WORCESTER CITY | THE GOODE LIFE

Family affair for Chairman as we welcome the club back into the fold

It’s the Goode Life for Worcester City as they make their return to the Southern League for the first time in just over 20 years.

Having secured promotion from the Northern Premier League Midland Division via the play-offs at the end of last term, they have been placed in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central for the season ahead where some mouth-watering local fixtures lie ahead.

For Chairman, Steve Goode, his family is firmly ingrained in the club. His beloved dad, George, was Chairman between 1975 and 1981, when he sadly passed away during a game at their former home of St. George’s Lane.

Following a number of years in exile, where they played home games at Kidderminster Harriers and Bromsgrove Sporting, Steve Goode was one of the driving forces behind a return to the City in 2020 and since then the club has gone from strength-to-strength on and off the pitch.

“I’ve been associated with the club for most of my life,” the 62 year-old told us. “I’ve done almost every job here since I was a youngster before finally becoming Chairman in August 2018, when the club was literally weeks away from going under.

“I was extremely proud to follow in the footsteps of my late father; it wouldn’t have been possible, though, without the help and support of family and friends, but with the fantastic efforts of a number of people, we were able to get the club back on track.

“It has taken a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication to get things moving in the right direction; I’ve been fortunate to have some good people around me and then Simon Lancaster came on board as owner and majority investor and he’s been an absolute breath of fresh air to help us get to the next level.

“Over the past few years we’ve gone from narrowly avoiding relegation out of Step 5 to looking forward to the challenge that Step 3 will present during the campaign ahead.

“Back-to-back promotions is a massive achievement for everyone involved, especially when you consider that prior to that we had not had a promotion season for 45 years!

“The Southern League holds so many dear memories for me. I have watched City take part in a lot of memorable games in this League over the years and now I am looking forward to creating more memories and making new friends.”

This summer sees the start of an exciting new chapter in the history of the club as they move in to the impressive Sixways Stadium, alongside Worcester Warriors who are returning to professional rugby for 2025/26 in what is another big development for sport in the City.

“The Premier Central is such a strong League and there are some mouth-watering fixtures to come,” continued Goode. “Not only that, we also have the move to Sixways, which is going to be a real seminal moment for us as it gives us a fantastic opportunity to further grow our fan base and community reach.

“Getting the club back into the City at our previous home, Claines Lane, was vitally important and we thank the Worcestershire FA and everyone who played their part in making that happen. Now we have the chance to build upon that at a fantastic venue, which will allow us to continue to take things forward for the club.

“It’s been an extremely emotional journey over the past decade or so to get to this point. Having come perilously close to losing the club, there is now a lot for us to look forward to, but at the same time we are under no illusions about the hard work that lies ahead to ensure that we keep moving in the right direction.

“We’re fortunate to have good, genuine people involved here who have the clubs’ best interests at heart; Simon [Lancaster] sets the example and it runs throughout all departments of the club. We’re a determined and committed bunch who face each new challenge head-on, you only have to look at the way in which promotion was achieved at the end of last season to see that!

“The emotions at the end of that play-off final at Corby Town are something that will stay with me forever. Plenty of tears were shed that day and to experience it alongside my eldest lad, surrounded by good friends, just made it extra special. I know that my dad would have been looking down on us bursting with pride and happiness.”

The preparations for 2025/26 are already well underway both on and off the pitch.

“We know how tough it will be and Chris [Cornes, manager] is working extremely hard to put a team together that can compete at this level,” added Goode. “We have come a long way in a short space of time, but we are blessed with a fantastic fan base and a stadium that will be a superb venue to play our football.

“That said, we have to be realistic. We’ve got to firstly establish ourselves at this level and then take things from there. There’s been a lot of work take place in various areas of the club in recent years, such as commercial, community and our junior section, which is up to a total of 33 boys’ and girls’ teams, and now we have some new and exciting opportunities available to us to be able to enhance them further and build from the solid foundations that have been put in place.

“Things like hospitality and the general matchday experience for supporters of all ages can now really kick-on with easier access to the stadium, ample car parking, improved refreshments and events; sponsorship opportunities are also now much more attractive for existing and new sponsors and we’re able to reach out further into our local community with the product that we are now able to offer.”

This is a real success story and we welcome the club back into the Southern League.

We’ll be getting to know more of our new teams over the days and weeks ahead as we begin our countdown to the start of the 2025/26 season.

IMAGE: Rob Bazley

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