As we move through the opening part of the new season, we wanted to provide supporters with a wider update on developments across Kettering Town Football Club, both on and off the pitch.
This will be the first of a regular series of quarterly updates.
We recognise that communication from the Club can and must improve and this is something we are committed to.
There will inevitably be matters which cannot be discussed publicly, particularly where negotiations or commercially sensitive discussions are taking place, but wherever possible we want supporters to have a clearer understanding of the direction of the Club and the work taking place behind the scenes.

First Team
The beginning of the season brought an unexpected change following Liam McDonald’s decision to step down as First Team Manager. Nick Green and David Bridgewater subsequently took responsibility and have provided important continuity during what could easily have been a difficult period for the squad.
The response on the pitch has been very positive. There is a long season ahead and nobody at the Club is getting carried away, but the professionalism and resilience shown by the management team and the players deserves recognition and our continued support.

Investment and Commercial Development
Discussions remain ongoing with a number of potential investors and one consortium in particular, as has been reported in the press and social media.
Given the nature of those conversations, we cannot provide a running commentary on individual discussions or disclose commercially confidential information. What we can make clear is the principle behind them: any arrangement must be considered in terms of whether it makes Kettering Town Football Club stronger, more sustainable and better able to invest in the progress of this Club. There are meetings planned and we ask fans to be patient and respectful of the process and not allow these or any other discussions to distract us from being united in supporting the team. We will update on progress of these discussions at the appropriate time.
Alongside investment discussions, significant work is taking place to increase the Club’s reoccurring commercial income. This is an important part of our strategy. Increasing football expenditure without first strengthening the income supporting it is not sustainable. Our objective is therefore to build a substantially stronger commercial operation around the football club, with the ultimate purpose of allowing greater and more sustainable investment into the first team.

New Club Structure
We have also finalised the clubs new structure with a new Operational Committee, replacing the old Management Committee (with most of the existing members) and where members are taking on greater roles and responsibilities in the day to day running of the club.
There is a separate Strategic Advisory Board built around individuals who bring significant professional, commercial and football experience and who can contribute expertise, contacts and independent thinking to the long-term development of Kettering Town. We will look to add to this Board in due course and further developments will be communicated as appropriate in due course.
More broadly, one of the areas of focus over the coming months will be our back-office operation. A football club of Kettering Town’s size and ambition cannot rely solely upon what happens for 90 minutes on a Saturday. Finance, commercial operations, administration, governance, media, facilities, sponsorship, community engagement and matchday operations all need proper structures behind them.
A great deal of work is being undertaken in these areas. Some of it will be immediately visible to supporters and some of it will not, but putting those foundations in place is essential if the Club is going to develop sustainably.

All-Weather Pitch
The Club is looking to secure consent for the development of an all-weather pitch at Latimer Park, and discussions are also underway with potential investors regarding this project. This is part of a wider programme of projects which will seek to improve the ground, surrounding infrastructure and facilities for players and fans alike.
An all-weather pitch would provide the Club with an asset capable of being used far more extensively throughout the year, opening opportunities for academy football, community teams, youth football, training, commercial hire and other activities which are currently restricted by the limitations of a traditional grass pitch.
For the Club, it would create additional recurring revenue, increase use of the stadium and provide better facilities across our football operation.

Communication
We recognise that communication between the Club and its supporters needs to improve.
Supporters should hear more regularly about what is happening around their football club rather than only hearing from us when there is a major announcement to make.
These quarterly updates will therefore become a regular feature. They will not replace matchday, commercial or other Club announcements, but they will provide an opportunity every three months to highlight some of the wider work taking place and where we are trying to take the Club.

Standards of Behaviour
Kettering Town Football Club should be a place where supporters, volunteers, players, officials and staff can participate safely and with mutual respect.
Passion and disagreements are part of football. Discriminatory abuse, intimidation and threatening behaviour are not and we want to make it clear that there will be a zero-tolerance approach to dealing with behaviour we have seen from a small minority of people in recent times.
Where appropriate, we will take strong action to deter intimidation and threatening behaviour towards Club staff, volunteers, match officials, players or fellow supporters. The Club will send out clear warnings to people identified and will not hesitate to impose stadium bans should such behaviour persist. Serious incidents or credible threats will be reported to the police.
We want Latimer Park to remain passionate, noisy and intimidating – for visiting teams but welcoming and safe for everybody who comes to support Kettering Town.

Finally – Thank You
Most importantly, we want to finish by thanking our supporters and volunteers.
Football club owners and officials are ultimately custodians. People come and go, but the supporters, local community and generations of volunteers are what give a football club its identity.
Our volunteers continue to give an extraordinary amount of their own time to Kettering Town, much of it doing jobs supporters will never see. Without them, the Club simply could not function.
And to our supporters: thank you for continuing to turn up, travel, volunteer, sponsor, contribute and care about the Club.
We also recognise that supporting the Club gives you every right to expect us to communicate properly with you, and that is something we are committed to improving.
Kettering Town is going through a period of significant change. Not everything will happen overnight and there will inevitably be challenges along the way. But structures are being put in place across the Club which are designed to make Kettering Town stronger both on and off the pitch.
The two are directly connected.
Our objective off the pitch is to create a financially stronger, professionally run and sustainable football club capable of supporting progressively greater investment into the first team.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support.