SINGING THE BLUES
Bailey: Thatcham’s best for 37 years
THATCHAM Town chairman Eric Bailey reckons the current team is the best he has ever seen in his 37 years of service at the Berkshire club.
So it is little wonder he is excited at what might unfold over the rest of the season with a marvellous double still on the cards.
The Kingfishers are in line for promotion from the Hellenic League and are through to the quarter-finals of the FA Vase with a match at Melksham Town to come on February 24.
Bailey has nothing but praise for 32year-old manager Danny Robinson after securing his services at the second attempt.
He said: “I tried to get Danny when he left Alresford, but instead he went to Winchester. Then when he left them we already had a manager in place. So he joined Newbury before coming here initially as assistant manager before being promoted to his current role.
“Danny is totally dedicated to football. He is very methodical in what he does. You look at his build-up to games. You cannot fault him at all. He is a very likeable person. What you see is what you get.
“In my time here it is the best side we have had. We have had good players in the past, but as a unit this is the best we have produced.”
Bailey, whose wife Sylvia is club treasurer and son Stuart director of football, baulks at suggestions the club might be trying to buy success.
He said: “It is something we have been accused of for a very long time that we are big spenders. But we work on a very small budget.
“This is a members club and I am a chairman whose contribution is my time and effort. You will see me down here most days as there are always jobs to be done.
“We have no main sponsor; in fact sponsorship is hard to come by. So we look to wedding planners, funeral parties and companies to use our facilities and generate extra revenue.”
Dreaming
Thatcham pulled in a bumper 701 crowd in the last round, swollen by a large number of Bromsgrove Sporting supporters, to see a 2-1 victory.
Bailey added: “We are hoping to get to Wembley and promotion could be on the cards, but other clubs have those dreams as well. We all know football can be cruel.
“It would be great if we could attract more supporters. You look at the size of Thatcham and Newbury and our gates should be higher.
“We know people like to go and watch Reading. We like to think, though, we produce good football here at a fraction of the cost.”