Dollingstown continue to plan for future

It is not that they believe they will win promotion this year, but rather putting plans in place as they continue to look forward.

“I think Dollingstown FC aim must continue to be progressive and simply not sit back and accept that we will always stay in Championship 2 as we could easily slip back into Mid Ulster football if complacent,” explained club chairman Hubert Watson.

“Our target over next 3-4 years is to improve the quality of the football team itself and also to grow the club off the park in terms of closer integration within the community, reaching out to schools and churches etc like the recent family fun days we have run where 800 local people attended.

“We are applying this season as it gives us an opportunity to put better practices into the overall running of the club in terms of accountability, infrastructure, voluntary staff and general well being of the club.

“If and when we reach Championship 1 football then Dollingstown FC should be able to step up another level as license should already have been attained.

“We set most of these plans in place five years ago when we first targeted senior football by means of investing heavily in our infrastructure of 200 seater stand, disabled toilets, board room etc.

“The full criteria for Championship 1 license is not yet established but infrastructure wise we might need to add a further 50 seats to current stand plus floodlights on main pitch for which we already have the necessary planning approval.

“The other aspects are more administrative functions which will only help us to manage Dollingstown FC in an even more professional manner and hopefully help continue to move our club on its forward track of recent years.”

On the pitch things are going well this year with the team enjoying their first season at this level.

They have shown they are more than capable of staying up and then with a strong backroom team behind them continue to strive for their ultimate goal.

Last weekend they had a free date with the game against Glebe Rangers called off due to the weather.

The Firsts have no game this weekend either.