The news that extensive groundworks are required at the War Memorial Ground has cast a shadow over the run-in to the end of the season for Stourbridge FC.
It’s a worrying situation for the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central club as discussions continue with their local council and various sporting bodies to try and find a solution.
The deterioration of the banks that surround the ground, which is shared with the local cricket club, mean that the two stands and floodlights have been deemed as unsafe with extensive work required to sort the problem out, which is going to prove costly.
Whilst a pivotal summer in the long and proud history of the Glassboys lies ahead, skipper, Joel Kettle, is determined to ensure that the season ends in a positive fashion on the pitch as the club looks to secure a finish just inside the top ten.
“I don’t know enough about the ground situation to be able to comment on it too much,” Kettle told us. “But I do know that there have been struggles historically with the ground and the Chairman, along with the Board of Directors, have been working tirelessly in the best interests of the club for a long time as they always do.
“I know that they will continue to do that because they are good people who have this club at heart and I just hope that a resolution can be found to allow us to move forward and get this club to where it deserves to be.
“I have such a strong affiliation with Stourbridge FC. I take great pride in representing the club and give absolutely everything I’ve got every time I step onto the pitch.
“There are some great people here. As I say, it starts from the very top and runs throughout the whole club.
“As players there is only so much that we can do regarding the off-field stuff, but on the pitch, there is real determination to be able to end the season strongly and give our supporters something to cheer ahead, particularly here on home soil.
“The bond and togetherness that we have as a group is so important and we want to ensure that we give a good account of ourselves during these final four games of the season, starting on Saturday at home to Leiston.
“Beyond that, I think that everyone who cares about the club has to be patient and open-minded about change and the way forward.
“The season as a whole has been too inconsistent. We started really positively but we haven’t been able to maintain those high standards which we know we are capable of, and that has been frustrating.
“My aim has always been to make the play-offs, people will have their own opinions on this because we were a completely new group of players and staff which were put together over the summer and things do take time to build, but the League table doesn’t lie when you get to this stage of the season and to find ourselves ten points adrift with four to play means it’s a big ask to be able to achieve that now.
“I think the League as a whole hasn't been as good as it has been in recent years. There’s no real stand-out sides and no-one running away with it; you can see that by how close it still is at both ends of the table.
“Anyone is more than capable of beating anyone on their day and you’ve seen a lot of cases where teams in the bottom six have beaten top six opponents over the course of the campaign.
“No-one is really putting the League to bed. In past years, the title is in reach of two teams, this year there are four still in with a shot and at the bottom, there are still six or seven teams still at risk of going down
“I think that there are more teams with big budgets this year and its making the competition for players a lot more difficult rather than just a couple of teams being able to pick up all of the better players.
“There have been teams come up into this level with larger resources than previously and generally things are a lot more open. With that in mind, it makes it all the more disappointing that we are not right up there in the middle of that leading group and instead sit on the fringes.
“We’ll look to enjoy these final four games and see where it takes us. We’ve already beaten our points tally from last season, so we’ll look to finish higher up the table and continue progressing so that we can narrow the gap on the top five for next season.”
After hosting Leiston on Saturday, the Easter schedule sees them head to Barwell on Good Friday before welcoming neighbours, Bromsgrove Sporting. The season ends at promotion hopefuls, Bedford Town.
IMAGE: Anthony Dunn
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