It may have been a ‘baptism of fire’ in his first month as Fylde RFC chairman, but Matt Thompson is already putting long-term plans in place to strengthen the 106-year-old club.
A coach of the club’s mini-juniors for the past six years, Thompson became that section’s chairman and was appointed club vice-chairman earlier this year before succeeding Matt Filipo in the leading role at the start of this month.
Wrea Green-based Thompson told The Gazette: “Matt’s exit was planned but only for the end of the season, so it has been a bit of a baptism of fire.
“I run four businesses, so I’m used to structured management, but a club like Fylde is a little different.
“My background is in construction development and, since getting involved with the mini-juniors, we’ve done bits and pieces around the club – the bar refurbishment, for instance – and it’s grown from there.”
There are changes afoot behind the scenes as the 44-year-old explained: “We have introduced a new structure, brought in some younger heads and made it more dynamic. We have a new treasurer and house chairman.
“We have a lot of ideas which will help make the club more financially stable over the next 18-24 months.
“We’re looking at utilising existing spaces for sponsorship and overhauling certain rooms for premium hospitality.
“We have a solar energy proposal as well and development plans to bring in new revenue streams.”
The first XV remains the club’s flagship and has consistently proved a competitive force in recent seasons under joint-head coaches Alex Loney and Chris Briers.
However, promotion from National Two North has remained elusive, with Fylde not quite keeping pace with the leading clubs.
Unusually, they have fared better away than at the Woodlands in the first phase of the current campaign.
Thompson said: “I’m working closely with (chairman of rugby) Mark Nelson on the rugby side and I’ll be there for the club side as well.
“The current budget for rugby is very good but we did have a lot of senior players missing on Saturday (for the 24-19 home defeat by Tynedale).
“I have great confidence in Alex and Chris. Alex and I are both Kirkham Grammar School old boys and Chris coaches my son at Kirkham juniors.”