Martyn Sexton and John Bathurst gave me notices of their resignations over the last month. It must be recognised the efforts and achievements of both during their tenure at this football club.

I came into Herne Bay with Martyn and to put it simply, he has been an outstanding Club Secretary. We’ve been through some challenging times and Martyn has played a major part in shaping the club to what it is now. Being the Secretary was only a part of what Martyn did. If I attempted to reel them off I would be here for a very long time and still miss out quite a bit.

These are the kind of things people don’t see and a lot of the time, they go unappreciated. His organisational skills kept us all in line and he did a great job of providing updates, documents, and action plans for us all to follow.

I would like you all to join me in thanking Martyn for all he has done and I hope you can now sit back and enjoy the football.

We will be announcing the new club secretary before the weekend.

John Bathurst also recently informed me of his intention to step down from the board. He was ready to give it up when I was proposing to join the club but I asked him if he could stay on and provide important advice which, over the three and a half years, has been priceless.

John Bathurst is Herne Bay Football Club and I know he has said he will still support home and away. I feel John deserves something special for his 27 years involvement in the football club so we will be putting together a separate special ‘tribute’ to John very soon.

There have been many ongoing conversations over the last few months with regards to who will be joining the board and we are extremely excited to announce that Carl Born and Jeff Hammond have agreed to join us.

Carl Born, as I am sure a lot of you will know, is the Chairman of Herne Bay Youth, a local grassroots club based out of the Sports Hub. Naturally, given our positions, I speak to Carl frequently and can always count on him for some sound advice.

A message from Carl.

"I’m delighted to be on board at Herne Bay Football Club. Firstly, I’d like to thank John and Martyn for all their hard work in getting the club to where it is today. It’s a shame I won’t get an opportunity to work alongside them both, I hope they feel welcome at games and I can lean on them for any help or advice going forward.

"For those of you that do not know me, I come from a background of running a successful youth football club for the last 10 years and although this role will present many different challenges, I feel my skill set will help to develop the club on and off the pitch.

"I know there are some ongoing issues and challenges ahead, but I would like all the supporters to know that I am very approachable and more than happy to discuss any concerns they may have or any ideas on how we can improve.

"The club would be nothing without the fans so our immediate priority is to be as open and transparent as we can be. We are looking to rebuild the club committee, which I hope will include fan representation, and to start holding regular committee meetings where all ideas would be welcome.

I look forward to seeing you all at tonight’s game."

Jeff Hammond runs HSE Training Ltd (I am sure you have seen his company boards around the ground). Jeff comes with great experience and great ideas. Jeff is passionate about all things Herne Bay FC and knows the potential the club has both on and off the field.

Jeff wanted to share with you.

"I am really excited about joining the board at Herne Bay Football Club.

"I have been a follower of the club for a few seasons but last year saw me try to help out the club with some pitch side sponsorship and by attending more games.

"That was it I became hooked………

"The passion shown by the fans is addictive and both myself and my wife were made to feel really welcome.

"I was asked what I feel I can bring to the club and my answer was commitment, dedication, honesty and transparency.

"The work that goes on behind the scenes is relentless and I hope to be able to ease some of the burden on the current directors.

"It’s important to the club that we have as many views, opinions and ideas as possible and increasing the board in size will really help move the club forward.

"I want to try and help bring the club together as a whole and ensure that HBFC is successful both on and off the pitch.

Both are extremely progressive appoints and the board are really looking forward to working with Carl and Jeff and very excited how this new Board will blossom.

Please join me in officially welcoming both Carl and Jeff to Herne Bay FC.

Look forward to seeing you all tonight.

UP THE BAY!

Kind regards,

Stuart