Crewe Town Football Club CIC

On and off the field there have been a series of huge positives this season that, by far, overshadow the negatives. I start by congratulating the Pythons, Owls and Jets on winning their leagues. The Pythons, again, on winning the league cup and both the Sharks and Lions for winning the Wilf Saunders Cup. Additionally, a number of our younger teams saw success in reaching finals of our summer tournaments. Well done as well to the coaches and parents of the Tigers who won our annual charity tournament where the club raised in excess of £800.00 for St Lukes Hospice. We completed this season with a staggering 23 teams competing from u7 to u16, a huge leap from the 14 teams at the club when I took over in 2022, however, on a bitter-sweet note we say goodbye to the u11 All-Stars who have transitioned over to Willaston White Star and the u12 Jets who have, sadly folded. However, we are building 3 new teams for the coming season, u7 Tornados, u12 Trekkers and u13 Harriers giving us 24 teams for the coming season. Off the field we have had our application to enter the Mid Cheshire Youth Football League approved by the League Committee and we await final ratification from the League AGM. This will see 10 of our teams competing in the MCYFL next season with 5 choosing to remain in SCYL. In order to achieve this, we needed to find a venue we could call home and we are delighted to have struck a deal with Brine Leas High School in Nantwich with their 3 pitches on Weaver Fields that will host our home games for youth teams in the 25/26 season. Kit, Equipment and Coaches We are pleased to have to put several of our coaches through the Introduction to Coaching Football qualification as we look to expand our capabilities, as a club, and further improve our service to you. Alongside this we are actively progressing young players to complete to the referee course as we remain ever conscious of the lack of referees in the grassroots game. It’s the club’s ambition to develop as many referees as possible each year. With the move to a new home, we are also in the process of purchasing goals, dugouts, barriers and all the other pieces needed to make Weaver Field look and feel like the home of CTFC. Club Status The club remains a Community Interest Company but in the coming weeks we are planning to progress the club to full charity status, this will hopefully open more funding avenues and help us make the club sustainable for the longer term. I believe the status and reputation of the club continues to climb. This has been achieved by our impressive social media presence, staging of hugely successful tournaments, our charitable contributions and our on the pitch successes in both the South Cheshire Youth League and tournaments entered. However, on the negative side, we have also seen an increase in discipline issues. 2 Cheshire FA misconduct charges and an increase incomplaints levied against the club including the most severe incident in which we were left with no choice but to remove an entire team along with the coaches due to unsavoury behaviours. It is with regards to issues such as this where I have to say, we need to be better. Grassroots clubs live and die by their reputation, when I took over in 2022 the club was close to folding and it has taken time and a bag load of effort to repair the reputational damage. It would be a travesty for the great work of so many people to be marred by the behaviours of the few. Club Overview. We are growing in numbers, we are growing financially, we are growing reputationally. We are seeing on the field success, and we are moving a sizable portion of the club into a wider, bigger both numerically and geographically, league. This is the 3rd year in succession that I’ve been able to say that and I’m confident that I’ll be able to say it again next year.