Senior Blues Meeting Recap: March 2025
Chairman Chris opened the meeting by paying tribute to Wendy Potts, one of the original Committee of the Senior Blues.
The first guest speaker was CFU Director Will Lamb, who was elected onto the Board in November 2023 and is now involved in the Commercial Portfolio. He pointed out how commercial revenue was critical for both maintenance of the Deva Stadium and for the team budget and in the absence of a Commercial Manager, the work was being done principally by himself and Albert Davies. Sponsorships were secured for this season for three stands although Stadium sponsorship and East stand deals were still outstanding. MBNA sponsorship was on going until the end of 2026.
Will stressed the importance of generating bigger revenues to finance the playing and stadium budgets. Pitch rentals are available for end of season tournaments whilst use of club facilities including the car park were continually being explored. Matchday, kit, programme and perimeter board sponsorships were all touched upon and although the club has suffered losses over each of the last two seasons, the Board was anticipating a surplus for 2024-25. Finally, he gave a mention to the hard work being done at the club by the Directors including Club Treasurer Neil Berry and board members Steve Jones (Junior Section & Volunteers) and Nick Phillipson (Infrastructure).
Les then introduced Dan Metcalf, grandson of former player Mike Metcalf. Dan explained how he was in the process of producing a feature length film about a charity football match played in 1967 at the ground of South Liverpool FC. Entitled “Metcalf vs Puskas, The Forgotten Game” Dan is intent on telling the story of how his grandad played in a charity game featuring a stellar line up of British football stars including Billy Liddell, John Charles, Malcolm Allison, Dave Hickson and Billy Bingham and the legendary Hungarian maestro Ferenc Puskas. The documentary will also explore how Mike, an adopted child, forged a career in football in comparison to that of Puskas (who went on to play for Real Madrid at the age of 31).
Dan explained the process of obtaining funding, including a kickstarter campaign, the research conducted and the production challenges not the least being the exorbitant cost of £85 per second for archive footage. Grants and tax rebates, film crews and resources were also mentioned. He name checked Chas Sumner, Charlie Lambert and Albert as particularly helpful in the background research. Dan thanked the Senior Blues for giving him the opportunity to promote the project and welcomed anyone with any memories of his grandad (or the game) to share them with him after the meeting.
Next Meeting
Friday April 4th. The Senior Blues Big Quiz Challenge; CFU Director Nick Phillipson: Chester’s record goalscorer, Stuart Rimmer.
The Senior Blues will be match programme sponsors for the Darlington game on April 12. All those attending the April meeting will be entered into the draw for 3 Legends Lounge hospitality packages.