The following statement has been provided by Club Chairman Kevin Sturmey:
“I appreciate supporters are concerned about the recent departure of several players for various reasons but this needs to be put in the context of what position the club is currently in. It has been well documented that the club is going through a tough time, but any business would struggle with 10% income and 100% expenditure for the months of October, November and December. Not receiving a significant amount of sponsorship money which we had built in to our cashflow has also not helped. However, the players’ wages are all paid up to date but again like most football clubs it is survival month to month as “cash flow is king” in any business but it looks much more promising with 13 home National League games still to play and a mouth-watering local derby at home against Bridgwater in the Somerset Cup.
Everything has been thrown at us this year – floods, postponements, no cup money and not all our own fault e.g. Torquay postponed as we had to go to Welling for an FA Trophy tie etc. But I am positive about the future as long as there is honesty, trust and a never say die attitude. If this happens, we can achieve our short term goal which is retaining our NLS status and once achieved we can properly plan for the future. My job is now to build a Board with people that can bring in new Partners, Sponsors and contacts who are out there which isn’t currently happening, and this will happen very soon. I have many ideas but need people around me with the same appetite for hard work, a will to win and knowledge of sport and especially football which is not a normal business and never will be. However, after 13 ½ years as Chairman and 12 as CEO I will never give up; we are at “professional football” level, but we are still very much part time with the club still run 95% by volunteers. This will need to change, and money needs to be invested off the pitch, not just on it to consolidate and then have a real go for the next level. I have not sacrificed 14 ½ years of my life helping the club progress and been part of a special chapter in Taunton Town’s history to give up now. Every time I have had a setback in my life, I get back up as it galvanizes me to improve, and hard work will always come before success. We all have to commit more and work harder now (and smarter) and in sport my mantra is very simple, you are only as good as your last performance!
One thing in football is there will always be personnel changes and that will always be frustrating as all fans have their favourites, but squads always have to evolve and a freshen up can sometimes give the impetus needed, with some new players now lined up to join. The National League is unforgiving, but we have a much better idea of what the template looks like at this level. At present for the level of budget we are underachieving, having fallen from 1st to 19th in the table with the same squad. Crowds are not where they need to be and of course as we know, we have the added complication of full time teams in our League who can offer full time contracts. We can’t at present, and we have always said while we don’t want to lose any player we will not stand in their way if a deal is right for all parties.
We are only 16 months into our National League journey and I’m sure we all agree we want it to continue. I will keep pushing boundaries to achieve that with the right people.”