Recently it was announced that Ascot are going to be having a new Chairman. Simon Negus has done a great job in establishing Ascot United as a top-level club. However, much of what is done, is unseen but vital to the smooth running of the operation.
The Chairman is just one position of a labour-intensive operation, much of which goes under the radar, but without it, as volunteers, the whole thing falls like a house of cards.
Man-management is key, getting the right people to do the right job at the right time, as an unpaid role can be a challenge. Communication is, as always, the key ingredient.
This is a relentless thing to do, the Chairman is always “on” both to receive information, pass the information on, delegate and check on the progress. Whether it is by phone, email or face-to-face is can be time consuming.
There are various leagues to engage with, both junior and senior, and the best relationships are forged face-to-face. Managers of the teams have wants and needs, and they deserve to be heard and considered, and decisions need to be made, daily. You can’t please all of the people, all of the time. Then there are the many and varied funding authorities that need tapping into. Local funding from councils, both parish and town, is available, for the right project, so project teams need to be in play and active. This isn’t just a case of “staying in touch” once a funding round is available, it is about establishing the right relationship to understand the way those authorities are governed and run and ensuring there is a proper business relationship between both parties.
Then there is the match day, the bit the supporters see. Most supporters have a view on what should or could happen on a match day, and the Chairman has to be in tune with the supporters, endeavouring to provide the best match day experience possible. This is a constant review process, again, one that is time consuming, but richly rewarding.
All of this and having to worry about fund raising, facilities and improvement, supporting the staff, what the football club stands for and its values and of couse, the football results. So rewarding, so time consuming, so satisfying.
