Spalding United CEO Leigh Porter excited for 2022/23 season as Peterborough United friendly approaches
A year of valuable lessons has put Spalding United FC in a strong position going into the new season.
That is according to CEO Leigh Porter, who first took on that role in August 2020.
After an on-and-off first year due to Covid restrictions, Mr Porter signalled last summer that he wanted to improve relationships between the club and the town.
Having had 12 months to work on that, he believes the club is in a better place to have a positive impact within the community.
“There’s always more you can do, and I think with it being our first full season we had to do a lot of learning,” Mr Porter said.
“We felt we’ve learned that, and we’re even more enthusiastic about working very closely with the council and making sure we’re a valuable asset to not only the footballing side of the town but also all the other areas as well.
“We’re in 100% agreement with everybody in the town that Spalding as a town centre needs to be better.
“We couldn’t be any more enthusiastic about Spalding, we couldn’t be any more enthusiastic about a lovely facility that could and should be better.”
The club kicks off its new season on August 13 with a home match against Daventry Town.
Before that, however, is a showpiece friendly against League One club Peterborough United this Friday (July 29).
Mr Porter hopes the game will be as well attended as the same fixture last year, which saw football legend Sir Alex Ferguson attend.
“It’s a lifeline for our club. The revenue that’s generated from a club like Peterborough bringing a side down makes our job unbelievably easier,” he said.
“Without revenue through games the club would cease to exist, so it’s an absolute lifeline. It’s a huge event for us.
“It’s a pre-season friendly, but it’s one of the highlights of the season. We’d love people to come down and support us because it means the world to us.”
The CEO hopes to maintain high crowd figures throughout the coming season, and has set a target of drastically improving on a tenth-place finish last season - which he has classed as a failure.
Mr Porter now wants to give the club and the town ‘the success it deserves’.
He added: “It’s our club. We’ve absolutely got the bug of Spalding - we love the club, we love the town, we love the surroundings, we love the people involved in it. We absolutely cannot wait.”