THERE are growing fears for the future of Leighton Town after a nightmare month of December, and seemingly no solution to the club’s financial problems.
However, chairman Richard Graham insists he can see light at the end of the tunnel, and is calling on the club’s disgruntled supporters to rally round and get behind the team for New Year’s Day’s home clash against local rivals Aylesbury.
Struggling near the bottom of Southern League Division One Central, Town currently have no official management team in place following the resignation of boss Craig Wells and assistant Richard Batten, and have even been forced to field some youth team players in order to fulfil fixtures, with many first-team regulars refusing to play again because they haven’t being paid since the start of November.
Former assistant manager to Sean Downey, Paul Copson, has been taking charge of first-team affairs since Wells quit as boss in the middle of December, helped by reserve team manager Danny Greany and Ian Kirkwood, who takes care of the club’s U18s.
But with a very inexperienced side to pick from, they have been unable to turn around the team’s poor form on the pitch – naming only one substitute for their 3-0 loss at Barton Rovers on Boxing Day before Saturday’s match at Daventry Town was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
That substitute was Brandon Graham, son of Town chairman Richard, who says he is grateful to Copson, Greany and Kirkwood for their efforts in taking charge of the team during what he has described as a ‘crisis’ but also ‘nothing to write home about’.
Graham remains adamant that the future of Leighton Town is a bright one, but he admits that it could take some time to get the Bell Close house in order.
He demands loyalty from his staff, and insists that the only way the club will get out of the financial mess it currently finds itself in is by everyone pulling in the same direction and showing fighting spirit.
“Lots of people talk the talk, but they don’t come to me, and they don’t understand what is really going on,” he said. “We’ll meet out obligations and fulfil our fixtures.
“We’ll be planning what we’re going to do in the next few weeks and we’ll move on.
“Me, as an entrepreneur, I’ve been up, I’ve been down, and I’ve been back up again – that’s just how the world works. What you don’t do is jump ship as soon as the going gets tough.
“If you have loyalty to the club then you don’t jump ship. You’ve got to stick together and work it out. I don’t want people to panic or have any knee-jerk reactions.
“Maybe the club is at a bit of a crossroads, but we need the fans to get behind the team. It’s very hard to run a club that is losing every week.
“I’ll be bringing my ‘A’ game to the table. My track record speaks for itself.”
Graham points to the success of Town’s reserve and U18s sides as a sign that the future of the club is still bright, and believes that a drop down the divisions is not necessary to balance the books.
He’s calling for the supporters to make New Year’s Day’s home game with Aylesbury something of a turning point – a fresh start for 2013.
“Leighton Town has fantastic history – 120 years of it – and we just need some time to sort a few things out,” Graham added.
“There are questions that need to be answered but we’ll be doing our best to answer them. There’s light at the end of the tunnel and I’m sure we’ll turn it around.
“We need to show the sort of spirit that the team showed to win at Woodford last Tuesday, that was a fantastic result given the circumstances.
“I want to thank all the people who have stuck by me through a very difficult time. I applaud Paul Copson and everyone else for their effort. That’s what you need – the right people around you.
“I want people to support the club and we’ll get there.”