As you were! City ready to resume
Chichester City are starting to ready themselves for next season – and it’s a case of ‘as you were’ as far as the management team and squad are concerned.
Manager Miles Rutherford, assistant Graeme Gee and coaches Danny Potter and Darin Killpartrick are all committing to the club for 2020-21.
And Oaklands park bosses are hopeful most if not all of last season’s squad will stay.
It will inspire hope of another successful season for City following their debut year at step four of the nonleague pyramid.
Not only did they surpass the expectations of most by flying high in the Isthmian south east division, they went on a club record-breaking run to the second round of the FA Cup.
In fact, when football froze in mid-march they were wellplaced for a late run into the play-offs.
A team’s second season at a higher level can be tougher than their first, but City will be confident of making a big impression again with last season’s squad still together.
City chairman Andy Bell said the club, like all nonleague outfits, had found the past three months tough with no chance to get together, no income – and still no news of when pre-season and the 2020-21 campaign was likely to begin.
“We’ve been trying to keep
Oaklands Park has been out of bounds to most since March – now Chi City’s staff are eagerly awaiting a return
things ticking over but it’s hard,” he said.
“The lads will be coming in soon for some fitness and it looks like pretty much the whole squad will be staying, which is great news.
“They showed last season what they could so and what a tight-knit bunch they were.
“We’re equally delighted the management team are all
staying with us. As a group of four, they worked so well together last season and we’ll be pleased to see that continuing.”
Bell said the loss of the end of last season and the closure of the clubhouse had cost City up to £8,000 in revenue.
They have also had to pay out significant sums connected with their lease of
the ground from Chichester District Council.
Bell said they’d had a business interruption grant but, like all organisations, were desperate to get their facilities open when it was ruled safe.
Ground improvement plans are being worked up and the club have launched a women’s team plus under-16 and under-14 girls’ teams.
The men’s side of the club will have an A team (reserves) in the West Sussex League plus under-23 and under-18 sides.
Longer-term they are working towards laying a 3G pitch which will allow a greater volume of teams to play at Oaklands. That could even go down next summer.