Football Focus Issue 70 | Page 11

Stourbridge Jamie Gilligan of club sponsor G-Tex Stainless recently took the time to tell us about his positive association with the club, saying, “I moved to the area around six years ago and was living close to the club and so started popping down to have a look at the local football. I enjoy going to watch and have never really looked back.” “I’ve seen it grow and it is quite different to professional football and it’s refreshing to see the guys playing for the shirts. It is still an excellent standard of football and Stourbridge has enjoyed amazing success in recent times. “The trip to Wycombe was one of the best games I’ve ever been to. There are a lot of positives to going to a non-league games and I’m a season ticket holder. “We sponsor the club with an advert outside and also sponsored the tracksuits. I’m good friends with the Chairman Andrew Pountney; he’s an excellent Chairman and does a terrific job. He’s got time for everybody and this is the sense that you get – it’s a very welcoming atmosphere. “The players will come in and talk to you after the game and you don’t get any of that at the professional level. It’s great to bring the family along and kids get in free – they’ll still be seeing a good level of football. Facilities “We are happy with the facility’s we have and are looking at doing further development in time, that will very much depend on promotion or not. We have been fortunate to have had a few FA Cup runs that have helped us to support the development that we have needed to do, it was not long ago that we were told Specialists in Patterned, Decorative, Rigid and Coloured Stainless Steel Sheets Offering Architects, Consultants and Designers a diverse collection of stainless steel finishes for use on many applications. • Attractive Finishes • Unique Designs • Excellent Durability • High Performance G-Tex are specialists in a diverse range of stainless steel sheet finishes for aesthetic or practical applications. • Patterned • Etched • Satin • Decorative • Coloured • Treadplate • Mirror • Rigid Grades 304/316/430 available from stock Contact details: T: 01384 233800 E: [email protected] www.g-tex.com Unit 1, Bagley Industrial Park, Railwharf Sidings, Dudley DY2 9DY BSSA “I hope that the club can get promotion and develop their ground over the coming years. There’s a great catchment area at Stourbridge and it would be terrific to think they could make it to the Football League one day. That would be great for the club and the Dudley area as a whole.” our ground was not up to the required standard of Step 3 grounds. Over the past four years we have seen an investment of in the region of £200,000.00 spent on improving the facilities.” Challenges “The biggest challenge for us is winning promotion and maintaining that level. It’s achievable and I am confident we can cope at that level; we just have to be mindful that we don’t get dragged into throwing big money at players to stay afloat like some of our neighbours have done. A lot of them have paid the consequence of doing so and are now operating under a different name or not operating at all.” Ambitions “Our ambition is to establish our self as a Conference Club with facilities that are up to that standard and continue to develop the club as a community club for the borough. It is important to maintain and possibly improve on our attendances, certainly get more support support from local businesses or business people and encourage more volunteers.” www.footballfocusmag.com 11