Welcome back to Meadow Park everyone for the start of 2018/19 season.
I’d just like to start by thanking everyone for last season - players, management team, committee, fans and sponsors - for all your support and commitment last season.
Finishing fourth was a huge achievement for us, a small club with limited resources, and it’s testament to everyone involved with the club. As people often say we are punching above our weight in this league. What we have is a team of hard working and dedicated committee, a fantastic group of players, a great management team and a superb set of fans which makes the club what it is today.
On the playing side we’ve managed to keep all the lads who we had last season and also added a few great additions. Mark ‘Sparky’ Davison is a top, top player who has joined us from Morpeth and needs no introduction to RCA. We’ve also signed Alex Ramshaw from Seaham, who’s a player we’ve all been impressed with pre-season. As we like to have a core of local lads at the club we’ve also signed some young exciting talent in Dom Moan, Sam Lilley, Sam Robinson and young Spanish keeper Andy Kokoska.
After the departure of Assistant Manager Steven Stewart at the end of last season, we’ve now added Mark Cowan to the management team who will replace Stevie ahead of the 18/19 season. Mark’s been around the club for the past couple of seasons and has a great rapport with not only the players, but the management team of Gee, Larks and Carl. Not only a great addition to the club but brings his good looks to the bench as well! We also welcome Lenny French to help Carl in his role as goalkeeper coach.
For the management team, this season is not about setting targets, it’s about improving season after season. After saying that and after the great season we’ve just had, we really do want to push on and aim for some silverware and use last season's performances as a benchmark. With the players we have and the team spirit and togetherness in the dressing room we can only get better. This is a massive season for us and hopefully we can achieve as it’s what everyone connected to the club deserves.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors, new and old, for your continued support.
So enjoy the season, get behind the club and who knows what we can achieve this season.