Kentish Football 
It's crucial to have our own location, says Fisher boss Gary Lisney
Thursday 13th January 2011
FISHER manager Gary Lisney says it’s crucial for the club to return back home to the north end of the Southwark borough, writes Stephen McCartney.
Club officials met with senior figures from within Southwark council earlier in the week to discuss a new home.
The Kent League club have targeted a small number of possible sites within the Southwark Borough boundary and have had encouraging feedback from the council for the long-term use of one site in particular.
A club statement published on www.fisherfc.co.uk, said: “Further details can not be announced at present as talks and discussions are still on going.”
Lisney, who was a coach at the old Fisher Athletic club, said: “For a football club to be financially successful you can’t beat having your own location.
“The club pay a lot of money to play at Dulwich Hamlet, but rightly so, it’s a great stadium, a great place to play, but if you can have your own place, where you can generate your own funding, it’s quite crucial really.”
Lisney takes his Fisher side to play Greenwich Borough in the Kent League on Saturday - another club that groundshare.
Greenwich are in their second year playing away at Holmesdale’s modest ground at Oakley Road, Bromley, having lost their own ground in Eltham to Greenwich council, who built a new housing estate on the site.
Although Fisher have maintained some sort of fan-base, groundsharing Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill Stadium, with average gates of 108 - the fourth best supported club in the Kent League, Greenwich Borough are the worst supported with an average of just 24, although the local derby on Saturday should attract the club’s highest league crowd of the season.
During their Fisher Athletic days, the club had a link with Greenwich Borough, as players were sent to Harrow Meadow on dual-registrations to maintain fitness.
But both club’s are a lot different nowadays and are both unable to pay their players due to their financial predicament but Greenwich manager/secretary Steve Firkins has done an excellent job as his side go into the game sitting in sixth place in the table with 21 points from 11 games.
Firkins, his coaching staff and even players, dig deep into their pockets to keep the club ticking over.
Lisney said: “I went down and watched them last Saturday against Erith Town in the cup, it was a good game of football, two good sides, two strong sides.
“We finished our fixtures pre-Christmas with a decent result and decent performance against Beckenham, which built a bit of confidence so we’re raring to go so it will be a good game.
“Steve has done a great job at Greenwich again. I know he does a bit more than manage.”
Lisney added: “It’s a local derby, we should have a few thousand down there watching! Being serious, I think we always have good games against Greenwich. I think they enjoy playing us, we enjoy playing them. They play football the right way, as we try to as well.”
With his side sitting in eleventh place (out of sixteen), with a record of four wins and two draws from 13 games, Lisney is still searching for consistency.
Lisney joked: “If we don’t finish in Europe, I will be disappointed!”
But he added: “It’s a long going process. It’s our second season. We mustn’t forget that! Fisher might be a long established club, but we started with nothing!
“I think I’ve got a fairly competitive side, perhaps a little inconsistent, but that’s down to the age profile of the players to some degree but each game the players are getting experience and are improving.
“I’m not one for making bold predictions, but every manager in the league want to be at the top and fighting for promotion, but that’s out of our reach at the moment, certainly out of our reach at the moment.
“My main focus at the moment is to improve our consistency. If we perform week in week out like we did (during our 2-1 win) against Beckenham, I think we will be competitive, towards the top of the league.
“If we perform week in week out like we did against Sporting Bengal (which we lost 4-3), we’re going to be struggling at the bottom of the league and our position in the league reflects that we are inconsistent.”
Visit Fisher’s website: www.fisherfc.co.uk
Greenwich Borough v Fisher
Safety Net Associates Kent League
Saturday 15th January 2011
Kick Off 3:00pm
At 68 Oakley Road, Bromley, Kent BR2 8HQ
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd