25 Years In The Making
take a look at the recent highlights that has got the club to where we are today.Newport-county.co.ukAs the 2014/15 season enters its final stages
The Club are on the verge of our greatest ever season, with the possibility of making it into the League 2 Playoffs, everyone atNewport-County.co.uk are excited about the last 12 games of the season and what could be in store for us in May. Last season the club finished in its highest ever position finishing 14th in our first season back in the Football League, this season we’re looking to better that and we’re on course to break our highest ever finishing position as we currently sit 9th in the Sky Bet Football League 2 this season.
To be in the middle of March with two points off the playoffs is a fantastic achievement for the Football Club and we’re all ecstatic to be in with a shout with 12 games left to play. With this being our second season in the Football League any finish above 14th is a fantastic achievement for the club, but to be in with a chance of the playoffs is something we never would have imagined as we started the season back in August.
We’re proud as a club to have a loyal fan base, who come week in week out to support us wherever we are in the country. Although we have one of the smaller crowd averages in League 2, there is more passion in our crowds than at most grounds and it is something we can be proud of! The fans have been on this fantastic journey with us since the very beginning and for us to be fighting it out with the ‘big guns’ of League 2 is an amazing achievement for all involved at the club, staff, players and supporters alike.
Off the field the club are investing in new facilities all the time and this is another major step forward we have had this season, we’re just about to purchase a second minibus for our Community team ‘County in the Community’ and we’re now reaching out to over 20 schools in the local area with four full time members of staff.
The Academy are on the verge of gaining Category 4 in the EPPP with the audit to come in March, a significant step forward for the Football Club, we’re now attracting more and more talent to the Academy that can contribute to the first team. We have seen youngster Regan Poole and Aaron Collins make their first team debuts this season, along with Tom Owen-Evans and several others training with the first team day in, day out. With even more talent coming through than ever before, this is something we are extremely proud of.
For the first time the club have a permanent training facility back where we belong, in the City of Newport, with the new training base at Spytty and our own dedicated facilities at Llanwern High School, where first team and academy can train side by side on a daily basis. Not only this but the players finally have the facilities to socialise together at the new training ground in Spytty, meaning we have a closer bunch of players than ever before.
The pitch this season has been another major step forward for the Football Club, playing on a pitch that hosts three teams is not easy for anyone involved, but the major investment from all parties has given us a pitch to be proud of and a ground that we can call ‘home’ in Rodney Parade right where we want to be, in the heart of the City of Newport. Together with Rodney Parade we have worked together to fund the new floodlighting at the ground in order to take us above and beyond the requirements for the Football League to put us in our strongest position ever.
Another major improvement this season is the relations off the field, we’re building better relationships with key partners and stakeholders than ever before, the staff are co-ordinating more than ever with Rodney Parade and we’re all moving in the right direction to make the City proud of what we can achieve together.
Our Sponsorship and Match Day revenue is at a record high for the football club and this season we have the highest turnover the club has ever achieved.
In the Summer we started and completed the development of our own ticket office and set up our own shop at Rodney Parade to give fans to interact directly with the Football Club on a day to day basis, we have increased more and more lines in the County shop, while we now have our own Ticket Office allowing us to sell home and away tickets direct to our supporters. Our office staff will shortly be moving in to new office space that will only help the development of the club off the field, having come so far in such a short space of time, we will be able to facilitate the increasing demands as a Football League club.
The club has appointed a new full time Media member of staff who will be dedicated to ensuring the Amber Army are kept up to date with more exclusive news stories, videos, interviews and behind the scenes information than you have ever seen before. As a Club we apologise to the fans for the lack of communication, especially over the last few months, this has been recognised with the appointment of a new Media Officer and improvements on that front will be there for all to see, we meet regularly with fans groups through the Supporters Partnership and we again recognise we must do better.
We have recently recruited a number of non-executive Directors all with their own areas of expertise, that will help guide the club to the next stage off the field and increase further funding from various avenues as we develop. The Club are continually looking for and communicating with new partners and investors all the time and this is developing on a day to day basis.
This season has seen the creation of the Supporters Partnership, a group dedicated to help the club develop the communication with fans groups as we sit together to discuss and develop the club with all Supporters groups coming together for the good of the club. Alongside this the County Lottery is growing at a rapid pace as they look to increase their memberships to further assist the club.
But as we celebrated in June of this year the 25thAnniversary of the club, we’re proud and delighted to have achieved so much in such a short space of time, we have seen old friends and rivals come and go as they struggle to survive in this tough economic climate, but the achievements of the Football Club is something the City of Newport can be proud of, so we ask to count on your support as we all work together to push our club into an established Football League club so that future generations within the City of Newport can be proud of their Football Club.