Two in the running for Fisher management job

Tuesday 23rd June 2009

AROUND FIFTY members of newly-formed Kent League club Fisher packed into a meeting room at Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill ground last night to discuss the direction of the club, born following the demise of boom-and-bust club Fisher Athletic, writes Stephen McCartney.

Big-spending Fisher Athletic were wound up by the High Court on 13 May 2009 - and just thirteen days later Fisher were born.

Last Thursday night the south London club were voted in unanimously in at the Kent League AGM at Lordswood, taking the number of member clubs in the premier division to the bare minimum of sixteen.

Members voted last night, in a meeting attended by www.kentishfootball.co.uk, that the newly-formed club will keep the badge of the former club, dropping the name “Athletic” - and they will keep the previous club’s traditional black and white striped shirts.

Fisher also confirmed that they will play at Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill ground RENT FREE next season and that players and management will be totally amateur.

Agents of players have already contacted supporter and committee member Donna Powell - the only woman to take charge of a senior football team when she managed Fisher Athletic in a home Blue Square South game against Eastleigh on 18th February having raised £500 in sponsorship money - about playing for the new club.

Powell, meanwhile, confirmed that she was short listed for the manager’s job but chairman Martin Eede, who answered questions from the floor from members along with the versatile Joe Arif and treasurer Ben Westmancott, refused to divulge details of the two managers in the running for the manager’s job.

But Mr Eede did confirm that Ray Bagnell, who was number two under Dave Mehmet for Fisher Athletic in Blue Square South last season, was initially turned down.

Mr Ede, the former Molesey, Dulwich Hamlet and Fisher Athletic chairman, started the meeting by saying, “Well, I did say at the last meeting that I wanted plenty of help.

“First of all, welcome to all of you. Quite a bit has happened since 28th May - not even a month ago - amazing! Quite a bit has gone on and still a bit more still to do.”

Mr Eede suggested that he would like to undertake dual roles of chairman and secretary, saying, “I’m happy to do the secretarial because I’ve done it before and I like to make sure everything is spot on.

He ran through the names that will be involved with the club on a voluntary basis and did reveal that Bagnell, who was on that list, could still be involved.

“He was interviewed for the managers job and was informed he wasn’t going to get it so he may decide to do something else,” said the chairman.

“When the manager is appointed, there may be an option for him to be involved, it all depends on the manager.

“Ray is someone I want to be involved in the club, but you can’t dictate to managers who he wants in the club.”

A three man panel of Eede, Bob Davies and Bert Kite, have sat down and drawn up a two-man shortlist.

And Mr Eede added: “They are both very good candidates but we’ll explore that at a later date. It’s not been decided but it will be decided as soon as we can.”

Mr Eede explained why Fisher have only entered the Kent League Cup (where they’ll meet Faversham Town over two-legs in the first round) and the London Senior Cup in their first season.

“We applied for the new club to be admitted into the FA Cup and the FA Vase,” he said.

“The old club had applied to enter but once the club was wound up, that meant nothing, and we had to apply again.

“I’ve had a letter from the FA and as the closing date was 1st April - basically we won’t be in the FA Cup or FA Vase this year.

“I did pay something like £160, which I phoned up asking to have back, but the old club owes £460 to the FA Cup for bookings and stuff like that.

“The old debt will die with the old club so we won’t have to pay for the £460. It’s not something that I’m happy about. I don’t like owing money but what can you do?”

Mr Eede added: “I spoke to the London FA and they were very accommodating and they asked me to get our application in as soon as possible.

“We’ve sent off the cheque and we got our affiliation to (the) London (Football Association). We’ve got an affiliation number and when we went to the Kent League meeting we were the first and only club to have an affiliation number.”

Despite securing a rent free groundshare deal with Dulwich Hamlet, Mr Eede admitted Fisher will have to pay towards costs of staging matches at the Ryman League venue.

“I’ve got a formal written letter signed by Nick McCormack, the owner of Dulwich Hamlet Football Club for the 2009-10 season at Champion Hill, based on Kent League and Cup programme plus the London Senior Cup,” he said.

“All other games to be prior arrangement with Dulwich Hamlet Football Club.”

Speaking about the deal, he added, “It’s not cold cash (that we have to pay them to play at their ground), it’s to assist with the running expenses and (we have) offered the option of having some functions there.”

The previous club were renowned in recent years to splash the cash that they never had - and it’s clear that the new club will live within their means.

“It’s an amateur football club,” insisted the chairman. “People putting their time, energy and effort into the Football Club for nothing, for that I expect the respect for people who do that.

And recently elected treasurer, Mr Westmancott will be keeping a tight hold on the purse strings.

“At the last meeting, the first meeting on 28 May, we pulled £6,000,” he revealed. “Since then a number of other people have spoken to me.

“We’ve got a solid basis to start (but) I’ve done a cash flow forecast and it adds to more money going out than coming in.

“It’s about people coming through the turnstiles. For the new club to grow and be part of the community, we need people through the turnstiles.

“The biggest outlay is to travel to away games. The principle I’m following this season is we’re going to live within our means.

“It’s nice when people come in with piles of money, that’s great, but when it’s withdrawn for any reason - what I want is to build this club in the Kent League and build it up on a steady sustained basis.”

Mr Eede added: “The most important thing we’ve got to decide tonight and that is the ethos or the way this club is going to work as a voluntary football club.”

Visit Fisher’s website: www.afcfisher.weebly.com