Preparations are underway at Barnard Castle FC ahead of their Wearside League Premier Division campaign.
The new season is scheduled to kick off at the end of July but pre-season training starts in mid-June with the first friendly on July 2.
While the Barnard Castle players are making their most of the summer break, management team John Close, Stephen West and Jimmy Raine have been busy making sure the club hits the ground running when the Premier Division kicks off.
Critical off-field work that will safeguard the club’s financial future and ensure the team will be as competitive as possible on the field began the moment promotion was confirmed last month.
Key sponsors have been secured for 2025-26, though they are hopeful of attracting more investment.
Another major development is Barney’s plan to form another senior team, in partnership with Barnard Castle Youth FC, and enter the North Riding Football League so that more squad members can get regular gametime.
Referring to the end of season planning meetings that have taken place so far, John said: “Much of the conversation has been around fundraising. For example, the cost of match officials alone trebles and that’s a major outlay for us.
“We’ve done some good work reaching out to local businesses and we’ve had a few who have committed to advertising boards, and to those, we are extremely grateful.
“We’ve said to all those local businesses that commit to advertising boards that all the money they provide will be ringfenced to pay for match officials so they are assured that their money is being used well.
“And we’ve also approached a few larger businesses and asked if they would be our main sponsors this year.
“CS Scaffolding have confirmed that they will be sponsoring us again and AKV Group have confirmed that they will also be a main sponsor. We are hopeful that a few others will.”
Running a football team and maintaining the facilities at Tens Field is a major financial commitment and John is quick to reassure businesses prepared to pump money into the club that the cash will be used wisely.
“The funding they provide will be spent on essential off the field football-related outgoings to keep the club going,” he confirmed. “For instance, it will cover insurances, it will cover utilities like electric and water and league registration fees; all the things that cost the club several thousands of pounds every year.
“That means the money we have always generated ourselves through events, a monthly prize draw and through food and drink sales on matchdays, will be used to pay for training equipment, pitch maintenance, balls, bibs, and all other football-related things.”
The players are excited about the prospect of testing themselves against the Wearside League’s elite teams.
Barnard Castle aims to strengthen the squad with the addition of new players but it will be a case of evolution not revolution.
“The club’s in the best place that it’s been in for decades on and off the pitch,” John began. “We hope to bring in two or three new players to supplement the squad and hopefully we have a good year where we consolidate our place in that league and compete at the top end.
“The players are very excited about playing in the Premier Division. Some of those players have been very loyal to Barnard Castle for a lot of years when they could probably have gone to play for teams in the Wearside League Premier Division or possibly the Northern League but they chose to stay at Barnard Castle because it’s their community and their team.
“It’s exciting for them but it’s a reward for all the effort and commitment they’ve shown to this club.
“It’s also very exciting for those younger players who have come through Barnard Castle Youth FC because they are part of the progression and they have an opportunity to challenge themselves at a better standard of football.
“Achieving promotion to that standard is much harder than it used to be and I think we have earned the right to be there,” John added.
“And our ground facilities are fitting for a level like the Premier Division and in terms of player personnel we’ve got a really good core of players from Barnard Castle and Teesdale, supplemented by a handful of players from the wider area who certainly deserve to play at this level if not even higher.”
Top flight teams visiting Tens Fields will see the benefit of investment totalling upwards of £100,000.
The changing rooms boast improved facilities for match officials and the pitch is now surrounded by a post and rail fence and has home and away dugouts on the halfway line. The fence facing the pitch features an increasing number of sponsored boards and there’s room for more.
