Thank you Bateman

A massive thank you to Steve Bateman for all he has done for our club, ending with the fantastic day out in Windsor recently!
Sorry to see Steve go, but nothing can last forever. I hope to see him down Haywood Way at some point, think he owes me a pint or two!

Agree Ryan, Steve gave us highest League finish, Berks & Bucks Cup, continued success in El Quackico and generally brought decent players in playing good football. Also it was nice to sit down and chat non league football with someone who understood it and has been involved in it for many years. By the way did Steve show you his Evverton yearbook, the 1984 version?

mikefarquharson wrote:Agree Ryan, Steve gave us highest League finish, Berks & Bucks Cup, continued success in El Quackico and generally brought decent players in playing good football. Also it was nice to sit down and chat non league football with someone who understood it and has been involved in it for many years. By the way did Steve show you his Evverton yearbook, the 1984 version?  

The Lego hair?

Cheers Steve you certainly have done us proud.Best of luck for the future what ever you decide to do,so mote it be,Old Plumb.

Have to agree with what SB says about taking rhe club as far as it can go: people will only come to watch if it's a successful team but in order to get a successful team you need people coming to watch. When 90 odd folk come to watch a game when you're challenging for the play offs in a town the size of this then you have issues.

Anyway thanks Steve.

Many thanks Steve. You have done an excellent job on a limited budget and agree that you have taken the club as far as you can.There have been lots of highs with the playoffs last season and the B&B win this year.The team is certainly in a better shape than when you arrived.

joolst1970 wrote:Have to agree with what SB says about taking rhe club as far as it can go: people will only come to watch if it's a successful team but in order to get a successful team you need people coming to watch. When 90 odd folk come to watch a game when you're challenging for the play offs in a town the size of this then you have issues.

Anyway thanks Steve.

Agree with Jools here, getting promoted with the budget 90 fans generate at a home game is a massive ask for any manager at this standard. Staying in the prem with the extra travel would be nearly impossible unless the club can get more supporters.

Steve has restored his reputation (if it ever suffered from not getting Slough promoted) and probably enhanced it in many people's eyes.

Where does the club go from here? It is attractive to a manager who is comfortable and has contacts at this level - Tony Joyce is available   Joking aside the appointment is very important as if only 110 or so come and watch the team when they are fighting for promotion, how many will come if it goes wrong and end up at the wrong end of the table?

Aylesbury United have been out of town for years and FC have been the town's main team for all of that time with most of those seasons having been a success (imho) but the average attendance has not improved

Still think both clubs should merge for the 2017/18 season. Too late for 2016/17 but if the sensible people on both sides sit down in September and come to an agreement then plenty of time to get it done

oneclubinaylesbury wrote:Still think both clubs should merge for the 2017/18 season.

Yes, someone make it happen.

oneclubinaylesbury wrote:

joolst1970 wrote:Have to agree with what SB says about taking rhe club as far as it can go: people will only come to watch if it's a successful team but in order to get a successful team you need people coming to watch. When 90 odd folk come to watch a game when you're challenging for the play offs in a town the size of this then you have issues.

Anyway thanks Steve.

Agree with Jools here, getting promoted with the budget 90 fans generate at a home game is a massive ask for any manager at this standard. Staying in the prem with the extra travel would be nearly impossible unless the club can get more supporters.

Steve has restored his reputation (if it ever suffered from not getting Slough promoted) and probably enhanced it in many people's eyes.

Where does the club go from here? It is attractive to a manager who is comfortable and has contacts at this level - Tony Joyce is available   Joking aside the appointment is very important as if only 110 or so come and watch the team when they are fighting for promotion, how many will come if it goes wrong and end up at the wrong end of the table?

Aylesbury United have been out of town for years and FC have been the town's main team for all of that time with most of those seasons having been a success (imho) but the average attendance has not improved

Still think both clubs should merge for the 2017/18 season. Too late for 2016/17 but if the sensible people on both sides sit down in September and come to an agreement then plenty of time to get it done

Aylesbury United were offered a merger, twice, but due to all the behind-the-scenes politics, a mutual agreement between both clubs just wasn't viable and I don't think it ever will be, even though we could be stronger together.

AUFC have, fairly enough, a long and esteemed history that deserves recognition, but at the same time people like Danny Martone have worked bloody hard to build AFC from the ground up, and would sooner walk that see Haywood Way's now famous Red & Black turn Green and White.

Who knows, maybe something could happen in the future, but any merger agreement means both clubs gaining and losing in equal measure.

Must be close season again.The merger talks have surfaced,there are deffo pros and cons for both clubs if(a big if) a merger was to happen any time shortly. Must say though good idea in principle.

Aylesbury United were offered a merger, twice, but due to all the behind-the-scenes politics, a mutual agreement between both clubs just wasn't viable and I don't think it ever will be, even though we could be stronger together.

AUFC have, fairly enough, a long and esteemed history that deserves recognition, but at the same time people like Danny Martone have worked bloody hard to build AFC from the ground up, and would sooner walk that see Haywood Way's now famous Red & Black turn Green and White.

Who knows, maybe something could happen in the future, but any merger agreement means both clubs gaining and losing in equal measure.

I have heard both sides of the reasons that the merger failed previously, assume that the truth sits somewhere between both sides version of events.

Agree completely with what you say about Danny, not everyone's cup of tea but you cannot argue with where he has taken the club since it's Stocklake / Haywoods days. Imagine he is as frustrated as anyone to lose a bloody good manager because the club is not financially able to match his ambitions

Both Aylesbury clubs are at their ceiling now and the only way to break through it is to merge. This might mean people leaving their ego at home or just walk away and allow others to come together to create one club (ideally comprising of Aylesbury FC, Aylesbury United FC, Aylesbury United Juniors, Girls, Walking Football and Inclusive plus Bedgrove Dynamos and any other local clubs that want to be part of it).

If a compromise with name and colours cannot be reached then call it AFC Aylesbury or even Aylesbury Town and play in blue and white! History is just that and whilst it should be respected and learnt from, it should not stand in the way of the town of Aylesbury having a club that the local people actually care about

joolst1970 wrote:

oneclubinaylesbury wrote:Still think both clubs should merge for the 2017/18 season.

Yes, someone make it happen.

And merge Man City and United at the same time.

[quote="oneclubinaylesbury"]

This might mean people leaving their ego at home or just walk away

Graham Read always said he would walk away if the supporters of Aylesbury United wanted a merger. They didn't.

Lab wrote:

joolst1970 wrote:

oneclubinaylesbury wrote:Still think both clubs should merge for the 2017/18 season.

Yes, someone make it happen.

And merge Man City and United at the same time.

City are doing very nicely by themselves, thank you and United also exist.

Would it be a bad thing if read walked away ? He seems to be the one with issues..

Getting back on topic,  
Thanks for your time Steve, I was pleased with your use of local players, and you never seemed concerned about fielding young players in big games which I also admired.
Couldn't quite make the play offs this season, but with the games backlog I'm prepared to give you the benefit of doubt
My favourite game during your time was the El Quackico win that put us top of the league.
Good luck in whatever you do