NEW-LOOK UNITED STARTING ALL OVER
H&Y bid to end the bad times
HAYES & Yeading United have suffered dark days – but chairman Tony O’Driscoll believes there is a bright future ahead.
Relegation from National League South last season put the seal on a miserable few years for United, who have played in front of meagre crowds in exile at Woking and Maidenhead over the last five years.
But now there is a new manager, a new league and, miracle of miracles, their much-delayed new stadium is now ready for action.
United host Hendon in a friendly at the Skyex Community Stadium, on the site of the old Yeading ground, on Friday, July 29 and are optimistic of playing Southern League Premier matches there from the start of the season.
Promises
O’Driscoll said: “The reason we don’t have the support we should have is that too many promises have been made – and then broken.
“The fans have been lied to all the way along. I’ve been told that there are a lot of supporters who will only come back when we’ve returned to Beaconsfield Road. We have to wait and see if that’s true.
“Everyone who has come down to see the new stadium has been excited by it. I’ve said to people to come down, the gates are open and we’ll show them around – we aren’t hiding anything any more.
“The reason we’re not playing a Brentford or a QPR for the first game is that there will be teething problems like you get at any new ground.
“Hendon are going through it themselves with their new ground so they will understand.
“I’m hoping we can start the new league campaign there. There is still an awful lot of work to be done, but there’s a lot of work being done. If anything was to go wrong, we have the option of going back to Maidenhead short-term.”
Winning football would also encourage the fans who have gone AWOL to come back, but O’Driscoll doesn’t want to put too much pressure on new manager Mickey Lewis, the 51-yearold former Oxford United stalwart and ex-Hayes & Yeading assistant manager.
“Last year I appointed Garry Haylock as manager because of his experience in Non-League, but I told Mickey that if it didn’t work out I would ask him – and I’ve kept my promise,” said O’Driscoll. “I couldn’t go back on my word and the players are happy to play for Mickey.
“I don’t expect him to go and win the league, but I would like him to still be the manager in a year’s time and I would like to go into the following season with more than two players. I’d like to have something like ten players from this season for the following year, so that we aren’t starting from scratch again.”
Hayes and Yeading were traditionally Isthmian (Ryman) League clubs, but O’Driscoll is happy to have a crack at the Southern League instead.
“I was probably the only one happy for us to be in the Southern,” he admitted. “It’s considerably more travelling, but it’s a chance to go to a lot of new grounds and that’s exciting.”