Chairman Ben Clasper reflected on 2025 and looked ahead to the rest of 2026 in his notes from our postponed fixture against Whitehawk on Saturday.

I hope you had a relaxing time over Christmas and New Year, a strange time for us at the club this year after a consistent run of home Boxing Day fixtures since the pandemic and so we are looking forward to welcoming you back to kick off 2026 with the visit of Whitehawk. 

The first half of the season was a mixed bag, it delivered quickly on many of the goals we set but life has become increasingly tough as the season has gone on. We are harder to beat than previous seasons but we’re struggling to put teams away, traits that have produced a punishingly high number of draws. Statistically speaking our ‘Goals Against’ column is play-off form, but we are bottom half when you look at the ‘Goals For’ column and most regular observers agree we start games strongly but fail to capitalise and too often we end up paying the price. 

After stumbling into relegation trouble last season our goal was to rebuild and secure a more stable mid-table position to act as a foundation for next season. Whilst it looked initially like we might be able to aim higher sooner, the reality is that going straight from a relegation battle into a promotion chase is a leap usually only reserved for financially doped sides. Based on resources or experience there are few surprises in the top half of the table but we need to be mindful that the ten teams between us and the relegation zone will all have expected to be higher up the table, it’s a very strong and tight league and so it’s important we improve quickly on the weaknesses we have identified. 

We still hear a lot about clubs treating Champion Hill as their cup final and raising their game accordingly which contributes to there being no difference between our home and away results. We still need to work out how to turn the Hill into more of a fortress with performances that match your support which has been amazing throughout a tough 2025 and I’d like to thank you and whilst it’s a fact of life that every year will always be a mix of highs and lows I wish you all the best for the year ahead. 

Ben