‘Expectations even higher’ after Spalding United narrowly miss out on play-off spots, says CEO Leigh Porter

Spalding United will kick off next season with ‘expectations even higher’ following their play-off near miss.

Despite thumping home 12 goals in their final two matches, the Tulips narrowly missed out on a top-five spot in the Southern League Premier Central.

After the previous campaign’s title win, many observers would fairly think a seventh-place finish would be an impressive start to life at step three, but CEO Leigh Porter says there is no time for back patting at the Sir Halley Stewart ground.

“The chairman (Andrew Killingsworth) is bitterly disappointed that we didn’t deliver on what we wanted to,” he said.

“That makes the expectations of next season even higher than they were this year.”

Promotion-winning manager Elliot Sandy was relieved of his duties following a difficult start to the season, with replacement Jimmy Dean guiding the Tulips to within three points of fifth-place Harborough Town, aided by an eight-game unbeaten streak to conclude the campaign.

Now Porter hopes his manager can improve on that in the 2025-26 season.

“We start every campaign wanting to win it (the league),” he added.

“If we don’t we’re disappointed and we’ve failed in what we want to achieve.

“Finishing seventh is great but its six places lower than where we wanted to finish.

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves and the chairman - who is the owner of the club - puts the pressure on himself to deliver excellence.”

A bumper crowd of 901 supporters turned out for the Tulips’ final home game, a 5-0 victory over county neighbours Stamford.

And in a week that saw United announce a £1 million investment in transforming their stadium - including work to the dressing rooms and laying an artificial pitch - Porter hopes a forward-thinking club can continue to attract the townsfolk back through the turnstiles.

“We’re fully aware that success brings increased attendances and, we’re if winning games rather than losing, people want to come,” he said.

“We want as many people as possible to be involved in this journey as possible.

“More people, coming to games is huge for the club.”