The Annual General Meeting took place yesterday evening, with 24 people present.  Written reports were received from the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer and duly approved.

Amongst the points noted were:

a.  Ashford have now signed a new 30 year lease with the Council, with completion to take place on 22 May 2009.

b.  The Under-18 team is switching next season from the Southern Youth League to the Ryman League.

c.   The posts of Suburban League Secretary and Youth Secretary were abolished in favour of the appointment of an Assistant Secretary, Gareth Coates, soon to be a father, who will share administration duties with Alan Constable, concentrating upon the web site and match day announcements.

d.  The Club’s press coverage has continued to grow and in addition, regular weekly broadcasts are made on Radio Wey by Press Secretary Terry Ryan.

Chairman Bob Parker and Secretary Alan Constable were re-elected for what will be their 27^th consecutive season “at the helm”.  Ben Murray has taken over from Tracey Bessent as the Junior Liaison Officer, although Tracey along with Sue Cox, will continue as joint Social Secretaries.  Unfortunately, Vice-Chairman John Ellis has had to resign his position for the time being and Alan Cox was unanimously voted in to fill the post.  An assurance was given that John will be warmly welcomed back into the Club as soon as he is able to resume.

All other officers were re-elected to their posts along with the majority of last season’s general committee, thus preserving the continuity that has served Ashford so well over the seasons.

The one newcomer on the committee side is young Liam Balmer, thus recognising all the hard work that he and some of his young colleagues have carried out at the ground all season.  It was agreed that a number of sub-committees would be set up for the new season to ensure responsibility for all the many tasks that have to be carried out each and every week.

The hard work of many individuals over the season was acknowledged, not least the achievements of manager Mark Butler, which saw the Club winning its first every County Cup and reaching two other semi-finals plus a top half finish in the Premier Division of the Ryman League, enabling Ashford to compete at this level for a 4^th consecutive season.  The 1^st Team played no less than 22 cup matches last season.

Tribute was also paid to Suburban League manager Glynn Stephens, who had to cope with a number of personnel changes over the season but still steered the side to a creditable position in the league and come close to reaching the Suburban Shield Final, only losing by the odd goal in extra time to Tonbridge Angels.  There was a general acknowledgment that greater support will need to be given to Glynn and the Suburban team next season.

Outgoing U-18 manager Mick Snowden was also congratulated, with his team having won their Division and also having reached the Final of the Middlesex Senior Youth Cup and the 3^rd Qualifying Round of the FA Youth Cup, only being knocked out of both competitions by a very strong Hayes & Yeading side.

A verbal report from Mark Butler (pictured) confirmed that all of last season’s 1^st Team squad have been invited to return and he hopes that most of them will take up the invite, with pre-season training scheduled to start on Thursday 2 July.  Three players, Vinnie O’Sullivan, Billy Jeffreys and Ricky Wellard have already signed new contracts for the coming season, although an offer from another club has been received for Ricky, which has been rejected, as it does not meet the Club’s valuation of the player.