Blyth Spartans AFC - Board's Quarterly Report, May 2025

This is the second of the Board's Quarterly Reports since the ownership of the Club passed into the hands of the Community Interest Company established to safeguard its existence at the end of October last year. At that point, we committed ourselves to honesty and transparency, and this report represents our latest instalment of sharing information about the situation of your community football club.

Three months ago in the first of these reports we gave a frank account of the perilous financial situation the club was in at the point at which we became its latest custodians. We estimated that if we had simply carried on as before, we would by the end of the season have accumulated a deficit of over £200,000; we were spending a clearly unsustainable 115% of our turnover on player wages. A decisive change of course was required, and we described the challenge facing us as needing to “stabilise to survive, and then thrive”.

We ruled out options of defaulting on existing commitments, we continued to pay our players, and we pledged that we would not renege on historic debts, particularly to local businesses. We knew that we would have to cut our costs, and drive up our income, and we recognised that to survive would require a huge amount of hard work by all those involved in the club and by the wider community.

It is therefore with a great deal of relief and pleasure that we are able to announce that three months on, as a consequence of a phenomenal response from the community and our incredible fans, the future of Blyth Spartans AFC has been secured. We will finish the season - with the exception of interest-free and indefinite directors' loans - totally debt-free and able to plan the necessary reset of the club for next season with optimism and confidence.

It has been a very challenging time for supporters - results on the pitch leading to a second successive relegation with seven games still to play have made this a season to forget - and yet those same remarkable supporters deserve the credit for a fantastic effort to make sure we still have a club to fight again another day.

Our confidence in the resilient community of Blyth turned out to be entirely justified, as the bursting of the £25,000 GoFundMe target, the growth of the 1899 Club, the heroic efforts of the club shop team, and the support for other fundraising events such as the Peter Beardsley talk-in all combined to keep our heads above water.

An exciting new partnership with QTS

Crucially, it was that community support, and our reciprocal commitment to the community as a club, that led to us agreeing a vital partnership with leading digital infrastructure company QTS. The financial support of QTS has enabled us to secure the immediate future of the club, clear the debt and start work on improving club facilities for the benefit of the local community. We have the basis here for a long-term collaboration with QTS, who share our vision of community engagement, and we are looking forward to many exciting joint initiatives in the coming months.

So, a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed in whatever way to reaching this point, where we can say that the first phase of “Stabilise to Survive, and then Thrive” has been successfully completed. Having stabilised and survived, we can now start to focus on phase two: thriving.

The current financial situation

At the recent Open Forum, our Chief Financial Officer Dr Mark Middling delivered a detailed breakdown of the recent financial situation, listed the measures that have been taken to deal with the deficit, and sketched out alternative budget scenarios for the coming season. That report can be viewed here.

Rebuilding Blyth Spartans

It is clear that the potential for Blyth Spartans AFC in the future is huge, and our mission now is to rebuild the club sustainably on solid foundations into something Blyth can be proud of, both on and off the pitch. Two successive relegations have been a massive blow to our pride, but deep down we all know that we are capable of returning to the levels and the standards that we deserve.

We intend to start rebuilding now, while remaining within our means: we will not spend more than we generate as a club, and on that basis the future of the club should be secure. This doesn't mean however that we are short of ambition; if anything our recent experiences have convinced us more than ever that this community can come together to build something remarkable, in line with our vision: “to be an outstanding, inclusive community club, playing football at the highest sustainable level”.

First team manager

Possibly the most important decision the board have been faced with since the last quarterly report has been the appointment of a new first team manager following the resignation of Michael Connor on 31st March.

An open and thorough recruitment process was conducted after the publication of the job advert, job description and person specification, and after short-listed candidates were interviewed, Colin Myers emerged as clearly the strongest candidate to tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

Colin has already begun work on putting together a squad that will be able to compete in the NPL Eastern Division next season within the necessary budgetary constraints. It is intended to hold an open forum before the start of the season at which supporters will be able to meet the squad and ask questions of the management team.

Ticket prices

Following consultation with fans - for which thanks are due to Dan Rolls and the Green Army - the board have decided on ticket prices for next season.

Matchday admission prices are to be reduced by 20%, with adult League match admission set at £12, with the concessionary price (for ages 11-16, 65 and over, students, disabled fans and blue light card holders) at £7. Under-10s will continue to be admitted free of charge.

Season ticket prices have been set at £175 (concessions £105). This represents a saving of £3.67 a game, or the equivalent of six free games over the season. Season ticket holders will also be given free admission to all home pre-season friendlies, 10% off hospitality bookings, and priority seating and ticketing for all cup matches.

There will also be no additional charge made for seating in the Port of Blyth stand. Season ticket holders will still be able to reserve their specific seat at the time of purchase.

Front of shirt sponsorship

The Port of Blyth have strengthened their longstanding connection with the football club, by agreeing to become front of shirt sponsor of both the men and women's first teams for the 2025/26 season - as well as continuing to sponsor the Jimmy Turney Stand and the club's Player of the Month award.

1899 Club

The fundraising efforts of the 1899 Club have gone from strength to strength, and the club currently has 425 active numbers shared between 171 individual members, contributing a total of £2125 for April 2025. Huge thanks are due to Scott Gibson for all his hard work in building the club to date; responsibility for the running of the club has passed to club director Paul Norvell, who will oversee the rebranding and promotion of the initiative.

Floodlights

Work has now begun - at last! - on the installation of the new LED floodlights, and it is expected that the work will be completed by the end of May. Thanks are due to Kevin Scott for all his hard work in co-ordinating this.

Blyth Spartans Women

Plans to field a Blyth Spartans Women's team in NFL Division One in the coming season are picking up pace, and a number of trials are being held at Wensleydale Park, on Sunday 1st June, Friday 6th June, Friday 13th June and Friday 20th June. Any players aged 16+ who'd like to get involved can fill in the declaration of interest form here.

Refurbishment of the Clubhouse

During the close season a refurbishment of the clubhouse is planned to improve the facilities both for regular supporters and for greater use by the community, as part of the new partnership with QTS. Crown Paints have donated the paint for the work, and the last two weekends in June have been designated for the work to be carried out. For the first of those weekends (21 st and 22 nd June), the club is appealing for volunteers to help out with preparatory work such as wallpaper stripping (and other maintenance work around the ground), while the following weekend will see skilled tradesmen volunteers carry out the redecoration.

Building for the future with the highest standards

We hope to have more to report in the very near future about some areas still under development, such as the launching of the Spartans in the Community charity; recreational football at the club and the Sunday team; the future establishment of a Blyth Spartans Reserves team as part of the development pathway; and further improvements to the Croft Park and the club's facilities.

Some of these developments, and the pace at which we can achieve them, will depend of course on our success - both on and off the field - in rebuilding the club. It is a huge relief not constantly to have to worry about our short-term survival, and we are optimistic that we will never again have to appeal to supporters to dig deep in the same way just to guarantee our continued existence. That naturally doesn't mean that we lack ambition for the future, and we may well embark again on fund-raising drives, but they will be to expand and enhance what we do as we make genuine progress with our reset.

What we can all do though - without it costing a single penny - is to renew our commitment to ensuring that Blyth Spartans is a club that operates to the highest standards and with the highest expectations. We want to be an inclusive club where everyone is welcome, where we all treat each other with respect, where professionalism and a united sense of purpose go hand in hand. We want to be a family club for the whole community, characterised by fun, warmth and friendliness. We will build a club to be proud of, that everyone else - friends and rivals alike - admires and aspires to emulate.

That rebuilding starts here.