‘OUR CLUB NEEDS MAJOR INVESTMENT’

Andrew Cully was speaking as the club goes through yet another transitional period following the shock resignation of Brian Adair last Monday.

An appeal is being put out to anyone interested in backing the club fiancially through sponsorship or any other way to help build upon what has been achieved this season.

Under Adair the club reached a semi-final and a final and moved from the bottom end of Championship 2 into a comfortable mid-table position. They also beat Glenavon at Mourneview Park and took Dungannon Swifts to extra-time in the final of the Mid-Ulster Cup.

“We have done some wonderful things as a club this season and we would like to build upon it, but we can’t unless the finances are there,” said Mr Cully.

“If we don’t go forward eventually we will end up going backwards and that is a massive concern for me.

“The lack of money in Irish League football is particularly bad for sides in the lower divisions. If you look at some of the clubs in the Premiership who have been asking supporters and people who might be described as friends of the club to help them out and how much they’ve been required to raise you can imagine the scale of what we’re trying to do.

“I would appeal to anyone who is interested in backing us, or indeed anyone who has any ideas as to how we could raise money, to get in touch and let us know.”

The search for a successor to Adair is well underway, according to the Town Chairman.

It’s understood that Adair decided to leave his post after being told that he couldn’t have his budget for the forthcoming season until after the AGM. This, he felt, would be a hinderance in trying to sign players for next season.

“We weren’t in a position to finalise the budget - there was no point in us giving a manager a false budget to sign players which he might not be able to afford,” said the Chairman.

“That could end up jeopardising the future of the club and that is what has to come first.

“There was a delay in getting back to Brian - personally speaking I have been busy with business commitments - and due to that Brian felt we weren’t moving quickly enough and that it was hampering him in his attempts to sign players.”

He continued, “The news struck like a bolt out of the blue. It’s important that we move quickly on it, however, so that a new manager can come in and find his feet during pre-season.

“Brian goes with our best wishes. In his six months at the club he led us to a semi-final and a final. You could see the inroads that he was making and I’m sure that he will be a success wherever he ends up next.”