Executive director Ashley Kirk sat down with 1866+ ahead of the upcoming campaign to discuss various areas of the club and the work that has gone on behind the scenes to maintain progression over the summer.
He said: “The off season seems very short, certainly a lot shorter than last year! I’ve had to do a fair amount (of work). Once the recruitment team and manager have identified someone, it basically came down to me to get it over the line. I do enjoy the negotiation side of it. I’ve got a bit of experience over the years in different areas.”
“We were obviously very pleased to get Dilan Markanday back, very pleased to get Lee Bonis. That particular deal (Bonis) took six weeks to sort out over the summer but we’re very excited by what he’s going to bring to the team.
“Prising Zach Hemming away from Scotland via Middlesbrough was also something we were very pleased with. He’s a good player.”
Expanding on the club’s transfer business, he added: “There were two or three things that we wanted to achieve. Obviously the first one is to improve the team and improve the squad. From my side and the other directors, and the football squad there was a realisation that we needed to perhaps bring some more youth in.
“We’ve not brought in anyone over 25 and I think that’s important. As people know, last season we brought in one or two experienced players who helped and are going to be here this season as well. We’ve got to blend that with the youth and start bringing those people through who are going to be first teamers and hopefully be with the squad and the team for a long time.”
On the subject of off-the-pitch work, Ashley then discussed the ongoing work to the lounges at the SMH Group Stadium saying: “Over the last two or three years we felt that we needed to improve facilities. A couple of years ago it was the training pitches that we’ve spoken about, last year it was more about the stadium itself.
“This year, it was felt that the lounges needed refreshing. We’re trying to bring money in away from football and trying to develop our conference & banqueting and corporate events business.
“We’ve spent a lot of money on that side. We’ve almost finished; we’ve just got the disabled lavatories to deal with but they’re being done in consultation with a couple of our disabled supporters.
“If you haven’t seen the refurbished SBK Spires Lounge, it’s worth coming and having a look. We feel we’ve got the best facility in North Derbyshire now.”
He signed off by saying: “We’ve got the squad, we’ve got the manager, we’ve got the coaching staff and we’ve got the fans, so let’s all go on a bit of a journey.”
Ashley spoke about much more including the club’s aims for the season in a lengthy interview which can be viewed here on the club’s YouTube channel.
