The most stable football club in non league or possibly even ALL UK Football?

Isn't it strange what nine years of stability can bring to a football club.

I can't think that any person has managed Stourbridge FC for as long as Gary and his team have and to improve every season like we have is really quite remarkable.

I can't think of another club other than Arsenal who have had the same gaffer for nine years or more,it's a unique feat to be honest.

I hope our management team are around for many years to come but i also hope that thought goes into keeping one or two of our senior player's as their career's come to an end so that we can keep this "bloodline/DNA" that has been forged over the best part of a decade now.

I said some months ago that these were "halcyon days" for our club,this season has merely reaffirmed that,enjoy it everybody,i had to wait a long time from 1974 to witness times like these again.

We'll said old timer x

Aled wrote:We'll said old timer x

I'm still nimble enough to be able to give you a clip round the ear young man.

You won't be "walking in the f----n air" if i catch up with you…….you'll by flying through it :-]]

Ha ha. Apologies, I was taught to respect my elders

Aled wrote:Ha ha. Apologies, I was taught to respect my elders

Quite right too.

In fairness,if you are younger than me you're not wearing that well.

Touché mon ami!

Aled wrote:Touché mon ami!

You going to Cambridge match mate?

See you if you are.

I've got more chance of plaiting p&"£ to be honest mate. I'm at a 'life stage' that doesn't lend itself we'll to what one would describe as free, or me time

Well said DA. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to all those, both past and present, who have rescued the club from the brink over the last 15 years. Gary and his team have done a superb job on the field, but it wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of many others off the pitch.

I too hope the likes of Nathan and Leon go on to join the coaching team and keep the Stour DNA going.

Does anyone know what the plans are ground-wise? My ear is far from the ground, literally, these days so any info would be useful. I saw someone post that the church end has been tarmacked - was this a quick job to make it better for Saturday? I'd love to see a covered terrace at the Church End one day (for example, like Hemel have), and for us to find a way of having people stood on the cricket side, better toilets, a nicer seated stand..... Obviously that's a lot of money to find and things should only be done when we can afford them to make sure we don't ruin all the hard work, but are there plans to spend the fortunes we have amassed from all these cup runs?

There's the money left aside for if we do go up, think everyone knows that. Obviously then comes the catch 22 arguement about should we spending that too get up etc etc. Sure there were plans in place for proper terracing in the shed?

As much as I agree about how stable we are, I do think its important we get promoted sooner rather than later. Purely because for me, with the budget we play with, it's the only way we'd be able to keep the squad-and Gary together. We can't afford to stagnate. I'd have the up-most confidence that the team could hack it in Conf North, we showed we can dominate the lesser teams in that division. For what it's worth, I still maintain we were the best team in the league last year and had we started playing 4-4-2 or got Mackey earlier, we'd have won it. But as DA said, after a rocky start to the season we're getting back into the swing of it and it is a great time to be a Stour fan.

Stability has been the key on and off the pitch over the last ten years or so, without doubt, but that doesn't guarantee you progress or success. You've still got to have all the right people pulling in the right direction. The "blend" has to be right, and that is where we've been pehaps a bit lucky in having a bunch of people who work together so well. Of course, that hasn't really been severely tested yet...

We had a sticky patch this time last season, and some were questioning Gary then (I will admit to mildly doing so myself). Some clubs might have over-reacted to that spell. I think it's fair to say that our Board did the right thing - not that I think Gary's position was ever in any danger at all.

If every club stuck with their manager for ten years, didn't spend what it hadn't got and so on, then some of them would still come at or near the bottom of their Leagues and some would never have a decent Cup run. Everything that Gary and the Board have achieved has been worked at.

I think there is another stage taking place now. The Kyle Haynes signing is an indication of that - I think one or two people questioned whether we needed a player of his type ("another full back"), but I think what Gary is trying to avoid is the position we were in two years ago where the squad as a whole were mentally shot after we got knocked out of the Cup. Look at our bench these days and I'd say our depth is massively stronger than it was then. That is what any extra budget we now have can give us. We know the first XI back then was very good and we had two or three others who could step in, but with a couple of injuries we started to look a bit light. I think we're better in that sense now. It's the stability and gradual growth, rather than just going out a flinging around money we don't have, that is putting us in the right position to progress again hopefully sooner rather than later.