Once upon a pre-season in Redcar...

Saturday 29th of July marks the start of the season for Redcar Athletic, the Steelmen. We host newly promoted Birtley Town at Green Lane and I can't remember the last time I was so excited for a season to begin.

It has been, simply, a brilliant preseason full of fun, invention, friendship making and club building. We are in a great place going into the game tomorrow regardless of what the result ends up being. I just wanted to share a little note on what we've done this preseason and what we're doing moving forward.

What is a club?

To me, a football club is one of the very few places you can go to be actively patriotic about the place you're from (or attached to). It's even better when 'your' club stands for something beyond win, lose or draw that means you want to be there not as a function of the 'halo effect' of supporting a winning team but the act of going being a reflection of who you are, your shared belief system and the values of the place it is situated in. Finally, it is a friendship and family relations bonding machine...the shared experiences we can have with pals and loved ones bonds us like nothing else in this country.

It's this type of club that we're building at Redcar.

We have a clear mantra for those working at the club....if other clubs do it then....do the opposite.

The town of Redcar isn't mainstream, perhaps not even on trend and thank god it isn't. The town, the football club are not Ready Salted, we're not like everywhere else.

You don't need to come up with a story for Redcar....it is the story. An underdog, a work horse, a victim.

The good people of Redcar now know with clarity that in its football club it has a big fog horn on its side....demanding the best from its leaders near and far (of which we have some good ones) for the people that call it home.

1. The Steelmen Membership

Our new Steelmen membership replaces the traditional season ticket. We believe that you can choose to bond yourself to your local club at any of the 365 days in a year. Not in an 'Early Bird' period or before a certain cut off time. Our promo video above has had over 120,000 views and articulates perfectly what we're all about.

2. Linking Place with Players

A huge opportunity clubs miss is to link the vast array of media opportunities they have to promote their area. This season we have successfully brought and bought in some new players. Our mantra is to be the place to play for the best local players. We've used that opportunity to use the announcement of those players in a totally different way.....after some raised eyebrows and concerned players the announcement photos (examples are below) have generated over 250,000 views across all the platforms and shone a light on some of the most important and vibrant places in Redcar.

3. Green Lane

Our ground has undergone a ￡25,000 overhaul this preseason. We are incredibly lucky to have the support of a Board ( Dale Smith Gary Wood (MCIOB) Kevin Fryett Ben Duncan John Wilberforce Shaun Smith ) who are local, passionate and selfless in the pursuit of doing something special with this club. This combined with a staff and volunteer base that is second to none makes Green Lane not only one of the best kept and best looking non-league grounds in the country but also one of the friendliest and most welcoming.

We've made some great new friends in Smokin' Joe's who are also providing all of the match-day catering and as you can see below it is anything but non-league!

4. Key Objectives

Earlier in the year we relaunched the purpose of the club setting out four key campaigns that would provide the essence of the club moving forward. They are:

The local economy

The local environment

Health & Education

Critical Thinking

This pre-season has seen us take some big steps in being able to activate these helped not in short by new partnerships with organisations such as Teesside Samaritans amongst many many others.

If you feel like your organisation could help us or you want to be partnered with the Steelmen then please visit https://redcarathletic.co.uk/news/redcar-athletic-commercial-brochure/

5. Special Moments and new friendships

You have to enjoy working in football and i've promised myself that I will this season. I have no reason not to. This preseason has already brought so much joy.

Firstly there was an unforgettable pre-season camp at Derby County's Moor Farm training centre. An incredible experience for our players and a bonding exercise that I know will stand us in great stead.

Fianlly, last Tuesday we hosted Hartlepool United Football Club and realised a record crowd of 1781, an incredible achievement for the club in respect to being in the position to handle (with 99% smoothness) a game at that volume. I was so proud of all the staff, the supporters and the volunteers for how that game went and the feedback we had. I know it's just a little taste of what is to come.

In an effort not to bore the reader I have merely scratched the surface here of what has been a brilliant few weeks. I hope to have intrigued you enough to as a minimum you'll give all our socials a follow and maybe, just maybe, if you see the world the way we do perhaps Redcar Athletic are worth helping along, worth associating with and worth a second look.

Good luck to all clubs this season.

#UTS