THACKLEY have made what chairman Phil Woollias described as ‘the signing of the summer’ after Dave Wormald applied to be the club’s commercial manager.

Thackley’s committee has worked tirelessly over several years to stabilise the club financially, and that objective has been achieved.

And they have been able to do that while still making strides on the field, thanks to their management team, club captain and their tight-knit squad.

Woollias said: “We wanted someone on board to help us, so we put an advert out there after discussing it at several committee meetings.

“Commercial manager makes it sound like its all about finance, but primarily we wanted someone to just help us promote the club and build on the great reputation we have throughout non-league.

“That’s all down to guys like Stuart (Willingham, club secretary) and the other officials such as Geoff (Scott), Steve (Paley) and Eddie (Williams), who have always had a passion for the club and put in so much time and effort.”

The committee backed Woollias’ initiative, and they were all delighted when Wormald came forward.

The chairman added: “Dave has a mainly business background and he wants to raise income streams and has some very good ideas.

"He also has a connection to the club as he is related by marriage to Thackley legend Peter Hall, and his sons also play for one of our junior sides.

“I met him and we had a chat and I really liked his approach and his ideas, and I put it to the committee and there was a resounding vote in favour, so we got him in. He started this week, so it’s early days.

“He has brought some proposals to the table, and they are good, but we want to keep them under wraps at present.

"There are ongoing negotiations that Dave is driving and I think in the long term it will grow our football club.”