This is a new chapter for Hythe Town Football Club, says manager Scott Porter

HYTHE TOWN boss Scott Porter says the club are entering into a new chapter in their history with a new chairman on board.


Porter guided the Reachfields Stadium outfit to a record best top-four placing in the Ryman League Division One South table last season, but their promotion hopes were dented when they went down to a disappointing 3-0 defeat away to Faversham Town in the semi-finals of the play-offs.

Hythe Town open their pre-season campaign when joint-managers Craig Holloway and Simon Osborn bring their Margate side to Reachfields Stadium on Saturday.

Porter is looking forward to their opening test against Ryman Premier League opposition and is pleased with how things are shaping up during the early stages of pre-season.

“It’s gone well to be fair,” said Porter.  “The new lads have settled in well.  Other people have missed a few sessions through holiday but that’s part and parcel of pre-season, but everyone’s getting on well and the sessions are going well, with a lot of short, sharp stuff with the footballs and people seem to be enjoying it.

“The boys’ have come back in really good shape and looked sharp especially with the hard sessions that we’ve put on.”

Porter has made three new summer signings so far with striker Shaun Welford, full-back Ryan Cooper and winger Sam Bewick - and fellow winger Tasser Hassan has returned to the club.

Porter said: “I’ve made three signings, Shaun Welford speaks for himself. He brings a lot of quality, a lot of experience, big and strong and he suits us with the way we play.  You’re not going to get a lot of change out of Shaun and Dave Cook, the golden boot winner.

“His quality at this level and brings a lot of experience to the side without a doubt.

“Ryan Cooper is a decent full-back. I’ve had a lot of rave reviews from a lot of managers. I spoke to (Maidstone United manager) Jay Saunders at length about him and he can’t praise him enough. He’s young as well, which is important.

“Sam Bewick’s different – he’s going to be out for the majority of the season.”

Porter added: “He’s got to have surgery on his knee. He raptured his cartilage so that’s a bit of bad news but I’m looking to bring someone else in, another midfielder and we’re talking to another midfielder at the minute.

“I’ve acted on that and I’m in talks with someone who’s the missing link really. He’s got a lot of experience and a lot of quality and I’m hoping to get it done by the weekend.

“Tass is back and it’s looking good and it’s all coming together. Hopefully we can get the final part of the jigsaw done by the weekend ready for the first game on Saturday.”

Porter revealed that he will once again run with a close-nit squad this season.

“We’ll run with 16-17 and go from there,” he said.  “If we need to bring other people in then we’ll look at a club during the season to help us with loan players.

“We can’t afford to run with 18-19. We haven’t got a reserve side, so we’ll just run with a tight ship of sixteen.

“We’ve got a goalkeeper, Tom Elliot, who is going to be on dual-registration with Lordswood as cover for Dan Eason so he will be loaned out at Lordswood.

“We can’t afford to have a lot of players sitting around or loaned out to other clubs, we’re not farfetched with that. We just run with a tight run squad, that’s worked so far. We just needed to go into a couple of errors that we’ve failed last year, which I’ve nullified, bringing in Shaun, Ryan and looking to bring another midfielder in.

“We only needed to tinker with it a little bit because of the success we had last year. It’s just pointing out the missing link and that’s why I’ve brought these players in.”

Porter is looking forward to Saturday’s opener against Margate.

“It’s a good, tough one,” he said.  “Craig and Simon are rebuilding their side. It’s going to be tough. It will probably be one of our tougher ones but at the end of the day it’s all part of getting match fitness and seeing how far people have come since we started training two weeks’ ago.

“There’s nothing better than playing football on a Saturday and Tuesday. We’ve got that right up now until the start of the season. 

“It’s going to be tough against Margate, but you want to be tested in pre-season. You want to test people, you want to test yourself.” 

Porter says he is looking forward to working with the club’s new chairman John Dowsett.

“I’ve met him a few times, he’s very nice and I think we’re going to have a good relationship,” said Porter.

“He’s a local man, he’s got a lot of connections in the game and outside the game regarding the commercial side.

“We’re all singing on the same hymn book sort of thing. We all want to push on from last year. Nothing’s really changed. He’ll bring his own ideas to the football club, which is a good thing.

“I can’t fault the last chairman. I respect him immensely. He gave me my first chance in management and I can’t thank him enough.

“Sometimes it’s a good thing because sometimes things have to change.  Football moves on and this is the next chapter for Hythe Town Football Club.”

Meanwhile, supporters can meet the club’s new chairman during a Happy Hour inside the clubhouse at Reachfields Stadium at 6pm on Saturday evening.

Visit Hythe Town’s website: www.hythetownfc.co.uk  

Hythe Town  v  Margate
Pre-Season Friendly
Saturday 13^th July 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Reachfields Stadium, off Fort Road, Hythe, Kent CT21 6JS