MANAGING director Chris Pinder says he hopes the club’s improved state off the field will help Malvern Town push on next season.
Before Pinder and football director Ted Grizzell took over the club in September there were fears Town would not complete the West Midlands Regional League campaign.
Pinder said the club was in a “dire” situation as they were left with thousands of pounds worth of debt, while the Langland Stadium was under threat of closure.
But as he reflected on his first season in charge, which saw Malvern finish in 14th place and reach the final of the Worcester Royal Infirmary Cup, Pinder told the Observer the club was starting to move on an upward curve.
“We have just got to a point now where we have an up to date licence, the correct insurance and the books are balanced,” he said. “We have also got well-trained full-time members of staff and a club that is open seven days a week, which has made us self-sustaining.
“But when we came to the club it did not look like we were going to finish the season.
“We hosted Sporting Khalsa in November and the electricity board had come in and turned the power off, so we were unable to complete that fixture, which sticks in a lot of players’ minds.
“Since then I am very pleased with how things have gone and I hope that the stability off the pitch has helped to create an environment for players to be successful on the pitch.”
And Pinder said he would be looking to add to Malvern’s squad in the summer as they look to put themselves in the promotion mix next season.
“We should be looking at other teams in our league from a facilities point of view and size of population and think we should be in the league above at least,” he said.
“The Midlands Football Alliance should be the base-line standard for Malvern Town and I will be doing everything I can off the pitch to make sure we attract the best players in the area which are going to give us the best chance of achieving that.
“We have only been in charge of the club for 17 games and if you take the results of those games and averaged it out we would have finished in the top five with the existing crop of players, so with better training, kit and coaching next season we should be able to get a few extra per cent out of the players.”
Malvern Town’s end of season award winners:
- Player of the Year – Louis Loader
- Golden Boot – Lee Hooper
- Manager’s Merit – Dave Reynolds
- Players’ Player of the Year – Reece King
- U25 Player of the Year – Harry Wicketts