Welcome back to Champion Hill, I hope you enjoyed the summer break.

It couldn’t have been a busier, tougher, more unpredictable pre-season if it tried and I have so much to talk to you about. Sadly, as you will see from the new programme format the editors have cut my word count in half which is probably for the best as I could have taken up the whole publication.

So, we’ll take a different approach this season, I’ll keep you up to date with club news in this column and then we’ll add larger articles when I have bigger topics to cover as I know how much you value the detail.

I am looking forward to this season, the nerves are still there but feel different this time, they come from a feeling of expectation and of believing we can win this league. It is a far cry from the feeling of constantly looking over your shoulder. With a new squad and a new approach patience will be key, I would love to hit the ground running but I suspect this is going to be a marathon not a sprint.

Thank you for your continued support, I hope we can give you the season you deserve and those thanks also extend to our sponsors who always make us feel like their priority is the club and being part of our community so we look forward to hosting them throughout the season, starting this evening with Buildteam whose superb looking new TO stadium banner is making its home debut.

The start of our home league campaign is our first chance to look forward but sadly it will also mark the passing of our friend and former player, Kimm Connett, following his sudden and unexpected death last week. Kimm was incredibly excited about the season ahead and I hope we can do him proud.