A warm welcome to everyone for this evening's Vanarama National League North fixture at our Your Co-op Community Stadium between the Brakes and visitors Southport FC. 

For those of you making the long journey down from the north-west be you player, management, fan, committee or board member or volunteer we hope that you enjoy our hospitality and we wish you a safe trip home.

Speaking of trips, a massive thank you to the 50 odd fans who made the long haul up to South Shields last Saturday with a one nil loss no doubt putting a dampener on the journey home. Players and management were mostly on the road by 7.30am and many did not get home until between 11pm and midnight. Sadly the team played like they were still on the team coach in the first half but responded well in the second half with Cally rattling the bar and putting South Shields on the back foot. The momentum was lost when Will Shorrock was debatedly sent off on the hour mark although the team put in a good performance through to the end.  I believe that is our first sending off in about 18 months which indicates that team discipline has been excellent.

Southport will be another tough encounter particularly as they come to us on the back of three good results. Having said that our home record has been excellent so far this season and hopefully the increased crowd numbers continue and your great support gets us across the line.

Some of you may have noticed that Warwick District Council held a couple of public consultations last week in the Myton area regarding the Myton Footpath and wider Fusiliers Way Master Plan for the community that includes, shops, schools, community facilities, athletics track and the proposed new community stadium. 

In early December Warwick District Councillors will be voting on proposals re the Fusiliers Way Master Plan Development which includes the next steps and funding on the proposed new community stadium for the club.  This is a key stage in the long running proposals and we need your voices to be heard on the benefits to the community and the need for a relocation of the club.  Responses to the consultation have to be submitted by 31 October and we therefore need all of you involved with the club be that fan, player, coach, volunteer or helper to firstly FILL OUT THE CONSULTATION SURVEY as well as write and engage with your local councillor to highlight the massive good work we do in the community and why despite the great work of everyone over the past 24 years there is a desperate need for relocation to ensure the club has a sustainable future and can build upon the building blocks that we have put in place.

As most of already know, our current venue, the development of which has been a huge labour of love by many, is almost totally inaccessible to the community except for those who arrive by car.  There are no public footpaths and cycling is a hazardous existence for anyone brave enough to make the journey down the fast track Harbury Lane.  Parking in Harbury Lane is not an option and the single entry/egress point to our current site is very restrictive.  At our recent game versus Scarborough Athletic 902 fans were in attendance and despite the hard work of our car parking team it nevertheless took 45 minutes to get the cars off site.

In the current world of the climate emergency and greenhouse gasses it is not a good look when our major sporting location in Warwickshire is not easily accessible to the community by foot, cycle or public transport. Our out of town location also massively impacts upon our financial sustainability due to the restrictions of drink drive and our inaccessibility.  A common refrain I hear from many in the community is that if we were in town we would attend matches. 

We launched our Brakes Community Foundation CIO almost 4 years ago and our growth of community work has been immense and continues to grow apace.  We teach and coach in 9 schools, run disability programmes, school holiday camps plus a host of other community activities.  Add in 30 Junior teams and volunteers and an average gate of 670 fans we reckon that in an average week we interact with about 2000-2500 individuals.  Need I say more.  Well I will.  If we were in the heart of the community we conservatively estimate that those numbers would triple.

Over the coming weeks you will see a host of articles on the website and within our social media platforms.  Please help us by spreading the word and also engaging or writing to your local councillors (note deadline 31 October for survey).  Our club is not sustainable at our current venue.  Directors cannot continue to financially support a huge sporting and community asset that already delivers massive community benefit and could do so much more. 

MAKE SURE YOU WRITE AND ENGAGE.

Come on you Brakes. 

Enjoy the game.

Jim