Senior Blues Meeting Recap: February 2025

Chairman Chris opened another well attended meeting by introducing Jim Green who updated us on what has been happening at the Deva Stadium.

Jim started by saying that the Club take on board the comments of fans, and are aware, for example, of comments on Social Media and spoke about the new Fan Engagement Group that had recently been convened comprising Board members and representatives from a number of supporter organisations (your trusty scribe is representing the Senior Blues).

He updated us on the bars and kiosks and the Fanzone. On the facilities front, he outlined progress on the disabled fans viewing platform, the use of the car park as an income source (currently around £2K/month), and the parts of the stadium that are showing their age, including the pitch irrigation system. The situation with SAG and stadium capacity was also covered.

On the playing side, the season so far was reviewed and the financial implication to the playing budget should we get promotion. In the Q&A session, it was good to hear that no ground improvements are necessary to comply with the National League. Jim dealt with a number of associated topics such as transfers, the current playing budget, overnight stays, and the cost of extra policing and sniffer dogs as a result of flare throwing incidents (£2.5K).

The second guest was Adrian Hughes, founder and operator of the Home Front Museum, Llandudno. He described how he had become fascinated by the second World War as a child, so much so that in 1999 he took over an old garage in New Street and self-built his museum which opened the following year. He based his informative, entertaining and illustrated talk on 45 objects to be found in the museum most of them accompanied by a short anecdote.

We learned about brooches, bells, baths (tin), budgies and butterfly bombs; gas masks, George Formby memorabilia and even hysteria tablets for dogs. Who knew that the Inland Revenue moved 5000 officials to Llandudno and even produced their own newspaper, The Ormescliffe Gazette? Furthermore who knew what a caltrop was? Although they were issued to the Home Guard I can’t remember seeing any in Dad’s Army.

The museum celebrates 25yrs in September and is open from late March to October. As Adrian pointed out, he has done it his way, it is his full time project. And if his talk is anything to go by, it is well worth a visit.

Next Meeting

Friday March 7^th. Guest Speaker Daniel Metcalf: “the Forgotten Game”. A documentary of a charity match in 1967 featuring among others Mike Metcalf and the legendary* Ferenc Puskas.

* I feel entitled to use the word “legendary” on this occasion,