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Chairman passes on his thanks at the opening of the Arena

Posted on: Thu 12 Aug 2010

Welcome to tonight's game in the first round of the Carling Cup against Coventry City.

Tonight's game is the beginning of a new era for Morecambe Football Club since it is our first competitivegame at our new home, the Globe Arena. Three years ago it became apparent that the financial model of the Club was not sustainable and it was obvious that we had to generate additional income outside of match days in order to survive and unfortunately this was not possible at Christie Park. An announcement was made in July 2007 confirming that we were to develop a new stadium which was scheduled for completion prior to this coming season. When work began on the new development it was envisaged that we would be able to play two or three pre-season friendlies at our new home although the completion date was always on a very tight time-line.

The subsequent announcement of a two week delay on the project was a huge disappointment to all concerned. We have developed an excellent relationship with Globe Construction and this enabled us to work together to facilitate the opening of Globe Arena and hence our first game this evening. I ask everyone for your patience and understanding since I am sure there will be some teething problems at times this evening. It will take us a few weeks to overcome such issues and I am confident that we will then have an outstanding facility and one of which we can all be very proud.

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We plan to have an open day for anyone who wishes to come and view all aspects of the Globe Arena and everyone will be able to see the superb quality and workmanship which is a credit to everyone involved at Globe Construction. We would be delighted to hear your views on your experience at the Globe Arena and any suggestions you may have for improvements and would ask that you forward your comments directly to myself or any other Board Member.

I would like to express the thanks of the Board to everyone who has contributed to this magnificent development. A special word of thanks to everyone at Lancaster City Council for the support they have given us throughout the development period. Also, I feel we should all recognize the outstanding contribution that Brian Fagan has made to ensure completion of this project. He has worked tirelessly throughout the project period and his commitment to Morecambe Football Club has been immense.

Whilst all the development work has been going on, I can assure everyone that we have not lost sight of the fact that we are a football club. We had a magnificent season last year finishing in fourth place and unfortunately losing out in the semi-final play off. I would like to welcome back those players who were with us last season, also a special welcome to our new players and hope that we have a successful season. I suppose that after last season expectation levels will increase but whilst we are an ambitious club we must also be realistic. I am confident that under the leadership of Sammy and Mark, we will continue to move forward and that we can all look forward with confidence to the coming season.

Completion of the Globe Arena means that we have secured a long lasting, exciting future for Morecambe Football Club. It is vitally important that we retain the culture of this club, which has been built up over the last 89 years and brought us much success.

From a personal point of view, I have always been very proud of our supporters and the manner in which you really get behind the team, both at home and away. I hope this continues and enables us to increase attendance levels at the Globe Arena.