times, so maybe now really is the time to persuade friends and family to ditch the Sky subscription and head down to your local non-league team’s ground when the new season starts – after all, football’s not about staying at home, is it?i Tim is a Stamford AFC fan based in Cardiff who has spent the last quarter of a century being forced to watch Weymouth FC by me!
Chairmans Chatter Welcome to you all to this month’s newsletter, and I hope we find you well and dealing suitably with the new found freedoms as the historic lockdown we all experienced begins to ease! I have to start with the sad news of the passing of Terras supporter Clive Parker. On behalf of the Terras Family and community, we send our heartfelt condolences to all of Clive’s family and friends at this sad time. He was a lovely gentleman and he will be greatly missed. When the circumstances permit, we will pay our respects and honour his memory. It has been an incredibly busy time as the football club finds itself in unchartered waters, having to find the finances to stage our first ever home play off fixture! What an unbelievable statement that is, we have to fund the right to stage a football match! It has been quite a surreal year in one way or another but it has to be said, personally, I am so pleased that Mark Molesley and his team get the opportunity their hard work throughout the season so richly deserved. It comes as no real surprise that at the time of writing, the Go Fund Me appeal has of itself now raised over £10,000! You are incredible Terras fans! Along with the £3,000 donated on your behalf from the WFCSA, £5,000 from Take Two fundraising and £750 from the Old Gits, we currently have nearly £20k to help cover the play off costs. Whilst I cannot go into details, it must be stressed that Weymouth FC remains in a sound financial position with a budget set for the 2020-2021 season, whenever that may start. The need for this additional money is simply to comply with government regulations for staging football matches. We need to have a testing regime in place along with a requirement to deep clean The Bob Lucas Stadium ahead of any match taking place there. As the game will be played behind closed doors, there will be no matchday income. (At the time of writing it was still not known if BT were going to cover the play-off games at our level). So, in order to compete in the play offs and to safeguard our financial position, additional funding was required, it was as simple as that. I hope that answers any doubts you may have had regards this issue, as I know the club were at pains to ensure everyone was aware of the unique circumstances it found itself in.
We are planning to launch a special limited-edition home shirt to help raise further funds, details will be out there by now! Here is an image of what you can expect to see! We hope you like it? Because this historic game will take place behind closed doors, we wanted to give fans the opportunity to have a memento that was both appealing and unique! The replica shirt will differ slightly as the players shirts will not carry the ‘MOLESLEY’S HEROES’ logo! As an added bonus, you can have your name added to the back of the shirt at no extra cost, courtesy of our generous suppliers. Available on our new online shop at www.wfcsa.co.uk/shop We have additional plans to commemorate this unique event and those details will be published as soon as they are finalised.
As ever, we thank you all for your continued support, it has been truly amazing. Please continue to be vigilant and stay safe. Best wishes to you all. Pete Nash -WFCSA ‘The Terras Supporters Club’ Chairman