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“Beyond the<br />
Dressing Room”<br />
On 22nd August 2013 a post was shared online about the<br />
imminent public mee=ng to be held to discuss the future of<br />
Darlaston <strong>Town</strong>. The message contained an appeal for<br />
supporters, volunteers, sponsors of the club to a@end the<br />
mee=ng to discuss the feasibility of the club con=nuing under new stewardship along with<br />
what the future may hold, the costs associated with it.<br />
At the mee=ng Neil Chambers hinted at needing £5,000 before a ball could be kicked. At<br />
this stage we didn’t have a penny and we started with literally nothing but a heap of<br />
goodwill and a whole lot of determina=on to not let the tradi=on and history of our great<br />
club disappear as many have when they faced the adversity we did.<br />
To raise £5,000 seemed a huge task, especially when you are relying on the goodwill and<br />
generosity of others. We were an extremely strong and driven group, we held raffles,<br />
events such as fish and chip suppers, auc=ons, holding every event possible, just to swell<br />
the bank balance to reach our goal.<br />
Looking back from the posi=on we are in today; it has been so so very much worthwhile.<br />
The lifelong friendships made on the long journey, people from all walks of life coming<br />
together for one common goal must be unique in modern =mes. If you think the people<br />
who were the main driving force in the club reforming are all virtually s=ll involved today,<br />
all in the posi=ons they were when they were elected back in 2013.<br />
One of the first and probably biggest milestones I think in the building of the new club was<br />
reaching a bank balance of £500, it may sound very small, but to most of us it was huge. It<br />
provided such a feeling of ela=on, and it certainly spurred us on to be more successful.<br />
Small sub commi@ees were formed that u=lised the skill sets of people we had offering<br />
their =me. Slowly but surely the total was reached. Knowing we could field a team because<br />
we had the money to do so was such a proud moment. In fact, those moments of sheer<br />
pride have con=nued to come thick and fast. The recruitment of a manager, the assembling<br />
of a squad, seeing the first Darlaston <strong>Town</strong> (1874) FC football shirt, the first game, the first<br />
win, and gaining promo=on in the first season to Division One wasn’t expected, acquiring a<br />
ground, taking on the Pavilion. These moments have been huge. Talking of huge<br />
22
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