SLOUGH TOWN NEEDS YOU

Printed in the National League South game v Dartford Saturday 18^th January 2020 
We won 1-0 in front of 854

 

The past decade has been kind to Slough.

Just ten years ago we were homeless and playing against Beaconsfield on a Boxing Day derby in front of just 297 people in the Southern League Central Division.

Some local councillors told us we should merge with Windsor. We spent one season getting thrashed every week culminating in a 9-0 defeat at AFC Wimbledon which sealed our relegation. I remember turning up at Chelmsford and our manager telling us another five players had left and half-joking with one of our supporters that he might have to pull on his boots. Local clubs enjoyed taking us down a peg or two, with the AFC Hayes tannoy man and their manager always asking sarcastically how our search for a new ground was going as they once again beat us. We were knocked out of the FA Cup by Erith Town, Hanworth Villa and Wroxham.

I was there when Steve Easterbrook was introduced after a game as our new chairman. With Steve at the helm the building blocks for a new club were slowly put in place. He didn't splash the cash or promise football league in five years like so many flash-in-the-pan idiots who are foolishly entrusted with running football clubs. I interviewed Steve for that Boxing Day Beaconsfield programme. He talked about his plans for the club, how it was much easier to be chairman when the club was winning; the difference between running a successful business and a football club – and how incredibly frustrating the slow progress of getting a ground back in Slough was. Following that interview it was to be another six years before we finally moved into Arbour Park.

But the last answer to the question where he would like Slough to be in 10 years time was very prophetic. “Assuming we are back in Slough I see no reason why we should not be in the Conference South League competing for promotion into the Conference.”

Enter joint managers Neil and Jon who have been at the club seven years and overseen over 500 games delivering success after success. If you haven't yet done so, I recommend you listen to The Non League Gaffer Tapes where they are interviewed by former Rebels assistant manager Dave Anderson for a fascinating if slightly concerning discussion.

The hour long candid talk covers everything from how joint management works for them, how they embrace social media but try to inform rather than get into debates. It is also evident that both are ambitious and want the chance to manage as high up the leagues as they can.

So can Slough Town match these ambitions?

Crowds are not growing as much as they had hoped (up just 5% on last year) and its hard for a number of reasons to get Arbour Park rocking. But really in a town like Slough we should be knocking on a thousand for every game.

Ten years ago Windsor went bust under debts of nearly £250,000. They have spent the proceeding decade as a mid-table Hellenic League club. It's a stark reminder of how not to run a football club. In contrast the Rebels are financially stable after prudent management and two memorable cup runs. But it's expensive running a football club at our level and the steering group that took over from Steve Easterbrook are looking for investors to push the club forward. To meet Neil and Jon's ambitions the club would need a financial boost to support the significant increased costs of running a National League team. If investors are out there, now is the time to come forward.

So apart from chatting up rich relatives what can we do as supporters?

One simple but very effective way to help is bring more people to games. Slough Town needs to better reflect the place it represents and we all need to get behind Mark Bailey, our new community engagement manager if this is going to happen. Ask for posters and free tickets so you can entice people to come and Mark is always happy to provide these. If every regular Slough fan took a poster and two tickets for six local schools or businesses in their neighbourhood that would be a tremendous boost to attendance and would only take an hour of your day to distribute. This strategy is already working but there is only so much of a huge town like Slough one man can cover!

It's a fine balancing act. As someone with a Slough and Brighton season ticket, I much prefer the family friendly feel of non league. I love what we have now and I wouldn't want to jeopardise that but like all Slough fans we don't want to lose who I reckon are the best two managers in my Slough Town footballing lifetime.

It's in our hands.