Here are Debbie Cook’s notes from last night’s edition of ‘The Mariner’ against Salford City.
As I took my seat in the Away Directors’ Area at Notts County on Saturday I, once again, had the perfect view of our supporters in the stand opposite; over 2800 who had made the journey to Nottingham to support the Mariners. I felt an immense sense of pride.
This is a clash that usually delivers in terms of excitement and atmosphere, and I enjoyed much of the game. Clearly the result wasn’t the one we all wanted, but personally I thought there were plenty of positives to take away. Two league games into the season and I’m still full of hope and anticipation for what this season can bring. I have the privilege of seeing the effort and commitment that goes in at the training ground.
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen those close to me filled with a renewed sparkle, brought about by football being back, and back on the telly too; sparkle at the joy of being able to chat about football, and review the performances of players and teams up and down the pyramid. Football is back, and for many, including me, it gives an extra spark to the weekend and to shared conversations. How many of you have sat by the side of a loved one suffering ill-health, struggling to know what to say but then finding some small glimmer of happiness in a conversation about the day’s scores? I know I have.
In my first programme notes of this season, I focused on the hard work and effort that had gone into upgrading aspects of the stadium infrastructure in the closed season. We know it’s still not perfect, BP is an ageing (but wonderful) stadium that has lacked some TLC over the years, but it has been improved in the last couple of years. Many of you will have read and heard many times that we are committed to continuous improvement at GTFC. Some of you will have heard me say ‘we’ll never be done, there will always be improvements we can make’; and I believe that. The Club has seen an immense amount of change in the last couple of years, but the process is ongoing; there is still much to do, much to improve, whilst not losing sight of what we’ve achieved.
In the spirit of improvement, our communications team at the Club are working hard to bring you more and more. Lately you’ll have seen new additional clips of our players and regular insights into behind the scenes. We’re committed to listening to what you say and to taking action where resources and practicalities allow. You’ll notice this season that there will be more reports and information coming from the club keeping you up to date with the youth team and our women’s’ team accordingly. For those of you that just can’t get enough of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with former players (and more), I’d suggest a subscription to Mariners TV – the monthly audio pass which also gives access to the video content (not live streaming of fixtures which is additional) is £4.50 a month, so just over a pound a week for the additional footie-fix!
Last week I caught up with our new Events Manager, Aimee Kemp whose initial focus is to get more events going at the Club and to engage with local businesses to see increased hire of our function rooms for corporate events, meetings and conferences. We’ve had loads of ideas of how to improve income generation for the Club in this way for a while, but now have some dedicated resource to make that happen. Events held in McMenemy’s are extra-special given the breathtaking view of the pitch, combined with the warm hospitality and attention to detail from our team. Why not suggest to your employer that your next staff get-together is here at BP, and then contact our Commercial Team to make plans.
So, another exciting game under the lights at Blundell Park tonight as we take on Salford City. Let’s hope we can bag a first home win of this season and let’s make some noise and get behind the boys; you all do that so well – thank you!
UTM!
Best wishes, Debbie
