Kingstonian FC

Can you confirm the details of Thursday's Meeting?  

HB: Primarily, it will be good to catch up with the supporters. On the face of it, it's been a quiet period but I've been working with the Directors throughout the Summer to improve the Club both on and off the pitch. We have made excellent progress and thought the time was right to update our supporters. 

Many thought the announcement on Saturday may concern a new ground or introduce new signings? When neither were announced, it created a little anti-climax.

HB: The last thing we want is to disappoint the fans. As a Club, we understand how important both a new ground and confirming new players is to everyone. 

With regard to the stadium, this is obviously not something that involves me. All I can say is we will be at Corinthian-Casuals next season and I have been really pleased to see the time and effort Casuals have taken to improve the pitch and the facilities. 

Jon and his ground-staff are working hard to produce an excellent surface, while I understand the Dressing Rooms are also being improved and upgraded. That's really good news.

With regard to players, it was our intention to announce up to four new signings in Saturday's announcement. Everything was prepared to complete the signings on Thursday, film the announcement on Friday and air on Saturday. On Thursday afternoon there was a last minute delay, which prevented us from making the announcements we planned.

As it stands, we have signed five new players and are in conversation with a sixth player. We have announced Jake Hutchings, who will be an excellent addition. He is comfortable on the ball, defensively strong and will bring leadership qualities to the team.

I hope we will be in a position to confirm two more players this week. It's just a case of finalising the paperwork. Although the remaining two players have agreed terms and signed, we are unable to make an official announcement without permission of the Club we are signing them from. It's frustrating as we want to share the good news with the fans and hoped to do so last Saturday! We are in discussion with the Club but ultimately, we must respect their wishes.

All being well, the new players will be unveiled and attending the meeting on Thursday. That is certainly the intention and the players are looking forward to meeting everyone. 

You mentioned how important the Meeting is. Can you explain why?

HB: Firstly, it's important to continue our communication with the supporters. Equally, the supporters will have a number of questions regarding players (both coming and going). 

For example, we intended on signing two or three and suddenly the new players have potentially risen to six. So firstly, I want to give everyone an update and give everyone the opportunity to ask any questions they may have.

Secondly, I want everyone to understand the direction we are heading and the role everyone has to play. Kingstonian is a big club but to realise our ambitions there needs to be a significant change in the way club operates commercially.

Without a stadium I do not think it will surprise people or breaking a confidence when I say the Club is currently very dependent on the Directors. To achieve long term success, we need to create and operate within an effective and sustainable commercial infrastructure.

Kingstonian is a club which is all about the fans. Our supporters deserve to know how we want to move the club forward and provide an insight to how they can help us achieve that.

In my opinion, it's the most important meeting since I arrived here. If we are serious about being promoted to the National South, we need a National South business model." 

Please join Hayden on Thursday 2nd July at 7:30pm.
Manager's Q&A Zoom Meeting.
Thursday 2nd July.
Kick-off: 7:30pm.
Zoom meeting ID: 82382447304