The Rebel Yell Podcast is back for 1 last episode of the 23/24 season and joining James, Spencer and Jacco this month are: Club Chairman Barry Hunter; New COO and former GM Keith Mitchell; former Women’s manager John Donoghue; record goalscorer Ollie Pearce and former kit man Stu Evans! Thanks for all your support this season to Rebel Yell and Worthing FC Supporters association and we look forward to seeing you all next season. Keep an eye out on our socials @RebelYellWFCSA for any updates throughout the summer!
[Music] on [Music] YouTube on podcast on live this is Rebel Yell from the [Music] wfca this is the Rebel Yell podcast supported by MK window cleaning and price Jones electrical [Music] welcome to episode 99 of the Rebel yel podcast the last one of the Season 2324 sponsored by MK window cleaning and price James electrical so James Jacko Spencer how we doing chaps good I’m all right thanks yeah um have our emotions calm down um yeah they have and I had a bit of a different experience after the game yeah I was upset but Jack and he’s going to hate me for this he was an absolute tears Jack just he’s my son he was an absolute tears and he was crying his eyes out so my concern was first to make sure he was all right and and there were some other supporters as well I’ll give I’ll give Jack that cuz I was in tears as well cuz I saw steu and like Ollie in tears as well so I’ll put him I I’ll stand on that there’s nothing wrong with a man showing his emo no there’s nothing but I had to look after him first and then my own emotions and I think my emotions started when we left and I saw I briefly spoke to eron and I thought yeah we haven’t done it but I was looking the bright side yeah you know after after the branchy game obviously really disappointing down Etc but then you know with hindsight what a amazing season we had what a journey well let’s take it back cuz we the last podcast we did was before the Maidstone it was before the Maidstone semi final and what what a game and what an ending to that game with Ole Pierce you know with cash with a open goal and olle decides to selfishly take it past when it’s behind him somehow got it past ma ston keeper I mean unbelievable that that game was unbelievable the atmosphere the you know everything about that me and Spencer getting soaked by Danny cashman’s sweat cuz he jumped on us oh thanks for that memory yeah that was a memory in half of the Season weren it but what a game that was and what what just what experience and then after that to see the town just go completely red and white yeah did that game made St when I came home I was just mentally and physically drained I was just I I felt like I played a match myself you know it’s h but you know I took so much out of me and I I was I was nervous before made so match I did enjoy it I didn’t enjoy the game once I said that didn’t I guys I you can’t enjoy player football no no either games were not enjoyable because you so much riding on them know it’s it’s a must win isn’t it so you know it makes it more difficult it’s your whole season coming down to 90 minutes of football yeah but you i’ I think I enjoyed the final more than the semi-final I just enjoyed the whole buildup like it great day I starting off early went to web spoons got some drinks got some food went to the club you know stood in the after mentioned Chris big stand you know unofficially sponsored by Chris bigs I think we can say yeah you know anyone hasn’t seen it about it just look online we we we had a great group of people there and it was just absolutely great and you know I think that’s that’s one of the things from the season um over whole season the friendships and the laughs we had despite the results of time and yes we were shouting it was rubbish but we always came back and we always had a laugh didn’t we and you know and was like you know spending time with your mat and watch a bit of football yeah no matter what the result we always have a cracking cracking day or evening watching watching the rebels family yeah we do and unfortunately we haven’t even had time with since the last podcast Spencer hasn’t got any service stations to reviews or meal deals has he he might as a God for a weekend I’m taking a preseason special cuz I think all the preseason are going to be on the road so might have just Spencer Services preseason special eh to laning well where can we start uh woring woring Cafe Cafe rosat are on the platform um but yeah I mean the memories we’ve had this season I mean you know would have any of ever thought that we’d have sold out all the tickets in about 5 minutes to the playoff final and I know a lot of people were unhappy about that but what could the club really have done you know they gave the season ticket old as a priority but you know they’ve learned their lessons as we’ll hear from later on was very unprecedented situation wasn’t it and you know yeah we’ve been in the semi-final before it wasn’t a away game where we had x amount of tickets now we’re playing at home you know Logistics of everything and you know it’s just I think a massive learning curve and I think the club got some stick online and I think they didn’t deserve it and people saying oh let’s go to the MX let’s go to the neutral neutral venue it doesn’t work like that you know there’s a reason you finish the position you’re in and that’s why you play at home and you know the MX we’ve been that a couple of times when the sus senior cup it was a great night the second time course we won it but still the atmosphere I thought was always not great because it’s a fifth of the stadium if that you know so no I think it was great and you know at show we got a great ground and and I think it’s better to come at the ground you you just so want to see us build on it you know the interest the fans that came the fans that wanted to come and couldn’t come you know you so want us to build on that come next season you know you want to see the crowd numbers up you want to be a better atmosphere you want you want more money coming into the club you know our efforts attendance I think it’s it good up in double digits or something double digits I think Barry alluded to it when we speak to him in a little bit but I think to be honest it’s just proud to see you know for God’s sake every Pub in woring was showing the final you know the good show shout out to O Connors on morck street and the Broadwater in Broadwater green you know the absolutely fantastic woring flag flying outside the broad PB it had a bit for me a bit like the FA Cup an FA Cup Final the whole town was behind the club and it you know I like to see it continued yeah we won’t be on telly every week no but stories of people being in the pubs and I went to watching the pub said there a bit like the European football championships are coming up in the S the World Cup the atmosphere in the pubs colors being worn songs being sung it’s fantastic I mean I hope people didn’t waste their points by throwing them on the ceiling when we scored but you know that happened to me at the side of the [ __ ] actually got crushed but you know it was an amazing experience um and one that will live in the memories I think I would I’ll never forget this you know this this season you know we had we had highs we had lows brain tree away was a low for me I was just awful you know but I just yeah it’s just one of the best seasons of football I ever seen yeah you know even that you know the the brain tree game you know forget the result you’ve got to enjoy the experience you don’t know when when it’s coming round again if ever hopefully next season and oh we win it we win it but unfortunately football’s not that simple is it yeah well we all said throughout the theme of the podcast every episode was it’s been a roller coaster of the season I think the last couple of gam been a roller coaster of emotions I mean the heart rate monitor on my watch probably was thinking what the hell is going on because uh you know up up down up and down up and down up and down but then at the end of the day I think it’s just a moment to remember for the club it’s um it’s a moment that we’re living all our memories and I think that’s what we can be grateful for we are but it’s this setting the standard for what’s to come well we did say um every league in the National leagues every year in the National League out been so far we’ve always done one better um hinch said last season they’d like to do one better next year got to the first round of the FA Cup we didn’t do a trophy run um the FA Cup was an amazing experience to go all the way up to Alon great experience on the coaches um and then we had we got third place in the league when we were fourth last year so we missed The Eliminator round and we had a home final but we missed out next year oh I or second place I think it’s too early to say isn’t it we new manager we can pray we can pray that’s what we can think if we do one better that would be great it’s a it’s a it’s such a tough league as well you know it’s usually apart from you know this year yville Miles Ahead everyone else last year F leite miles but behind that it’s such it’s such a close League there’s so many good teams I think this next season will be the strongest league for our three years for our third year well let’s let’s focus on the playoffs with um Barry and we spoke to Barry sat down with Barry uh he gave up his Sunday to come speak to us and uh talk about the season for Barry so over to you this is the Rebel Yell part podcast Barry welcome back to the rebel podcast uh I think first first and foremost we need to say how would you sum up the 23 24 season for you as a chairman of w football club hi James I would say in one word it’s been progress MH another year of progress they had a very successful year if you split that out into pitchside and off Pitch then you know considering our men’s first team were fourth last year year in the league um we asked them to finish in the top three this year there wasn’t much room for error but we managed to do that get into a semi-final Place get into the final playoffs so real progress in that respect um we’ve had double digit growth in our tendences about 15% more on our average we be on TV twice uh live which is a first for the club um three Academy players finished the game against Brain tree uh ex Academy players which is success for us and progress our under 18s third in a row Champions and champions are champions for the first time our women’s team finished third in their league the first season um on the pitch I don’t think we could have done much more other than the obvious which was to win that playoff final and off the pitch few points here but very successful we’ve had double digit growth in our revenues again probably over the 2year period that we’ve now seen we’ve nearly doubled our revenues um and we more than fivefold our revenues uh from 5 years ago preo um we’ve had significant investment come into the club through a new board appointment director in the club shareholder which has enabled a lot of investment to come in and Chris salt as Steward if you like financially Club is doing a cracking job in keeping our balance sheets really really healthy so other than not getting promotion for the men’s first te it’s been a fantastic year for the club well we spoke to you when um obviously Adam hinwood left the club in February and um you were very set that you said the replacement on the interim base of Aaron buddy and um Dean Dean sorry um that they were you know the right appointments for the club obviously we had a little blip and one stage it looked like we might not make the playoffs but they turned that around when the TV cameras came for the first time we didn’t lose after that how do you think that team you know did and could you have asked any more of them no they got us to where we set out as an objective at the beginning of the season they got us third we were only a goal away from being second was um a very very good performance and of course uh you’re not it’s always going to be plain sailing but to do what they did in that short space of time first of all I think means that the decision Nathan brought to the board the recommendation to keep the continuity was absolutely the right one uh but secondly the guys executed it brilliantly and um we’re very proud of them very impressed with the job they did yeah no it’s fantastic they um we couldn’t have asked any better as fans and how they set in set into the club and everything like that how was um I mean how did you find from the Chairman’s point of view how the town came out to support Worthing football club on the playoff final cuz obviously we were lucky enough to be in the ground here at Woodside but from reports of what I’ve seen and pictures it one of one someone actually said to me it was almost like the Euro football you know like when the Euros are on the pubs were completely full you know for example Conor on war Street the Broadwater Pub they had Flags out decoration they had a party and it felt like the European football championships for the first time myself being a fan I Spencer and Jacko probably agree it made you feel proud that the town are finally coming out to support the football club um and for you as a chairman that must have been an amazing site to see especially coming from woring as well and playing for the club for all those years it’s um it was so fantastic to see and you know whilst we may not have experienced that many times in the history of the club odd 40 odd years the the math and the facts show you the data says this club could be a very good club and I think for the first time certainly from in my lifetime as being involved with the club we managed to see a huge response in the community we had um 110,000 viewers watching this live on TV wow the pubs were um inundated read all over the town Partnerships as we know we’ll talk about ensure the demand of tickets it it kind of shows where where we could go and I was therefore as a chairman of this football club very encouraged by the opportunity I think we have you you briefly mentioned I was going to ask the demand for tickets obviously um on social media there was a lot of backlash negative backlash um I had a conversation with George I people came up Lous idea of C to the AMX needs beutal fenes it doesn’t work like that um and I tried to tell people why it doesn’t work but have any lessons been learned because a lot of people say oh we need a membership system we need XY set what other the club going to do or look at for the future you know cuz obviously we want to be in the same position to again honest we Champions we haven’t got that issue one better yeah it’s a very good question Jack first thing is I think there are two probably uh important learnings there are loads more but there are two very important learnings that we need to make sure we fix the first is the system itself that we have to manage the ticketing and the demand wasn’t set up to manage the number of applicants we had tickets it can be but it wasn’t and it had to be adjusted and so we got a bit of work to do with our ticking team system suppliers to fix that problem so that doesn’t happen again the other thing that I believe we we let down for which I you know sincerely apologize is that there are other than season ticket holders who were given priority there are a number of very low supporters who visit the club watch the team regularly um and we weren’t in a position to support them and give them access to tickets how we do that going forward there are lots of options but be assured that we will find a way of making sure when tickets are in are managed in the past in in the future sorry when they manag we will make sure that the regular supporters are given some priority I think that will probably be in the form of some membership but it most definitely has to be linked to how many times they come to watch the team play and we need to make sure we can record that with um with with the fans you know you said you you obviously apologize that you know some people missed out I guess it’s not an easy way a process to make it simple at this level is there because you know you go for the professional leagues a away tickets are bought through the club so you can always track um when do you think you’ll be ready to announce a sort ticketing scheme or will it not be until we need to have that ticketing scheme well first of all the season tickets are going on live tomorrow and any season ticket holder whether it’s an early bird or otherwise will be given status so that’s the first thing I would encourage anyone looking to come to you know support the team regularly next season go by a season ticket because that will guarantee you priority beyond that um I think there will be a way in which we can capture who comes to the game yeah and and in doing so we can then give the most regular supporters a second priority if you like yeah cuz like people like myself you know like I financially there’s no point in me buying a season ticket home because I might be able to go to a away match or home match to work there’s a lot of people like that so it’s I guess it’s people like that the ones that are worried because as you said there are law supporters that go home and away throughout the season but they either can’t afford a season ticket or they there’s no Financial reason to get a season ticket for that reason so that’s good to hear it’s good to hear um looking outside um the stadium or the ground as you say at the moment cuz I think you said off air it’ll be a stadium next year um the new stand how was that planet application process cuz I know uh hearing from Keith and stuff it was quite stress during the run up to the amount of complaints and um negative reception from people living around the ground and we got it through there were some restrictions that you have to do um how pleased were you to get that planning application through well we were very pleased obviously to get that through um I think it’s natural uh to receive some objections it’s part of the process it’s the right thing to do local people were heard and we want to be good neighbors who want to know what those concerns are I think a lot of them Focus around parking which actually is probably something not the our GI I think it’s true cuz there are some people that Park really badly and I think you know if you lived around here it’s not necessarily football but you know if you can’t get off your drive cuz someone’s been selfish but then again as we said Jacko you said in the last podcast just send some ticket parking inspectors round on a Saturday and I’m sure they will stop doing it yeah there as part of the um the planning U decision there are a few conditions linked to that one of which is a a proper review of the paring situation and I’m sure the council will try and fix that particular problem but in the context of the overall application we really pleased with the support the council showed us even talking to the local neighbors who were there they they love the fact that club’s been wrestling there’s no one has an objection to the club progressing and we were really pleased about that yeah and of course it will it will future proof Club to operate with 4,000 in the National League so we’re sitting here with ground at the moment and we can see the The Works are already ongoing and started so do you mind clarifying for for us and for everybody you know what work is going to be taken on over the sumon what people can expect when they come back next season I’m going to set Keith up here because obviously it’s easy as a board to to bring the money in and and make sure know the decisions made on what we want to do keth has to now deliver it which is a big big ask but I know he’s up up for the job so we have some objectives we needed to fulfill first one was that we wanted to upgrade the capacity of the ground that apart from anything else will help with ticketing in the future if you can bring another thousand in that would really help um so we’re trying to up upgrade the capacity of the ground and almost future proof the ground should we and when we get promotion to the National League we want to get on with that job um so you’ll see a a 4,000 sorry a 4,000 ground Stadium ground capacity here that’s going to be enabled by the new stands being built we have an objective to increase our revenues sources of revenue from match days which uh for example we’ll see uh new food beverage in the far northwest corner which is also going to provide a better supporter experience where we do segregate we lose the northeast corner so it’s trying to make sure our supporters are looked after in the best way they can um putting that aside we’ve we’re doing things around more Hospitality in the what recovered now the Woodside Bar and we will uh upgrade and finish the work to the fan Zone which will properly roof it put a porest floor in there and make it a fit for purpose area for our supporters to enjoy we’re also in the room we’re sitting in now we going to convert the what is the current boardroom into a reception area people can come in the only way into the ground will be through re setion with an office behind it make it much more grown up and and fit for purpose again so there’s a lot happening delivering different objectives but all in all trying to just upgrade the club and and as you said James taking it from a ground into a stadium well the front building that we’re in now as you said it’s not just the reception the bar is going to finally be finished as part of the fan Zone what will become of Woodside Bar will it stay as it is or are there plans to change any of that ECT over there the standar is the standar it’s going to stay the same continue to operate as a bar services and the club it provides functions in the week and match day it serves supporters but by doing more work around the fan Zone we’re going to have a much more fit forp purpose bar um in the east side of the ground fantastic well we’re focusing on last season um as we know big news was Adam hinch had stepped away from the club um between the end of season brain tree and um us recording with you now we’ve got a new manager Chris AGA AGA AGA AGI we’ll get his name right eventually we call him Chris Chris yeah Chris there you go Chris him Chris okay Aggie we’ll call him agie I remember that yeah yeah but you call me agie for getting agie over football so you know it’s different um the process was obviously a long process and I know Nathan as a director of football but as a board you would have taken into consideration many candidates was he always the number one target um um from when the manager search started and you know did he come into the process almost straight away or was he a late Runner or anything like that is there any information you give us on that what helped us with the process and and the way we did this was the board split into two and three of us myself George and Nathan took charge of the process to find a new manager and then bring that person as a recommendation to the board for ratification what we set out right at the front end was a set of unconditional criteria uh we weren’t thinking about individual candidates at this stage we just wanted to make sure we hired someone brought someone in who was fit for the club we weren’t even thinking about leag because the the nature of this club and the town and it’s as I said before the mro fact we know there is going to be growth we just want to make sure we have our own identity as we go through that transition and that growth we wanted to run our own race and choose a manage that we felt was fit for purpose and in many ways not fix something that wasn’t broken without Adam we had a lot of success and we wanted to keep that continuity partly saw it with with uh the interim team we had so the manager that we brought in had to make sure there was continuity and deliver style of play that was consistent with uh bringing more crowds more goals and and all the things supported success on the pitch we wanted to bring a manager in that um was had committed to stepping outside of a professional environment even in an academy environment into a role where they were taking a risk themselves but wanted to be a manager that for us was there was a statement of intent that they stood came out of a more comfortable professional environment into a non-league environment that told us something we saw that with Adam we know that there’s a certain character that will do that we wanted that person to have demonstrated that characteristic we wanted somebody that was really emotionally very intelligent with people we wanted a man manager of people and that was a a big criteria we didn’t just want a personality we had to have someone who was very capable of managing people and we wanted an analytical decision maker who was evidencebased rather than just emotionally based um we wanted somebody who had seen what good looks like in a professional environment from an academy point of view we wanted somebody that had worked in the Professional Academy and had demonstrated their their value the play they place on on and a player PA so when you put all these different things together actually despite the number of applicants and people expressing interest we could narrow down our shortness very very very tightly and and agie became one of those obvious candidates within that that list is it right I’ve been told that you looked at lots of stats as well for every candidate you know what Stacks how many corners they conceded from how many corners they scored from is that correct you look lots of stats yes one of the um criteria was uh Sol play um we we knew Adam’s profile his stats we knew exactly what they were and we compared his stats with other manager stats and we’ve probably had 10 to 12 different managers compared with Adams so we had a proper OB of their own performances yeah one thing I was going to say is there’s been a little bit of talk online on some of the forums and chat groups that um when we interviewed you previously when hinch left you were possibly looking at someone with national league experience or hire already obviously Chris hasn’t a agie hasn’t got that experience so was there any sort of you said you wanted to fit for the club which I understand but when was that decision made to maybe not necessarily focus on National League or higher experience I’m sure you would have had candidates that had that experience in for the job it’s a good question we definitely did speak to people from um roles that either had or are in higher levels um but we did qualify that criteria and we need as long as the person that we recruited or shortlisted had the capability of operating at a high level yeah and that did actually remove a lot of managers but it definitely didn’t remove Agy from that process he has also managed at stevenage and had experience with their first team yeah but um we it you didn’t have to had to have managed in a high League yeah you definitely needed to demonstrate you could manage in a high League got you got you and I guess we can chat for ages we always can but I just before we sort of wrap this up um a special shout out for John and Kelly who stepped away from the women’s team they brought a lot of success to that women’s team moving on from Michelle um are you sad to see them move on personally of course theyve been great characters but also been very successful if you think they’ve been involved with the club just over two years and in those two years they’ve got us promotion and finished third last season in in in tier four of the woms game and uh it’s been an incredibly successful period for them I I I applaud them for the efforts theyve put in as well they’re probably very very tired I know they are because um it’s not the men’s first team it’s it’s a team in a club which doesn’t get the level of support the men’s first team does and so do ask and expect a lot from the people that do manage and they’ve done an incredibly success been very successful and are incredibly committed were incredibly committed to the time and going forward what’s the sort of process now for finding a new manager or manageres is that what you say now manager manager manager manager um manager for the women’s team or manager team um and the future of the women’s team well the task is with uh Nathan to recruit um a replacement to John and Kelly Replacements bring it evening that’s started and there’s there’s an ad we’ve advertised this one and I believe that have started to to come in already so that will that will run its course course and um we will um end up I’m sure with a very capable team the ambition is to stay in the LI in bear in mind two years ago we were a lot further down the per are now we don’t want to lose that momentum um to go up a level is a very different story so we have to make some you know um tough choices about that but at the moment we want to hold on to the success we’ve had over the last couple of Seasons yeah fantastic and I guess you’ll probably want to get that position filled quite quickly so they can plan for Following Season yes that’s important very helpful Kelly John you know we’ve talked to them and Nathan was aware of their position um so it’s given him time to get this job add out and um find somebody who can come put a team together yeah fantastic well Barry thank you very much for joining us again on the RB podcast and um enjoy your summer I’m sure it’s not going to be a quiet one but uh we look forward to speaking to you in the new season Thanks James cheers this is the Rebel Yell podcast great s usual to hear from Barry Hunter and some quite interesting insights chaps into what went on in season and what they’re preparing for next year yeah I think Barry’s always very open and honest with them with us and he he tells us what he can tell us and sometimes a bit more on air and but I think it’s always has messaged me asking to delete anything yet so that’s a good sign that’s a good that’s a good sign but no it’s always good here for bar and you know I think it’s good to hear for to for other supporters as well what’s actually happening you know you can see it on social media you we’re building a new stand but actually what’s happening with it and all the other things it’s exciting times and it’s good to get you know the information that Barry gives us you know it’s pure passion for the club and what’s what’s happened and what’s going on shines through and I think it’s fantastic I just the way he’s pushing the club forward you know people won’t like the fact that we are changing from a non-league club into professional football club that wants obviously the goal at the moment is me in the National League but they’ll be an ultimate goal they want to be a football league club and to me there’s nothing wrong with that a size a town the size of wering deserves to have a football league club I think you know you look at some of the teams that are in the football league now that have promoted from non league and I think you know fair play and I’m fully behind it I am but I think it’s and I’m and generalizing a bit I think the more the supporters have been going in for years I I think of afraid scared by achieving that that the club will you know borrow heavily invest a lot of money and if it goes wrong we come back to the same situation when George bought a club but I always said online and I’ve said it many times I believe that the board and the club will move things forward in a sustainable way you know we’re getting new stand built there’s work being done in other places potentially but I think the only do it because the money is there and they don’t have the C begging to the bank so I I trust them there’s there’s plenty of examples of teams that have gone from this level up into League football sulfur harut Sutton thoris green they they’ve all followed this path so it it’s not new ground as such no it’s not at all and I look forward to seeing the journey we’re going to take um but I think we’ve been talking to Barry I know he’s pushed a couple of his uh questions over to Keith so I think without further Ado let’s speak to Keith Mitchell who was a general manager last season but now he’s a chief operating officer this is the Rebel Yell podcast welcome back to the rebel y podcast Keith Mitchell who is now coo coo Chief Operating Officer sounds weird having a a woring COO doesn’t it but well done congratulations keth yeah welcome back um how you been yeah good thank you very much uh busy funnny enough yeah I think a little bit busy haven’t you been um firstly before we start into nitty-gritty thoughts on the season you know the playoffs everything like that first season in charge of the club up to the playoff final a lot of logistical nightmare for yourself but from part from that side about the football side of things well obviously I can’t take any credit for the football side of things as much as I’d like to obviously really really good results all the way through the season um I think there was that period of time wasn’t there just after hinch left where everyone took a a sharp intake of breath and after Aaron’s first win I think we then lost three and Drew one of the next four and dropped down a seventh and I think at that point most people were kind of like you know what we just take a playoff place at this point and hang in there um so to finish with six or of six straight wins catapulting us up into third I thought was a a really good show of of determination by the management team and by and by the players alike and obviously the fans stuck behind the team throughout that as well which was which was a credit to them as well so no what a successful season on the pitch and uh off the pitch as you mentioned the logistics of of two of a home semi-final and then a home final uh two firsts uh for the club at this level so uh fantastic I mean great environment great atmosphere for both matches I think everyone would agree uh in particular I think for the final even though there was less people in because of the logistical element of having the the sky uh sorry the um TNT Sports cameras here um to see the whole town get behind the club um and Angie deos and the guys that have been doing stuff across across all the town the Town pubs and paint the town red they created that little bit of a hashtag didn’t they paint the town red and to see see the footage that she sent me through of of what was going on in ooc coners and some of the other bars across town was brilliant to see our football team being supported so well locally yeah it was great to see and you know hopefully it’s uh things in the future we can continue to see and obviously some of those fans that turned up new fans as well will come back next season just before we move on to sort of ticketing and stuff like that Chief Operating Officer general manager differences in the roles for yourself uh well it’s still going to be flat out still going to be full on um there’s not going to be a rest bite coo doesn’t mean I get to go and sit in the stands and put my feet up unfortunately so um no I mean basically I think that the general manager role was what we needed to get us to where we are now I think it just solidified a few things put a few things in place that we needed to get done and on the bare face of it obviously there’s a lot of similarities between the two roles I guess it’s just the scope of opportunity that the COO role provides me over the next couple of years so I think this was always going to be and I think I mentioned it in the last podcast a kind of a 3 to 5e plan um because of how well we’ve done in the first year we’re now sort of thinking actually rather than just taking it another year we’re looking two years ahead now so I’m looking for what 2 years from now looks like so are you staying for the next 3 5 years is that what you’re saying the plan will be for 3 to 5 years Jacko whether that’s with me or somebody else I mean the thing is like you know there’s no one person that’s bigger than the club I it’s very it’s it’s a very role Centric environment at the moment you know it’s about getting the right PE right you know right positions in place and then finding the right people to do them um as well as they possibly can so um in my case it’s about giving me that opportunity to be a bit more strategic in what we look at and how we develop over the next two years and what’s required between now and then to achieve that so um moving on from the final and the playoffs um tell us a little bit about the the ticketing and just kind of how that a little bit of more background of how that works obviously from your perspective Club perspective there was a very small window for both games for for getting the tickets out there um obviously there were lots of people that didn’t get tickets and maybe should have thought tickets obviously tickets are limited um just thoughts as in sort of maybe lessons learn or maybe ideas for the future possibly or membership schemes anything like that loty points yeah I mean look first and foremost you obviously we’re sorry for everybody that wanted to come to the match and couldn’t you know that’s the most important thing um but when you unpack it um you actually sort of obviously you turn around you think what could we have done better you know what could we do next time and as we mentioned just now this is the first time we’ve done anything like this you know we’ve gone from having no sellouts to having back-to-back sellout matches now on the forums and on some of the conversational pieces on the socials after the semi fin most of the comments were around not giving season ticket holders a window to buy their tickets in advance so apart from that that was really the only feedback we’d got after the semi-final so we applied that we applied a 24-hour window for season tick Elders thinking okay well that will keep you know that will that will Rectify that that will write that wrong um and you know so that was on the bare face of it seemed like we thought would be the solution um I don’t think anybody in the club or anyone associated with the club expected the absolute Avalanche of attempted purchases that we had on that particular evening I sat I I sat with my with my laptop open and I tried to 759 the same as many other people did and I tried to um I didn’t try and buy a ticket but I just sort of I have the back of the back of house option on the sort of administration option on ticket pass to view things and I couldn’t get on it kicked me out a minute past as well um as so I knew either something was wrong or um you know or something was very right but I just couldn’t see it I didn’t know until about 7 17 minutes past eight when I Got a notification that it was all back up and running and that the tickets are sold out before 5 past dat so obviously um when we sort of unpacked that with with ticket pass and we went through the statistics which we posted in that statement a day or two later um it was it was apparent that the amount refreshes was something near nearly 40 37 38,000 refreshes in 7 seconds so when that happens um it obviously it crashed the system now we didn’t know that was going to happen the the end product of that when you look back is the over 7,000 people were trying to buy tickets for a 2 and 1 half th000 capacity match and sevens into 2 and 1 half just don’t go so as sad as that is um there was always going to be on the mass of that Circ of 5,000 unhappy people that wanted to try and buy a ticket and couldn’t yeah I mean you say you said unhappy people and you know some of them were first timers which I’m sure as you like as I would like as I’m sure Spence and Jack would like some people that might have got their first ever ticket to a club might have seen the start of football the atmosphere and you know the exciting nature of the football club and you know even if 10% of those new fans came back next season I’m sure it was a win-win for everyone but in future how are you going to control that like I used as example for Barry like myself I I’m a season I’m not a season ticket older because you know my work and you know I can’t commit to home games and I go to quite a lot of away games how are you as the sort of Club are going to keep an eye on that for loyalty yeah I think as as Spence mentioned the question originally actually is is the the options of what we’re now looking at for next season in terms of uring points whether it’s a membership scheme or not I think it certainly needs to be some kind of point system or Point scheme that allows you to acrw um some sort of loyalty points um and then if and when we’re at the uh the playoff scenario or the same sort of situation as we were this season next season um that will give the opportunity to people turn around um and obviously be uh G be given sort of priority Windows based upon those loyalty points but actually it’s a unique problem the club had with the ticketing because I try to get tickets today for Wembley my queuing was hour and a half and then you get there and they say you can buy two tickets actually you can only get one so it was very frustrating for me and I can understand frust from the people as well who tried to get tickets I was lucky I needed one ticket and I got it straight away so I like out well we look at this I mean look Wembley is is regarded by most as being you know the biggest and and best stadium in the world and if they get it wrong from time to time and they can’t get it bang on after all the years of experience of of dealing with sellouts that they’ve had you know when we were talking about doing dealing with two in a week um you know it’s not an easy one to get right this was this was through Club side there only 35 36,000 tickets available for some for Southampton and and Lead so 72 there but it was just a nightmare to get through so it’s not unique and I think you know give the Club credit you know putting two events on in short space of time I think you know I said it to Barry as well I think was well organized once you got in well look thanks for that I mean look for for my part also there’s you know the ticketing element is one thing and we we’ just talked about that and what our plans are going forward what I would say is for anyone that was that came to the ground and watched either of those two matches I think the operation element of those two matches the atmosphere that was created for both those games was absolutely outstanding yeah it was it was fantastic yeah so you know we’ve touched on you know demand for the game lots of new fans coming through hoping they enjoyed the experience you know paint the town red pubs full Etc you know what what can we do as a club to get those people back that it’s not a one-off experience well hopefully they enjoyed the one that they had um you know obviously it’s a shame that they you know to to lose in the manner that we did however I think that anybody that was watching that game or came and watch that match for the first time must have left with some kind of appetite and buz to come back so obviously you know we’ve got some day to capture work to do with ticket pass we’ve got some marketing planning to do to make sure that we’re tapping into that we don’t want to cut what we want to look after obviously those loyal fans that we’ve got you know that have come week in week out and some I’ve seen quite a few references is to come watching slow on a cold wet Tuesday night you know and I tip my hat to all those people there’s no doubt about that but also we can’t cut off any new blood lines either you know we don’t to shoot ourselves in the foot so it’s about getting that balance right and making sure that everyone sees a fair opportunity for both parties fantastic um moving on from the ticket you know we are talking about a season um obviously one part of last season that was a big major talking point in the club is the camera’s been around to film this documentary it will be on TV and over the summer or late summer how important is that from you as now the COO the club to grow fan base because you’ve seen what’s happened to welcome to rexam okay we’re not on the same scale I don’t think as what Disney plus is going to be for rexim but it must be something as a club you’re looking at and that will help grow the numbers and sustain a fan base that might be you know National possibly International I think the whole season actually has been almost like the perfect storm of progress um you know whether it’s having the world’s leading goal scorer at this level or above um I didn’t realize it was the worldwide not just in the UK um but then you’ve got you know the West stands come on we’ve hit we’ve hit record numbers of attendances we’ve had two sellout matches a playoff semi-final playoff final um and forgive me if I’m forgetting loads of other things CU it’s just been you know one of those Seasons but we two C TV games as well you can go out absolutely two TV games George getting his MBE you know hinch leaving um and Aaron and the guys taking the Reigns you know with 10 games to go or something like that I mean it literally has been a roller coaster hasn’t you thought Ryan and Rob had written it would you as a holw great that’s right you actually you know what our story actually is is probably going to Eclipse theirs in a funny kind of way in that one season cuz you know all of those things that have happened to us in that one season and and culminating in a in an extra time defeat in the in the promotion getting that into an hour long documentary yeah exactly that and and I think that is actually part of the challenge I was actually chatting to the guys obviously you can imagine over the last 6 eight months I’ve got you know pretty close to working with these guys on a a daily weekly basis and that is actually one of the challenges they’ve said they thought when they first came in can you imagine what they were looking into 6 8 months ago what they thought it was going to be and now what’s actually been you know they’re actually thinking you know they got 68 minutes um and they still got 68 minutes and they’ve got hours and hours of footage that they didn’t realize they didn’t even legislate for including two playoff matches you know plus following George up to the you know to get his MBE plus this plus that and all those other things as well so literally has been you know a real you know scenario for them but to answer your question James I mean the the the momentum I think off the back of last season and the progress that we made on and off the pitch I think actually now with you know a couple of months of kind of a calm again then we’re going to be launching the new season hopefully the new stand will be up by then then the documentary will be coming out probably around end of September October time so it’s another thing another shot in the arm another boost for the football club at the right time as well to keep that momentum going well offseason plans we know there’s building work going on around the club for yourself what apart from sort of other things we’ve already touched on what is the major sort of planning around the new season building work I know we’ve got the plan applications gone in for this front building which as you say could be completely different again at the beginning of next season um how do you plan for that what are you planning for um just keep my fingers crossed really to be honest um we’ve got a very tight window as you can imagine um we’re trying to get four projects done in 3 months less than three months four four projects so that’s the and I’m taking the FMB and toilet blocking the Norwest corner is its own project because if we weren’t doing a stand and we weren’t doing the clubhouse and we weren’t doing the fan Zone that would be a project so I’m taking them as four individual projects and that’s the four that I’ve just mentioned so we’re talking about you know a large FMB um and toilet block um for both convenience and experience then we’re talking about an 86 M stand then we’re talking about the fan Zone which we know is kind of overdue but I think everyone can understand the reasons why that might be and also talking about the um the refit um and the sort of bringing in fit for purpose really of this area in the clubhouse um with a reception area and turning into some sort of multifunctional and Hospitality offering as well so um and when you actually say it out loud and then you turn around and say you got like kind of Two and a bit months left to get it done it’s ambitious and I think we’ve actually got about 3 days of regle room with a tailing wind um and of course we’re going to be weather dependent on some of this stuff as well especially with the stand I was just going to say fingers crossed for good British weather yeah let’s hope that summer is actually summer this year and uh and not like you know masquerading as winter curiously do do you put into the league that’s saying that you know would you ask for the first game to be away from home or you allowed to do that or just in case of any overrunning building works and to prevent the need to go and ground share for some reason for the first game or so of the Season yeah I think when you’ve got these kind of substantial Works going on you know if you’re talk if you’re you know putting up a pizza heart that’s one thing but if you’re doing all of this kind of stuff at the same time and you’ve got a deadline of what has been for the fifth of August for the last two seasons yeah we’ve we’ve reached out to the fa already and said to them look this is what we’re doing um there’s no guarantees but we want to put on your radar as early as possible that we may have to request the first couple of fixtures to be away games um and they can fully understand the reasons for that you know we’re trying to do something to progress the club and develop the club in a very short space of time so they’re very supportive of that and if that is what has to happen then that’s what we’ll do fantastic there got to be some mitigating circumstances in there as well what we’ve have in the two playoff games which delayed our end of season which then delayed the building works yeah I mean we we didn’t factor that in you know we didn’t want to use that as an excuse we knew all along it was going to be really tight whether we went to the playoffs or not um having we know we going to have those two playoff matches here either at that point obviously with chelsford still being in the mix um until the semi so um but as it’s transpired you know we we pressed the button on the 7th of of uh may you know we actually started works on the 7th of May so obviously with a playoff match on the sixth on the 7th on the Tuesday things were already happening so as soon as we had the opportunity to get a spade in the ground and get cracking we have done so so it won’t be through lack of effort if we miss that deadline and have to have those two games away but at least we’ we’ve kind of set ourselves that as a and uh back is it all on sort of plan at the moment is everything running smoothly so far I’ve just had a walk around actually and uh you happy with the progress I am I mean it’s it’s you know it’s a week just over a week in isn’t it um a couple of weeks in not even that and um and the guys already made some good strides um hopefully the excavation Works will be done in the next 2 weeks y um so we’ll have a flat area in the north side in a couple of weeks time enabling them to start trenching out ready for the um the concrete to go in and that’s where we need the weather to be good yeah that is yeah well we could talk for hours and hours but we’ve got a limited time of this podcast I’m sure everyone doesn’t want to sit there listen to a three-h hour long end of season podcast I know I certainly wouldn’t but Keith just one of your favorite memories of the season um I think actually it was probably in the bath game um was probably Danny cashman’s second goal um simply because obviously at that point we’d got you it was the first time in front of the cameras first time on telly um we were losing the game we didn’t really want to lose we’d lost the three before that and I think it was really kind of just that whole when that hit the top corner with his left foot I think the place erupted and with it everyone breathed a huge s relief as well what what a goal but that sticks in my memory is probably one of the one of the one the standout moments certainly on the pitch anyway and off the pitch um I just think getting that West stand up in time for that game yeah um for me obviously that was as we know another difficult one we managed to make that happen so there’s been there married those both those successes sort of revolved around the bath game so for me that was probably it and what’s the name of that Westown I forget what is the name I’m not going to say the Chris big stand thanks ke enjoy your summer and we’ll see you in the new season thanks a lot guys all the best Cheers this is the Rebel Yell podcast thanks once again sitting with a chief operating opposite of w football club Keith Mitchell that’s a mouthful list C what it k um but again interesting to hear some of the plans cuz you know we’re sat here right now recording in the old boardroom which is stroke what will be the new reception the new reception and office and half and toilets and storage and old Stew’s bedroom or whatever I know Stew’s bedroom went when they did The Fan Bar didn’t they outside but it’s great to see because I think as Barry alluded to an interview we’re going to have a stadium next year it’s not just going to be a ground it’s a stadium and I think the plans are coming out are going to look fantastic I I think it look looks fantastic once the new stand is up this this front bit is done you know and you know when you got a reception it looks more professional I I compared it to another club where you got a then type of entrance and I think it just makes it more professional and you know I remember somebody telling me a while ago a couple of years ago professional on the pitch professional off the pitch and I think we’re getting there yeah it’s that what again isn’t it professional at every level every part of the club we’re becoming more professional step by step piece by piece and uh it’s all it’s all coming together and again you know Keith’s a man with a plan and he knows how to implement that plan and uh moving for thing head he doesn’t stop does he once he gets something in his head he will just push for it there’s there’s a reason why he’s now the Chief Operating Officer there’s a reason the club would decides to do that cuz he’s obviously impressing the role and I think what you’ve seen around the club from the previous uh general manager who to be fair to him we didn’t see it as a fans point of view but the club have said he did very good in the back back areas of the club but Keith has taken the good work he’s done back and he’s been up front because if you said ke the presents on Match day you know who the general manager is and he’s always chatty he’s always nice and you know he’s getting to know the fans and you need someone like that yeah I agree you know when when Keith walks around you can see he is in charge and you know it’s and he gets things done you know and then and that’s that’s where that’s how he gets what what he’s wor now on a match day and other time he’s such a calm presence as well you know no matter what is going on he deals with it in a calm calculated you a process driven way yeah because I think one of his previous jobs was as a massive race course when he looked after 30,000 people so 3,000 is is but you know you still have to do it you know you can’t think but you know I’ll take my head off and I’m really glad for him I’m really and I think as a club we should be really we’re lucky to have him on board definitely definitely we’re moving on um talk about the club with going towards the playing side of things obviously we touched on the men’s team we have to say on what a fantastic job John and Kelly have done with the women’s team this season second in the highest ever a league finished in third position yeah um obviously having AFC Wimbledon in there who are a very strong opposition they eventually won the promotion but a great job and as if you’re not aware John and Kelly have decided to step away from Woodside and they’re leaving the club in the summer meaning we’ll have a new transition again like we have in the men’s team we have a new transition to a new manager there could be lots of changes in players but I think John’s going to be solely missed guys I know you guys attend a lot of the women’s games I think JN is a and Kelly to be fair is a good their good presence around the ground they’re very well respected nice people and they’ve done a fantastic job with the women’s team yeah and you know you’ve mentioned this season it’s not just this season again it’s the the pathway they’ve taken the women’s team on the last three years from where they where they’ve come from to where they are currently and it’s all been an upwards trajectory every season you know John and Kelly is so well respected within the the women’s game at the level we’re at um you know they they bring a lot of you know a lot of players to the club just on the basis of of who they are and they want to come I was going to say that because when we speak to new players and what’s the reason he came oh John John John and Kelly that’s the reason they come to the club yeah it’ be a big Miss big big Miss and hopefully we can attract the caliber of players they’ve attracted but you know to be fair Barry did allude to it in his interview did say that you know maybe they felt you know that it was quite a full-on job for them to have as a volunteered role and you know maybe as Barry had said to be fair to Barry that you know the club are focusing on the men’s team at the moment they’d like to focus more on the women’s team but unfortunately that’s just the way the club the direction the club taken at the moment but you know hopefully with a new manager possibly the introduction of Youth in the future we might be able to build the women’s team as well as we’ve done the men’s team obviously an income stream the men’s team doing as well as they’re doing if not better will help that won’t it yeah H yeah and again you know as as bar mentioned you know it’s it’s it’s all part of the process that’s going on within the club see at the moment the women’s team isn’t as big a priority as as other pieces around the club but the club has a plan Club has a process and we’ve seen from from other things around the club you know these things will happen do happen um and we’ll get pushed on they’re all pieces of a jigsa puzzle that eventually that that women’s team is probably just like a sleeping giant at the moment if it’s anything like the club you know the club progressing the foot like the national league the men’s team and then to get the women’s team some investment you know who knows where they could go yeah I I think it can go higher but I think the problem is when they go higher that the travel distance is getting bigger oh yeah um because of the leagues um you know and the cost the cost will increase you know other players you know I think I could only assume it’s probably 3/4s of the day on a Sunday they give up now if they have to travel further is it going to be a whole Sunday all it’s the case they have to travel on a Saturday because it’s so far you know and then but is everybody willing to do it yeah it’s a big commitment it’s a it’s a massive commitment but you know I really enjoyed the games of senen here this season for the women’s team it’s been a great season absolutely great season really good well for the last time let’s sit down with John and speak to him on the rebel y podcast this is the Rebel Yell podcast well for the final time I’ve got a lump in my throat saying this John it’s our last interview on the Rebel Yell podcast welcome back um sad to see you go mate sad to see you go um how did you come to the decision first that you were leaving the club well we had a period of time sort of midseason where things were getting quite challenging in terms of all the um sort of organization and um you know bits and pieces we needed to try and be sucess successful um so myself and Kelly have been talking about it for sort of the second half of the season but we obviously made the decision nearer nearer towards the end of the season so um yeah there was discussion that it was uh becoming quite challenging but um still rewarding in terms of the you know how the players were performing on the pitch well yeah definitely are we’ll get on to the players a little bit I mean how did the players take it when you announced to the uh changing room that you were leaving well the good thing is they didn’t cheer so that was always nice that’s always positive isn’t it yeah um I think you know they deal with it in their own way don’t they so some people vocalize really disappointed to see you go you know would you change your mind others just say thank you others don’t really say much at all so um I’m sure like all of us they they think in different ways and maybe a few of them said good you never know oh you’re not going to be everyone’s friend in football you’re a boss at the end of the day not everyone’s going to love you lot but one thing we that’s one thing we did notice throughout the season your time at woring is the name John donghu attracted a lot of good players to the club that might necessarily not be available um how do you feel that would go forward you know obviously you can’t say what players are going to do but do you do you leave in good faith that players might hang around the club well I think the thing is is what was there in terms of you know the the pitch the certainly one of the training facil training facilities when we trained on the pitch um hopefully the other side of things will be looked at for the Tuesday training you know the support of match days with the Fantastic volunteers you know things that you’ve put on you know was all all went down well with the players it showed a real sort of deess from the club so that um should entice them to stay um and you’d like to think that if people are saying the same thing as we were which was we want to try and win the league we want to get as good players here and play as good football as possible that you know that would encourage people who already had a hopefully a quite a successful season to stay um but like I say whatever the next step is is is not going to be decided by me no it’s not not uh and I guess it’s unfair of you to say anything on that likelihood if who’s going to stay and who’s not going to stay it’s all down to the club and the manager that replaces you on the management team um let’s talk about the season you finished third which you cemented your you say well in the level you’re at um how how would you the season um I think very successful um you know even to the point where the last sort of six games we were thinking go we we could do this if things go would go well for us so to be in the running for that long in the season and Performing so well was you know real credit to to the players with their performances and and you know going through the times where we got lots of injuries I think one game we never even had a he might not have even had a fit Striker so we um we we got through the season really well and dealt with it well so I was really pleased um you know to finish as high as we did but playing as good football as we did that that was the the main aim as well yeah because we know you we know you did have that goal of sort of being up in the top half of the table and you’ve achieved that goal AFC Wimbledon a very tough uh opponent to have League um quite quite glad that they’re out of there but then again teams that are coming up and been relegated into the league will be just equally as tough next season they will you know Wimbledon invested a lot of um finances into their team um you know you had Norwich who I think they only lost the only game they lost was the last game of the season I believe against Ashford who we drew with a couple of weeks earlier so you know there’s quite a few names in there QPR Cambridge to Cambridge City Cambridge United you know so there’s some um named teams in there so it’s a it’s a tough tough League really for like you saying teams coming down so um real good achievement but yeah wimam were probably the best team they scored the most goals and obviously clearly won it in the end yeah well we saw you talk about achievements Lauren dolber won the Golden Glove um of the SE that’s an amazing achievement I mean we’ve seen a just season after season just get better and better so Testament to you coaching and the rest of the coaching team to get her that award eh yeah it was you know she works hard um rad works really closely with her and you know helps improve the aspect she wants to so you know when you concede the the few well you gain the most clean sheets you you can’t be doing too bad obviously the defense in front helps in terms of the collective of the team um but she made some crucial saves and last season at the end of so the season we won the league she she pulled out some exceptional saves to to keep us in games that we eventually went on and won so that’s really good for her yeah and talking about players and achievements um JMA wford announced her retirement from playing football um what an asset she’s been to woring football club over the time what’s it been like working with her for the short time you’ve been at the club brilliant you know her attitude her professionalism her understanding of football understanding you know the the selection process and the commitment that you need you know what whatever level you play at you there’s a commitment to try and be your best and you can only be your best if you’re there keeping yourself fit during the training sessions outside training session so she was a a real consumate professional really um so um you know it’s uh it’s a loss in one way but you know she assured that she’s going to be a supporter of both the women and the men’s team because she watches she watched the men’s regularly to be fair so um it’s it’s it’s sad but um you know she’s achieved quite a lot towards the end of her playing career and obviously throughout it as well so it was it was great to work with her yeah I mean it’s it’s it’s it’s guess for the club captain and sort of for whoever’s going to step into her shoes is going to have a big job of of her to have any sort of the way she’s commended herself over the past however many years represented the club for her yeah yeah that’s it and I think you know hopefully players look at the good examples um set you know people who lead by example don’t necessarily always vocalize everything but you can see the way they conduct themselves see the way they work to perform trained properly you know no different in train in this year in game so hopefully players look at that as an example and then that that’s your that’s your leaders really isn’t it the the example they set as much as what they say 100% um before we let you go John I’d just like to know your highlight of the Season we’ve asked everyone on the podcast the highlight of your season this year what would you say it’s been oh um I would say even even under a lot of pressure from some teams put us under a lot of pressure the performances um and the honesty and the willingness to put what was asked for the players into into practice you know you you can quite easily come off what you want to do in terms of your performances when you’re under a bit of pressure and things aren’t going well but the the players Collective um I suppose focus and determination to do what was asked of them that that’s really you know throughout this season they’ve been exceptional and I I guess your overall highlight of being manager of wory and FC women’s team has got to be the promotion last year oh of course yeah of course that always you look at well that’s it you know that would be um you know we we when we first come to the club we were the expectations were just to just to get the team playing and then all of a sudden you know it uh people wanting to be a part of it and um it all grew so that was really good um and uh you know the team is in a hugely I suppose good place at the moment in terms of the the women setup and obviously the men did exceptionally well this season as well well I think you could probably say we could all agree that you’ve left the team in a much better place and what you found it well hopefully hopefully it’s I believe so um before we before we do go John if you got a message to the fans of the women’s team who might be listening to the podcast who supported yeah I think um teams really live on the support of their fans don’t they so the people who’ve come along and wanting to connect with the players the people who’ve come along to you know support on on Match days some have been traveling away as well which has been been phenomenal some of the trips we’ve had to make so um yeah I think the the biggest thing is to support if there’s an opportunity to get involved in any part of um the preparations and the plans of the women’s team teams that would be um that would be something that would be probably greeted with open arms because um the team can push on um and you never underestimate that what goes on behind the scenes to make it happen I’m sure you’ll have a nice rest over summer you said off a before you’re not g to have your phone buzzing you don’t have to prepare for any preas friendlies but what’s John Donahue pardon what’s next for John Donahue um I don’t know get a few more freckles in the Sun I suppose um nothing at the moment watching a bit of football maybe um but um you know pre-seasons don’t start till July so I may even book a holiday during the season which I never really do so never Rebel Rebel by name don’t you you been at worington I know I know John I know but thanks very much for what you’ve done as well with your support with everyone um so it’s been it’s been good yeah tomn we’ve we’ve really enjoyed I mean thank you for being I think on behalf of Spencer and Jacko and the whole of the Rebel Yell team thank you so much for being open and honest with us you’ve always met with us every month when we’ve needed to do a little bit for the podcast and it’s been fantastic to get to know you um don’t be a stranger do come and say have a beer with us next time at Woodside you can do that then can’t you if you come for a game can’t you a beer we’ll buy you a beer we’ll buy you a beer you time for you to be B but look after yourself enjoy your and um do don’t be a stranger and keep in touch and I’m sure we’ll cross paths in the future but good luck to whatever comes next for you you John and Kelly as well thank you very much cheers this is the Rebel Yell podcast I just think a shout out to John for how open and honest he’s been with us on the podcast over the past couple of Seasons he’s been at the club for three seasons he’s been at the club uh we’ve always loved sitting down with him we’ve enjoyed his time you know he’s always been very open to getting women’s players to us as well and I’ll miss him I think he on a personal level he’s a top guy so John good luck for yourself uh in the future and whatever that may bring and hopefully we see you back here at Woodside one day don’t you agree chaps yeah yeah 100% yeah hopefully not on the opposition side scoring few past us cuz then we won’t be welcoming you back but anyway that’s uh that’s football isn’t it guys um new manager new managers uh obviously now we’ve got a new manager in the men’s team Chris AGA who’s apparently like to be called agie like I like you call me getting agie behind a go at people um but another form of agie um guys in all honesty surprised at the signing you you know a fans podcast you are you surprised at the signing yes I’m I’m not going to lie I was surprised about it I didn’t I if I’m really honest I didn’t have anybody in mind um but you know having a chat with Barry he made it clear what they’re looking for it was you know very well researched from the club a rigorous process so you know and new manager behind him yeah got four faith in him from everything Barry’s told us the clubs followed a clear process to find exactly the person that they want that’s going to be a good fit when it was announced so Spencer what did you think though honestly absolutely honestly I didn’t know much about him and I had to Google him and this is this is this is it and obviously the club have done their research they followed the process to find him and you know to bring him into the role and i’ I fully fully trust him on that and we’ll find out a hell of a lot more as the following weeks and month progress but it’s quite interesting because obviously we have spoken to a few people at the club here and he’s only been us a week two weeks of that the first impressions are very good yeah people speak very highly of him so I think that that is that is already that’s a good sign positive sign but then again he will be judged on the resoles on the pitch and who he can bring in I think I am and I’m not maybe I was a bit underwhelmed when it came up because part of me wanted a big name but then is a big name going to bring what we want in the club do you know what I mean when whenever the big name teams do well yeah look at man united for that reason is Neil Warner going to save T I’d love him to have saved worth him but you know he’s not but the thing is is agie we’ve not met him yet but he he interviewed very well on W fcv the other day you know he said he’s hoping to keep most of the squad here which is a really really strong statement and one that I hope is true because that core Squad we’ve got now and there’s some fantastic Talent there that was obviously the worry that new management youings different didn’t get promotion are we going to keep them but if he’s turning around saying you know I’m I’m hopeful of keeping most of the squad that’s very good it’s positive and I think you know there are people who want to have a retained list from from Worthing uh obviously there isn’t been one because I don’t think you know we’re not the kind of Club who put people on multiple year contracts but having looked at him a bit more it’s um I think we might have one or two surprise signings over the summer and I think from higher higher leaks again you know it’s it’s mentioned to us he’s got a very good contact list so we wait to see and I think agents have been they’ve seen how successful worin are and they’re showing their players to the club and some very high quality players are probably being shown to the club here and I’m not surprised again you have to be careful with names again it’s people it’s players who fit as in our style but it’s also people how they fit personally into into dress and I think that’s what agie will do I think he’s a certain character of manager that he won’t be just getting big name signs for sacred I mean you look what happened to East Bon B last year they went fulltime probably too early and they nearly got relegated yeah but wasn’t that bit of a case from look we got a checkbook and everybody can come and play for us we’ll P we’ll pay you but and again I come back to what I said earlier the club is not going to allow that you know the club will not do that they won’t stand for it so but you know if if we keep the majority of the squad I think we’ve got a very good chance um if we get some lone players again who contributed and I think wam I think he was never really ever mentioned but I think he played such a crucial fantastic we worked the the loan market so well last season with the the the two keepers Willard and and then you got you know obviously with Adam going have we still got a link with Brighton I think we have but I think we established a link with Southampton Bournemouth B do some stuff at Brighton back in the day I’m pretty sure he was one of the youth coaches there possibly think he might have been I don’t know but in Sussex he’ll have a Content was Hastings manager we seem to be building some really good relationships with with South Coast League clubs which is which again is great it’s fantastic I mean one player we all would love to uh keep his a certain striker of ours a 48 goal a year Striker a goal of season who’s that um Greg no maybe next year maybe next is is he the number 10 player hard handy yeah and he’s got a really good celebration of he models on a really cool guy who wears glasses in the stand Spencer okay I set myself up for that but Ole Pierce um let’s talk to him first let’s talk to him let’s talk to him this is the Rebel Yell podcast welcome back to the Rebel Yell podcast Mr Oliver Pier how are you doing mate very well chaps how are we yeah it’s good to have you back on um we found out from Keith that apparently your record last year was World beating did you know that it apparently it’s the most scored goals at this level and above in in the world yeah world this level in the world really that’s good it so add that to add that to the CV mate oh don’t I don’t add that to the CV please mate um olle what what season you had mate I mean you had an amazing one last year and you must have had some goals but to sort of get that a many Target this season what’s your thoughts on the season yeah obviously it was nice to um end up with that that amount of goals um something that I feel like I’ve done quite well with it were is my goal record is is actually is really good um you know it’s just gotting to end the season with all those goals but unfortunately not like the promotion um you know that was that that was the main thing I took away from the season you know scored all those goals But ultimately ultimately at the end of the uh the year we didn’t we didn’t get promoted and that was the most gutten thing I think yeah I think it’s crazy when you think about it when you think scoring that amount of goals yourself plus other goals in the team that you don’t get some form of automatic promotion or you know through the playoffs it’s quite tough to take that I guess yeah it is that’s that’s football isn’t it I mean our goal difference wasn’t wasn’t amazing was it because you know we we did concede a lot of goals um and obviously that sort of happened in the final when we you know concede four you know if you you need to be a bit better than that if you want to try and try and get promoted and obviously we do play you know with an open open style of play and whatever and we are very attacking but you know the amount of times we conceded three or four goals throughout the season um you know you look back and go well you know if you’re conceding that many that frequently you probably maybe don’t deserve to go up yeah especially the goal difference of plus one between second and third as well the end of the season yeah exactly so you know you look at brre who did go up in the end I think they conceded the least amount of goals and they were what was it 30 I think they conceded throughout the season maybe not even that so you know when they win games they only won with one goal different they always won one nil 2-1 braford they never had a big score apart from against us four yeah I know well yeah that that sums up doesn’t it um but yeah they were just the the very solid side weren’t they didn’t give too much away um at the back you know throughout the season I mean um and just about done enough going forward and I’m guessing that consistency probably got them that promotion we’re talking of brain tree obviously I saw you after the game uh the final and we saw how much hurt was on your face and the emotion going through yourself what what did it feel like firstly to get to the final but not to get over that final hurdle as a as a player yeah honestly it was the most gutten experience I’ve ever had in football being completely honest um you know I didn’t sleep for three days after the game honestly honestly the thoughts that go through your head after that and I’m sure I probably wasn’t the only one but you know to see the change room after the game just so deflated and you know quite a lot of us obviously quite upset and you know in tears you know it’s a long season and you know when we’ve been at the club for such a long time that I lik on myself and Joel and even AA was sort of doing a little speech at the end and sort of you can see him sort of getting quite emotional with it or you know it’s it’s gutting so yeah it wasn’t a nice place to be in the CH because seeing you all emotional and St sitting in the room all emotional after the game then cameras from the documentary have been shoved in my face after and I’m trying to hold back to thanks for that mate by the way not needed was it no it was needed it wasn’t but that’s that’s football isn’t it you know we you know work hard all year and whatever and one game that you just you pray that you just win win however however it happen you just want to win and it doesn’t quite go your way you know the emotion comes out and saw that obviously in a lot of a lot of fans as well um I think I’ve been bumping into Sam in the bar after Sam vgo and you know he was he was welling up and in tears as well and yeah it wasn’t nice but you know hopefully you can learn from those things you never want it to happen again yeah I mean just the whole process as a fan I don’t know anyone that can really enjoy the playoffs it doesn’t matter what team we support being there with professional Club support that we support we went through it with our non- league CL worthy that we got so loved up with it’s it’s a horrible experience for a fan because you just can’t relax as a player I guess it’s very similar so you got to focus on the target yeah of course yeah like obviously that’s why playoff games are so Cy um a lot of the time you don’t well apart from a game versus braan where there was obviously seven goals but a lot of the time it’s very tight and very Cy um not only in the ground but obviously on the pitch as well um so yeah um it was just a bad day and the less we talk about it the better move on yeah said well I mean I only I only watched the high two days ago and move on to the good stuff yeah we’ll move on to the good stuff I just want to ask you at the beginning of the season um it was very frustrating for you you didn’t start you came off the Ben how it make you feel because you know the top scorer of the club and then you know you don’t start how how does it feel well we remember at slow away and you know you were chatting to your dad and we heard the frustration from you and it was like we we felt the frustration as well as fans so it must be must have been felt by yourself yeah got obviously you know I don’t like not playing that’s the most frustrating thing but you know at the end of the day the manager can’t you know control everyone’s thoughts and feelings about it he’s got to pick what team he thinks is right and at that time I you know I wasn’t too much involved although I thought I probably should have been um and you know I just knuckled down got me head right and you know just made myself undroppable really in my opinion know trained bit harder and yeah when I did play and did come on I just try to work as hard as I could and put the goals away and then you know become sort of undroppable in a way um by scoring those goals so it probably helped me to be fair rest of the season might have given me a little kick out the ass but um yeah obviously it was a difficult time but you know that’s that’s football isn’t it as you know not going to be playing sailing all the time and you know I had to maybe sort myself out a little bit and I did that and got back in the team and didn’t look back I think you did more than that you know I think you know England call up as well let’s not forget about that you know and you know nice it’s been yeah it’s been a proud season it’s been a good season obviously that was you know that was a really proud achievement as well um you know what since the season’s finished almost forgot about that because you know the the guy fact of uh losing the playoff far you sort of just want to forget things as quick as possible but I’m sure when I look back on it you know properly or in years to come I can you know understand how good of a season it was and how much of a great achievement it was to be you know called up to the England Seaside how did the England call up come about like how when did you first know about it um good question I know something got mentioned on a coach journey home um saying that I think the english team man has been in touch with the club maybe and you know was sort of asking if he would want to go do it and you be involved in it and whatnot and uh you know that’s b a silly question of course you want to be involved in in that um and then yeah I think um just a few weeks later I think naate just called me and just said look you’ve been selected for the England seide and I was like really I was a bit shocked um because I don’t think many players from the the South or the North really get called into it I think it’s more of a national league thing so yeah was a bit of a shock to start with but then obviously when you looked at how many goals I’d scored and you know the Run I’d been on you probably sort of understood why and um yeah it really really good experience yeah I mean when you came on the pitch you were the best player and as we said on mess I you couldn’t believe that literally that opportunity to go how the goalkeeper saved that I have no idea I don’t honestly is that nice you had oh my honestly I don’t know how he saved it I’ve watched it so many times back and I just thinking how did you get a hand to it but it was a hell of a save that you know I probably should have scored and probably should have scored one you know a little bit earlier on but um yeah like again that’s football isn’t it you know sometimes they go in sometimes they don’t and uh it was just yeah just a really good experience to you know get on the pitch itself let alone you know have two chances so yeah it was a good night a massive achievement for you and should one she’d be very proud of mate but um one of the big things that happened this season obviously before the playoff final was um Adam hinch would left hinch as we all knew him um what was that like you know we saw you guys when we were actually recording a podcast and you’re all in High Spirits after the sort of interim team was announced on that first training session but you know someone that you been playing under for such a long time to leave the club so suddenly it must have been quite a shock yeah it was um it was weird to start with like very strange like to think you know someone else is going to be taking our training sessions and you know um having a different view of what you know what we do and to be fair to AA buddy and Dino when they come in they they didn’t really change too much so I think normality got back into the players like quite quickly which I think really helped um but yeah it was it was n sort of 4 hours like we heard about it obviously and then it sort of went happened and it happened so quickly but before you even know we’ve sort of got to think right we we’re back we’re back having a game on Saturday so we can’t really dwell too much on it but um yeah like I said like Aon buddy and Dino coming in sort of just said they didn’t really want to change too much and wanted to keep sort of everything obviously as has been a part of it for the same amount of time as sort of myself and Joel sort of have so he knows how sort of things work and you know that’s probably why we got to the playoff final in the end because they didn’t really change too much um they made it very comfortable for us players know training sessions were just as as good as they had been so yeah it all went quite smoothly and although you know we lost a couple of games to start with I think one to say they got into it and we got a bit more comfortable as players it um sort of got a little ball rolling oh you Unstoppable after after that TNT game it was like just unbeaten and it was just full steam ahead playoffs after that it was yeah we on great run great run so the season’s over now you know we’ve got we got many memories and you know no matter the Heartbreak of the playoff final I mean what a season it’s been uh what is your memories of the Season that YoVille game oh that amazing that a great game wasn’t it down there that game yeah I think that goal at the end I like to see there oh it was on it it was brilliant um but yeah know other than that I think you know the we put together and you know it’s such a difficult league and you know you sort of got you can jump a couple of places this week drop a couple of places this week and I think you know that that run at the end that we put together was was really really good because we sort of just kept going kep going kept going and we we’d very nearly actually finished second um and obviously that put us in in good stead ready for the ready for the playoffs so there’s been plenty of um great days throughout the season um and a few bad ones as well um but yeah just looking back and thinking of you know the goals that we scored and the good wins and the good away days um you know we live live long in the memory yeah one of the best ever squads you’ve played in would you say this season yeah very very good yeah very very good yeah no we we saw I mean it’s just amazing you know how everyone just seemed to Jael so well in that run up to the playoffs and you know you had quite a few changes coming and going obviously the management change but to to manage to get that win uh you know even to get we’re against it against Maidstone a you to go up the other end and do that I mean that was just unbelievable I know you’re interviewed on uh W FC TV about that but I thought you’d had that ball behind you how the hell you got that in the back of the neck I’ll never know I don’t know how I didn’t pass it to cash when who was with an open goal did he have a go at you after I should have passed it but um no the ball nearly got stuck behind me it it was the game was like really tough in the second half you know they they played really well but the wind out the pitch was so strong and every time you sort of kicked the ball it felt like it was coming right back at you and as as I went through the ball sort of got stuck behind me um and I thought I’ve completely messed this up now but man managed to get a toe on it and keep it going and then just got my head down and thought let just go for the goal and luckily it crept in so what’s um what’s summer for Ole Pierce and what have you got you got any holidays planned uh yeah I’ve got one beginning of June I think uh yeah I can’t remember where we’re going me the Miss is going away um but other than that just a little bit of downtime like it’s been a long long season you know after the think the first six games you know majority of us played almost nearly 40 games in a row so rest of recovery for the next couple of weeks and then yeah starting to get back fit again ready to go again well I think this is a difficult thing to say because obviously we know we don’t know what’s going on with hly Pierce in terms of relation to Irving FC obviously all of us in this room want you to be back next season and and even if you’re not whatever happens on you thoroughly deserve the opportunities that are going to come ahead of you and I think you provided some amazing memories here at wering for us fans um but one thing I can ask you no matter where you go where you end up hopefully back here are you going to continue the glasses celebration I’ll have to I’ll have to carry that on Match of the Premier League see one I don’t know I don’t know quite about that but yeah i’ have to keep that celebration going whatever happens um over the summer um you know obviously off you had a good season you do you do get quite a bit of interest and yeah I’ve got a few decisions to make over the next couple of weeks um you know so we’ll see what happens um but obviously you’ll be the first to find out yeah no we PR I think Jacko and Spencer you could probably say you know whatever happens thank you for the memories because it’s been amazing you yeah some amazing memor shared with you and the other squads like from the isan premier promotion to like the playoffs the last couple of years some amazing a days as you say some frustrating away days and long Journeys home but it is I think you could probably if you could sum up your time at woring so far what how would you say what would you sort of sum it up as oh it’s been bril it’s been brilliant mate honestly obviously the best the best football i’ I’ve played and thoroughly enjoyed it and you know it’s a great club and we always seem to attract you know really good players and really good lads as well the change rooms like yeah brilliant and uh you know that’s been an important thing this year actually some of the loan sigers we’ve had have really made a made a big difference You Know Jack WM obviously coming in and a few others at Good Times you know it’s a really good change room and obviously the fans have been you know superb superb for me for the last few years so yeah really good good luck whatever happens hopefully back here we can see again next season but if it isn’t back here then don’t be a stranger and if it’s ever against woring don’t you dare score against us okay is that a deal so still Ollie thanks so much mate and um have a good summer and um Good Luck for uh the rest of the rest of the year and whatever happens next cheers James cheers Lads thank you very much the good work this is the Rebel Yell podcast right guys I mean he didn’t say anything but that will probably be the last time I speak to Oly Pierce on this in this capacity of a podcast for the club wouldn’t you say I would imagine so you know he’s he’s going to have so many offers and you know you got to look at it from his point of view he’s he’s got to take what’s out there and move his career forward you know is he 28 now I think you know if somebody comes for him and he decid to go for it well good luck to him but I and I we said it several times before the podcast if if a person if a player wants to leave and they leave for a right reasons to better their career then you know they should go without our blessing and you know and we should you know we had four or five years of O Pi well I want to say I want to say we’ve had this same discussion for at least the last couple of years OE will stay will go he can go on and you know he can move his career forward and he’s been loyal and his stayed so all credit there but this season for him was just amazing 48 goals England call up and some of the goals he scored you know he he he hasn’t done us any favors with that no he hasn’t that’s why I’m quite annoyed with him in that respect stop scoring so many goals he’s in the Twilight of his football in career I’d say Twilights maybe a bit he’s getting there there I mean he’s late 20s now there’s not many players that start going to a professional game at that age it’s PE Peak career so this is this is this is the moment he needs to but the thing is again it has to be ride for him isn’t it it has to be the right yeah his home situation it needs to fit it needs to fit his whatever and wory might be the right situation for him but would you obviously wouldd love we probably lay out the red carpet if he comes back but would you think I’d love to see him have a go I’d personally love to see him have a go at professional game first of all I’d like to think being worthy we’d have a red carpet anyway but um oh dad jokes are coming into here now no but you you want to you want you want to see players move on you want players out woring to progress move on to to to better things and then that sets the example for other players to come in and show what we can do if he turns something down we won’t find out about it you know it’s you never hear you only hear when a player goes to a club A you never hear about BCD when it turn down what I say if Adam hin would happens to be listening can you go away please cuz he’s not welcome here I if I’m really honest I can’t see him going to York but you can tell he’s had opportunities in the past to go and he stayed here at woring cuz he loves playing for the club but I think he would have to be right for him I would be surprised if he goes north of London but you never know in this G but we said it before sometimes a player suits the style of play we play and if if a player what does well here go to another club and they don’t play the same way a going to be successful that’s the question ‘s not going to want to go to a club where they’re lumping it up he for example alred and that’s all they did they lump it up to the big number nine they can’t see him going to Al no but you know what I mean but that’s that’s I think that’s example of what how they played I mean but he must be I mean his agent must be working tely because he must have inundated with office he’s out of contract it kind of annoys you that he didn’t sign a longer contract we could have actually got some money for him that would have done us well built us another stand somewhere wouldn’t it yeah but then the thing is if you put him on a multiple contract he wouldn’t have had a year head yeah it’s it’s always after that’s non leag for that’s if and B and that’s that’s non league for you well talking about progression I think it’s nice to see that um our very own Kitman Stu Evans um is stepping away from the Kitman role but he’s progressed into a very successful youth coach here at wering he’s he’s taking the under 18s he’s stepping away so he won’t see him on a match day um he hasn’t been on the podcast this season at all really because he’s been really busy hasn’t he I don’t know where he does he not the hours in the day I think Stu has a 26-hour day doesn’t he and in 24 hours but we set down with Stu for the last time in the capacity of Kitman and we spoke to him about the season he’s had and the future this is the Rebel Yell podcast nice to welcome back on the podcast Stu Evans uh eight years as a kit man is it yeah eight years yeah and you’ve uh watched that kit for the final time did you watch the brain tree kit yeah oh you didn’t pass over to the new one leave it it’s like hum for the summer leave it for the next one finish off probably Ste obviously welcome back you’ve been a busy man this season so we’ve barely seen you we’ve seen you a couple of times obviously coaching and kit man and I guess one had to sort of give uh what’s the reason for you stepping back as the kit man um it was just taking up way too much time my life mate if I’m honest with you um it’s it’s a full-time job in itself um I found a passion in coaching that I just want to continue to learn and develop and grow and keep doing that and and I was missing 18s games CU I had to be with the first team and it was really annoying me to be honest with you because that’s where my heart is they’re my boys they coached since 14s and um yeah I just thought I had to to step aside and yeah concentrate on something I liked and yeah it’s a it’s a it’s a positive decision I think yeah no I mean we’ve we’ve got so many obviously seeing you as a Kitman it’s great to see you getting into something with a passion you like coaching which are now the under 18s um how have you found your coaching Journey like is it something you you expected to enjoy this much I’ve been doing it for like six years now five six years so yeah like no I didn’t expect it to be the biggest part of my life if I’m honest with be a li I just thought I’d be something to give to do on a Sunday and and during the week but actually I get so much joy out of it and and it’s rewarding seeing Chopper and Brads and rubben and oie starky of the world Joe Rise that I’ve coached and make it into the first team and that just gives me my drive just to keep doing it mate well it was um what was it three players finished in that playoff game that was come through St Evans coaching Academy yeah yeah all down all down to me all down to me of course not but yeah no it’s um it’s just something I just want to keep doing and learning growing and I’ve just felt with the kid it’s just it was taking too much time up um I wasn’t really enjoying doing it um and yeah I just needed to make a decision so we’ll talk to you about you know the coaching progress probably next season because obviously that’s what’s stepping but we’re sort of here to focus on your time as a kit man um what are your memories of Kitman cuz you weren’t really just a we’ve seen the emotion of you on the like bench camera you you felt like an integral part of the I don’t know too many kitm that will be jumping up and down from the The Dugout when we score and stuff it’s brilliant to see the pure emotion Too Many Memories mate Too Many Memories honestly just the highs and lows and yeah I I can’t just pick one out obviously this season the overall was massive and um but yeah it’s I yeah cry with the rest of year when when we lose and and static when we win the same as as you boys I’m as much as fan as as you are and and yeah I love it but um i’ be watching from the stands next season or or or not as the case mate might be you actually might be out to have a beer on a match day yeah definitely definitely don’t drink anyway you’re not taking the C box with you to sit on no no no that could be someone else’s Bea box now that’s not mine now so um this season just gone obviously we saw you as I mentioned in those new Dugout cameras which I thought was fantastic audition team it’s really cool to see pure emotion of that um we saw how emotional were I mean I last before I’ve seen you today last time I saw you was you were standing out on that pitch holding back tears like looking up to the sky just looking around just taking moment to yourself yeah how did that that whole playoff experience for you how was it just sums up football doesn’t it really the highs and lows and and yeah um why we we love it so much one week we’re on top of the world and the next week we’re as low as it can be um yeah it’s just devastated obviously and Fair Play To Bra Tre but I just felt that that was our time I had it in my head that that when we were going to do it and yeah just to leave obviously the first team role and not having that involvement with the first first team anymore to leave on such a low point was really kind of quite gutting for me um but once I finished soing for 2448 hours and I realized how well the boys have done and how proud I should be and and how much the club’s grown since I’ve been here um what 10 years now and to see it my first I got a picture of when I first joined of me looking out from the standing to the where the dugouts were and there 40 50 people behind the dugouts and on Match days now you can’t even see concrete so yeah the clubs come on massively in sometimes you do need to take a step back and reflect um and then grow and and keep going I guess yeah so what what won’t you miss about Kit everything everything think about just the the only thing I really enjoyed was just being in the changing with the boys and just experiencing that there’s nothing like it honestly and during covid I realized how much I missed it and how much how much it mattered to me but so how did you get the F to be the Kitman then what John mean to be honest John mean yeah I I was commercial manager I’ve joined as commercial manager um and then got shuck up a friendship with John who was first team manager at the time and he said look we need a kit man I had a season ticket older at Brighton um even though I don’t support him i’ used to go there every Saturday yeah exactly like um then gave up that and yeah just never look back never look back really so yeah what will you miss though just a change room just a change room just a change room yeah there’s honestly like I said there’s nothing like it the boys are great changing the the banter the abuse like and I get a fair whack of that trust me imagine what yeah honestly especially when I had my hair done ear in the year hair done soon yeah yeah and I’ve got a face like this because of it but um yeah it’s I just I’m going to miss the boys but ultimately I’ll still be here um 18’s training um will finish and the boys will come on first team will come on and I’ll stick around and and still be part of it just in different type of way could yourselves could you see yourself inol with the first team as a coach at some point yeah I’d love to in the future yeah I’m still learning I’m still growing so like I say there’s there’s a role um that um agie had at Hastings which he wants me to take um next season which will further enhance my um my knowledge and grow me as a person and as a coach and um yeah ultimately that’s where I want to get to um but my pathway my journe is taking me a different way a lot of lot of coaches come from Brighton or football in general um my knowledge of I haven’t really had an experience in football except from woring if I’m honest so but I’ve worked under one of the best managers in non league for the last six or seven years so um yeah my philosophy is exactly the same as his and my knowledge is okay um and always learning um so yeah one day hopefully you you are our very own Mr Worden you are literally you cut your you lead woring football club yeah it’s it’s interesting like I’ve had a couple of I’ve had a couple of job offers externally outside of woring um yeah over the summer um and to be honest with you I’ve been tempted but then I just thought how can I how can I leave do you know I mean it’s just and especially with the youth team players it would mean giving up a lot of responsibility and seeing their grow them growing and progressing and and ultimately I just don’t think I could see myself doing it so have um are you planning to do any badges or anything yeah working my way for him yeah I gave up one course to be here for the last game of the season so I got thrown off that course um so that’s yeah that is commitment but um yeah ultimately I just want to coach that’s where I get my joy from that’s where I um I see myself not as a full-time job cuz I don’t think it’s ever really going to be well paid but if I can do it at a non- league level i’ be I’d be happy so so to finalize one memory of the season I know there’s loads but what’s your sort of highlight if you look back on the 23 24 season what would be your standout moment man there’s been loads of moments um to be honest I say I can’t really pick any like seeing Brad and chopper get into the first team and doing well has been massive for me seeing their Rise um but just change room it’s just been an up and down season as it hinch leaving and um as are coming in and um just one moment for me like I was I’m quite emotional loud anyway um and it’s been two or three times this season where I’ve shed a tear and there’s one moment at the end of the mstone game where um I was obviously the fans over the shed end here and clapping and I saw one of our under 16s just like cheering and jumping up and down and singing along and I was like that’s what it’s about yeah that’s what it’s about whether you’re good at football whe you’re not good he’s a good player but whatever it’s just bringing everybody together um and this what this club represents so that for me is probably yeah one of the highlights but yeah y overall way there been so many M Stone semi-finals Jesus it’s been a good season well St you are an absolute legend of the club and I know you I know you hate when people say that to you you be focused on we will miss you we will miss you on a match day mat days won’t be the same anymore will they they won’t they won’t be the same than ultimately I still they will be games where I might be here come stand Us by the goal instead of standing by the I think You’ be welcome into shed at any time mate or even the new Chris bigst you’ll be welcome Chris big 100% I’ll be in the amongster don’t yeah yeah there we go but sh um enjoy your summer what you can of it and uh we looking for to catch up with you next season cheers man appreciate it cheers boys thank you this is the Rebel Yell podcast great to hear from Stu as per usual and we’ll get him on a capacity next season to talk about how you know his experience has changed and what’s he’s doing with all his spare time because I think he sounds like he’s going to have a bit of spare time now no in I don’t think he’s going to have much he have any spare time he says it now won’t he he’ll be down there every bloody night even just watching won’t he or just training watching training or something W he he just bleeds worth in football club and football generally doesn’t it there’s not enough people in the game like Ste and you know Ste thank you you know we we congratulations for all the you know progression you’ve done in the club and you know we look forward to seeing what it brings you um but guys it’s a very long podcast uh we’ve had a lot of good guests on um thoughts on the season in general let’s we’ve asked them let’s think it up what what’s your highlight of the season highlight um for me it was talky away because it’s the first one it was the first one long away game um that was my highlight yeah mine most of the season was T key but I think yville stripped it just because the you know the way we were the way we were treated as fans was pretty poor they were already celebrating winning the title making announcements before the game about no Trophy presentation and then then then we went and W and that goal from ole just the absolute death in the scenes afterwards all the players coming over was just absolutely amazing well you know one thing I’ve always said and we’ve said it in the podcast before and obviously you can’t go back and think if and but but those five games we won lost around when the time Adam was leaving the club as well as like other the games after we’ won those points we’ have probably been neck and neck with Y at that point of the Season we probably would have overtaken them because they had a massive slump towards the end they just they struggled to get over the line didn’t they got there in the end but I mean seeing the I wasn’t there either but seeing the highlights speaking to Spencer being at the game and big Z and stuff and saying like I mean what what an atmosphere that would have been to like beat them 3-1 on their own turf when they thought they going to you know right at the end the [ __ ] howery like you know to ollie scoring that goal and you know it’s fantastic but I think my highlight for me will be the Maidstone game I mean I did not enjoy that one bit but Ole slotting that in it was at the 87th minute or something 88th minute um barely any time left at all in the scenes and the celebration ations were just unbelievable yeah I think to pick one highlight actually it’s quite difficult for for this season because the you know it has been a it’s been a roller coaster actually you know we’ve had we’ve we’ve done so well in the league and we’ve concentrated quite a lot on the league but you know don’t forget we had an amazing cut run we made the first round proper and what a day that was Al and I remember I was saying at the beginning of the season I wasn’t really bothered about a cup run but now I actually now we we managed to get to the first round you can tell this is his first season on the podcast I think it’s been a topic every year since we’ve done the podcast for a cup run but I think to be honest taking two coaches up to ALF and we could have probably taken another one if we’ had more notice and everything you know to see photos of the fans taking over that bar in Alfred and which obviously didn’t expect anyone on a Saturday ex was one bar made and she had to call in backups and they probably were appreciative of the business they probably made their month’s profit in one day there and then you know having that you know seeing Oe here scor 48 goals in all competitions um you know get into the playoff final no matter what seeing TV cameras here Wasing for TNT Sports twice okay one was a playoff final but the fact they chose a Worthing game to be on their only they only do one game a season National North and South and Irving was the team they chose and then seeing a documentary crew follow the club around I mean I mean it’s just you know at the start of the Season would any of us been sitting here thinking I would be sitting doing this end of season R you would’ be thinking hinches in there no no no no I mean I would have thought maybe if we’d had a successful season this is when we’re talking would this be hinches last season cuz we all said H when it happened we thought it would come every summer we thought it would come but not Midway well not Midway just over halfway through the season um I can’t believe we’re at a hinch lless club now but it it feels weird because we feel what we’ve moved them and progressed since hinch’s left and hopefully the agie is going to take it to the next step yeah hopefully and you know we’ll see what happens and and if do that and I like to get the same feeling we had in the the final day for the whole season in the town yeah one be showing every every week of the Telly but if we you know a few more people come here and and talk about Worthing I think then it’s been a good season I think if you’re listening to this podcast which you know we’ve got regular listeners but if you’re new to the club and you’ve seen the adts around the pitch you thought you might tune in if you’ve only been to one game come down come to a couple of games if you not at a loss on a Saturday or even a Sunday for the women’s game come down see it like join the club you know there was not that long ago 100 couple hundred fans here every week now there’s you know touching on 2,000 nearly every week you know the fan base is growing keep on continuing it to grow you do what the town did support the town I mean I guess we got to say thank you to the supporters that have purchased our charity football shirts this season in association with Two-Face Twins and W food Foundation what an amazing you know how how cool is that that you know an idea we had nearly a year ago has been sold in so such vast quantities and you know raising money for a great charity for a local artist to support it I mean it’s great and when when you see them wearing it on mat day it’s quite cool is it you think oh it’s wicked it’s very good and you know thank you for for woring football club for allowing us to continue to this podcast kind of unofficial official podcast letting us use the facilities always been so open and welcoming for um players and fans um players and managers and Club staff to be on the podcast it’s fantastic uh I think thanks again to our sponsors season again MK window cleaning and price Jones electrical um they’ve been a continued support since we pretty much started these podcast Spen about four or five years ago um but we should be back we will be back next season unfortunately for some of you I’m sure we will be back really not not again are we going to do something special well we’re we’re planning something special preseason so keep an eye out on the social something I think You’ do it’s um it’s a help to drive the Sports Association because uh those that have joined the Sports Association us over last years thank you so much there will be a new badge and a new membership coming out in the summer um unfortunately there’s not really going to be any if not any home home friendlies at all this uh preseason so it creates problems for us um doing membership drives so we are planning something or a couple of things so keep an eye out on the internet on our socials and the club are going to support us with this um and it should be quite an exciting thing guys you know we won’t say what it is or what it is but I I you know what I can’t rate for it if if we can pull it off I think it will be very good if we can for it but how do we do that P it or pull who off to get it done no no no no no this always goes downhill normally um but yeah uh thanks to all the listeners on Rebel y. live you know it’s been you know a service that we provided through the support Association throughout the season you know I think we got record listeners of 1,300 or something on the last game of the season which was against Brain which is amazing um but thank you for supporting us cuz your support through the membership helps pay for Rebel Yell and the sponsors and what we do and we love doing it so we’ll be back next year uh as I said keep an eye on it membership will be on sale so do keep an eye please do spread the word it will be £10 this season there is a family ticket family membership will be available so keep an eye on that um and yeah we will uh be back later on in the season oh later in the summer sorry not in the season and we and we will be uh they ready to rock for the new new season with some new signings and hopefully a lot of progress around the ground it was cuz I’m sure keep will be spitting if it doesn’t if that that ground’s not moving like this and also thanks you guys thank you for amazing season some great memories us as friends have shared as well behind in the new um AFF mentioned unofficial Chris big stand which is the home of Rebel now thanks for inviting me the first time you know for the season it’s been it’s been great I absolutely love it what a season it’s not like we’ve not had anything to talk about is it no okay IM if we come to this and there’s nothing to talk about shout us up most of the time really can you but now you it’ be quite hard if there was nothing to well I’m sure the roller coaster of the season will continue next year uh next season with wory football club and the women’s team and this fantastic club that we all support but uh thank you for support this year I said guys thanks for you uh co-presenters here and um we look forward to having a few weeks off but we’ll be back with a bang probably mid to end of July something yeah something like that yeah thanks for listening
