The latest and sounds great, if you live nearby and can get to see the reserves play. "quote" from Hyde FC. forum
An update from Steve Hartley, Chairman of Hyde United (14/06/10)
I am sure by now you will have seen the Press releases both from ourselves and Manchester City regarding the coming season.
As you are aware, the coming season marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of Hyde Football Club. In its early years, the club was bigger than some of its footballing neighbours Ardwick (MCFC) and Newton Heath (MUFC). It goes without saying that seasons like this don’t come around too often, and therefore we want to celebrate it in style both on and off the pitch.
To mark this important milestone in the club’s history, the directors resolved to revert to the name and colours of the original club. The change of name back to Hyde FC has received the approval of the Football Conference and the Cheshire County FA and is being recommended for approval to the next FA Council Meeting in July.
In a previous press statement, we announced that our original colours were black and white, In fact these were colours adopted by Hyde United FC after the First World War. The original Hyde FC colours were navy and white, and we will therefore be incorporating navy and white into one of this year’s kits. We are planning to have three kits this season and these will be unveiled at a “Fan’s Night” in mid July.
1885 was an important year for the development of football in the area, and in fact we share the same Anniversary as the Manchester County FA. We hope to do some form of joint venture with them later in the season.
The Board is taking steps to ensure that the Club has a sound financial basis now and for the future. We are therefore delighted to have entered into a contract with Manchester City FC to host their Reserve, Youth Cup and selected Academy games for at least the next three seasons. The income from this contract provides stability to the club, and will allow us the opportunity to develop out income streams. It is great to have City back at Ewen Fields, and we are indebted to Tony Beard who has worked tirelessly in his discussions with City to agree the deal.
City’s Executive Chairman, Garry Cook wants to improve the experience of fans visiting Ewen Fields to watch the City games and their investment provides the opportunity to upgrade our facilities to benefit both City and Hyde supporters.
The Ground is having a complete makeover and we are also in the process of upgrading the floodlights. A new sprinkler system is also being installed which will help us to maintain one of the best playing surfaces outside of the Football League. Hopefully all the enhancements will be completed before City visit Ewen Fields in a pre-season friendly on July 17th.
The dressing rooms and the Peter O’Brien Lounge are also having a much needed facelift and when everything is complete, the Stadium will be back to its very best both on and off the field.
One of our biggest challenges this season is to get more fans through the turnstiles. We hope to have some brand new initiatives in place shortly for the Hyde games involving the local schools more, whilst at the same time we are working with our Sponsors in the “City in the Community” scheme to get fans to both Hyde and City games.
Obviously things have to move quickly with the new season almost upon us, but we will endeavour to keep fans informed of developments through the Club’s website.
I hope all Supporters will embrace the exciting developments at the Football Club and look forward to enjoying all the coming season has to offer.
Steve Hartley 14/06/10
"I never knew they used to be a bigger club than us, sounds like the Chairman's really giving it a go and drawing on the "history" to progress the club into the future"
