New Brooms in the Boardroom

It may be a surprise to many people the news that Poppies stalwart John Cecil is occasionally useful.  No, honestly.  Hear me out.  He's very handy when you start getting too happy at a game and he'll puncture your burgeoning optimism with a few pithy comments.  He's also very useful when trying to pick winners at a Race Night event.  Just back horses JC has a stake in - trust me, you won't regret it!

Graham desperately surveys the train-wreck
of the 2023/24 season

Recently JC questioned Patgod's lack of reaction to the end of Graham Starmer's reign as Chairman and as much as I wanted to tell him to stick his opinion, he had planted a tiny seed.  Not necessarily specifically about Graham's time at the top.  I mean, what do any of us truly know about how and what Football Club Chairmen do until they sack a manager or drag clubs to Irthlingborough?

I was reminded that in the (relatively) recent 150th Anniversary issue of Patgod we lovingly laid before an almost entirely apathetic public of an article about the various club Chairmen we had collectively suffered under.  There may or may not be copies of this Celebratory issue still knocking around at the club, who put even less effort into selling it than even we used to.  Last season there was a teetering stack of this issue in the club shop, but they have no doubt since been put out by the bins with the unfortunate "We're following Leese to Promotion" T-shirts.

The article about club Chairmen ended with the the tenure of Dave Mahoney.  In time-honoured Patgod tradition, the article was almost instantly out-of-date as Dave soon stepped down.  There followed a brief period of  administrative anarchy, with supporters rushing the Winter Palace and setting themselves up as some sort of anarchic collective to run the club for the masses.  There may of may not have been a nominal head of Chairman affairs at this time but no-one stood out until Graham Starmer assumed the role, presumably during a Stalin-esque purge.  

Graham's tenure coincided with us almost returning to the level of glorified park football.  Ritchie Jeune, sensing the club might soon be worth even less than the paltry sum he was asking for, stepped kind-of back into the role to appoint Lavery, keep us up and complete the sale of the club to George.  Now, George has assumed full Chairmanship of the club, with Graham being returned to the "back-benches" with the club's thanks.  Or a gulag in Siberia if I'm to stretch the Communist metaphors to breaking point....

So, there you have it.  Bang up-to-date again.  For now....

George surveys his start to Poppies ownership,
wondering will it always be so easy.
Clue, this is Kettering Town FC, so - no.  It won't.