Today, Billy Whizz's Wonderboys chairman Jack Richardson writes exclusively for BWW about how the club's future strategies are being planned
As I have written previously, both Trophy Manager and ourselves are currently changing in a big way. We are also both aiming for bigger and better things.
I discussed on Thursday how we are embarking on a strategy of buying young players to sell on, but in fact, the club's plans are far more diverse.
We are, of course, constantly scouring the transfer market, in the search for young hungry players, who want to develop their skills here at our excellent training facilities. There are thousands of players selling every day, and it is clear that clever purchasing is a key part of our strategy. We are considering hiring a transfer market specialist, who will help oversee our transfer operations - both in and out - together with Billy and msyelf.
Billy is running two teams at the minute, so again, the board will discuss whether a reserve team manager is needed. My own personal view is that this is not necessary - the B team functions only to give your youngsters some experience, and any league achievements are viewed as a bonus. Incidentally, I'm not sure anyone could be doing a better job with the B team than Billy is currently - for some players, this is their very first taste of competitive football, and for the majority, it's the first time they've been playing three times a week!
I mentioned our training facilities earlier - we are very proud of the investment we have made into these over the past couple of months, and plan to expand them even further once current development has been completed. Plans are also being drawn out to have more food booths around the ground, as well as more merchandise both at Shitters Palace, and elsewhere.
We are also talking about our longer term visions for the club. While the next season or two will continue to be difficult, after that the tide will start to turn, and we can start to propel ourselves up the league. That in itself will represent another challenge - maintaining our focus on younger players, while possibly pushing for promotion from Division 5. We will have to bring players into the club that will not only bring a profit in the future, but also contribute significantly to the teams success. Even the most successful and committed clubs have trouble doing this, so it is important that we have as much under our control as possible, and are ready for the problems that will arise.
On an even longer term, there will be a mass influx of users in the next year or so, due to increased advertising, and the 2012 European Championship. We will have to take advantage of this, while avoiding potential pitfalls. Finally, the clubs domestic and international image and reputation is to be maintained and improved. With the multi teams, TM will become a lot more 'internationalised', and although we will not be creating a team in another country in the near future, it is important the club remains at the forefront of the English community, following up on good work in the Team of the Season thread.
Rest assured, we truly have the club's best interests at heart - I am as desperate as anyone to see us fighting in the higher leagues. I wrote this to help you understand the almost daily dilemmas the club has, and to show you what the club is planning off the field, to help the results on it.
I hope you have found this blogs informative, and hope to see you at Shitters Palace in the near future.
Jack Richardson,
Chairman of Billy Whizz's Wonderboys