ON behalf of we three ex-players and former committee members we would like to wish all Club officials, players and supporters of Crediton United and our business benefactors a very Happy New Year and a successful season as we look forward to the exciting prospect of playing a higher standard of football next season.

Crediton United has a Club set-up which is the envy of many local football teams and rightly so! This did not come about by accident!

Many years ago the Club was blessed with a strong committee formed of ex- players and some who were even still playing at the time.

Our vision when we moved from Newcombes Meadow to Lords Meadow in the early 70’s was to have our own Clubhouse (we were envious of our friends and neighbours across the road).

The ground was developed; changing rooms erected and land at Creedy Bridge purchased. Finance was arranged and guarantors needed and found within the committee.

The facilities have been improved year-by-year for the past 40-plus years. At a conservative estimate if we were to start from scratch again to create what we now have at Lords Meadow it would probably cost half-a-million pounds to finance.

All of the equivalent finance has been raised by volunteers over the past 40 years.

Today with the Club having provided football for hundreds of players over the years for Senior and Youth teams it seems very few want to be bothered, after retirement, coming forward to assist in running our Football Club.

From time-to-time pleas for younger volunteers to offer their help have been made in our impressive match programme and also for ex-players to come down as spectators on a Saturday to support the teams.

We have excellent team management in place for our two teams of predominately local players which includes a handful of very promising youngsters.

The Youth section has a thriving Club currently running 18 teams from six years-old to 17 years-old including four girls teams. We must keep Crediton United successful for the benefit of the next generations to come.

We are very lucky to have the financial support from businesses and individuals in and around Crediton and without this support we could not exist.

The current hard-working Committee is short of members and need your assistance. They are always looking for help for many different tasks so if you are interested in helping out in any way please come to a game and have a chat.

The three of us are proud of our involvement in what everyone has achieved at Lords Meadow and, with a few other former players, still enjoy supporting the teams and enjoying the Club facilities.

We have had great times with the Club over the years and are anxious that the next generations have the chance to enjoy the same experiences.

Ian Grinney, Dave Blanchford and Chris Gillard