Top Billing now for the Synners

Feb 28 2010 by Steve Brown, Sunday Sun

“On the team-front we’re sort of treading water in mid-table, not doing anything fantastic although we should stay away from the relegation places,” he said.

“We’re in a bit of a transition period at the moment. It’s the new manager Chris Rooney’s first season in charge after having had a couple of managers over the last few seasons.

“So obviously it’s going to take time for him to build his team up and get in the men that he wants, then we’ll see where we go from there.

“To be honest, we were looking at top six but that’s probably not going to happen now. We’re a pretty big club in the Northern League so we’ve got to be looking at the top six most seasons. In a year or two we could be up there, or higher.

“The top five is probably out of our reach now but you never know, in this league you can put a run together and especially nowadays with three points for a win, five or six good results can lift you up the table.

“We’ve lost a few games due to the weather but having said that we did play quite a lot of games early in the season, so we’ve got a lot of midweeks free between now and the end of the season. It shouldn’t really be a problem, playing five or six midweek games in the next three months.”

More problematic is, as it is across non-league sport, raising funds and retaining fans, but even on this score, Synthonia – an amalgam of Synthetic Ammonia, the club’s former name, courtesy of its ex-backer ICI – are tractoring on.

“I think every club would tell you the same in the Northern League, you’re relying on local businesses for sponsorship,” Sigsworth said.

“We’re very pleased to have Glamal Engineering on board this season as our main shirt and stadium sponsor. It’s also about every member of the committee chipping in, bringing their own sponsors with them and everybody doing little bits and bobs here and there.

“We’re averaging about 100 to 120(-strong) crowds, which is slightly up on last year. It’s not a big difference but at least it’s not a downturn. The club’s in very good shape but we’re always looking to get a few more people, and sponsors, along.”