Head Coach, Lee Padmore gives his thoughts on this weekends opening MPL fixture vs Coastal Spirit

It feels brilliant to be able to finally say this: Welcome to Ekow; his players, coaching staff, officials and supporters from Coastal Spirit Football Club in our inaugural game in the Mainland Premier League (MPL). I hope you have a fantastic time and find our hospitality as good as any in the league.

It’s funny, you wait for 4 years to get the opportunity to write this and you find yourself speechless (anyone who knows me will know that doesn’t happen very often). I, like the rest of the boys, am just extremely excited about getting this game played and getting the clubs name on to that MPL table, hopefully with some points!

It’s been a funny old pre-season with a few hiccups, interruptions and the odd breakdown but I believe we have assembled a squad that the club can be proud of, I know I certainly am.

We will approach this league the same way we have always approached anything and take the game to Coastal Spirit and all other opponents. The message has always been to the boys that we need to be fighting on this stage and we will do this through our own style of play that has got many people engaged along the way.

It’s difficult at times to not get caught in the romanticism of football and with the club achieving such highs in 2017 (MPL promotion, 92% of coaches educated, C/Y Licence achieved, QCM 2 Star accreditation & most recently Club of the Year at the Sport Canterbury awards), it is hard to envisage this club not maintaining it’s momentum and working towards similar lofty goals in 2018.

I would urge all supporters to think back to Tuesday 1st August and that Tuesday night vs Christchurch United. You got us through that game and if you can consistently make Foster Park look & sound like that, we may just cause a few upsets along the way this year.

Yours in Football,

Lee Padmore