Wings boss Jamie Day draws comfort from positive vibes ahead of Luton clash - £6,312 to save Wings!
Thursday 09th December 2010
WELLING UNITED player-manager Jamie Day says he will give a couple of academy youngsters a place on the bench at Luton Town on Sunday, writes Stephen McCartney.
Day and Joe Healy are both ruled out through suspension for the lucrative FA Carlsberg Trophy First Round tie at Kenilworth Road - so Day will give players a chance to impress against the Blue Square Bet Premier giants.
The Hatters played in the top-flight of English football between 1982-1992, winning the League Cup underneath Wembley’s iconic Twin Towers in 1988 with a 3-2 win over Arsenal.
Recently, they won the Football League Trophy in 2009, in their troubled last season as a Football League club and are currently in their second season in Blue Square Bet Premier football and face the Wings sitting in third place, just a couple points behind leaders AFC Wimbledon.
Welling United, where fans are in the process of raising £60,000 by the time the club visit The High Court next Wednesday to try to avoid a winding-up order for unpaid tax, are in third place in the division below, six points behind leaders Braintree Town, and considering Day has been strangled by a transfer embargo, having only a 16-man squad, and five points deducted, the 31-year-old is surely an early contender for manager-of-the-season.
Day told www.kentishfootball.co.uk before Luton’s FA Cup Second Round Replay result against Charlton Athletic was known, “They’re a League Club really, they’ve got great facilities, a great pitch, a decent team, who have drawn with Charlton in the FA Cup, so we know it’s going to be a different challenge for us, but one, I think, hopefully our boys will look forward to and put on a decent show and give a good account of themselves.”
Day admitted owner Barrie Hobbins would like a midweek replay at Park View Road against Richard Money’s side.
“I think the chairman probably wants a draw, I think that will be the ideal result and get a win at home,” added Day.
“But we’ll go there and try and play football and try to win the game - but we know it’s going to be a difficult task and we need to perform at our best if we are to give ourselves a chance.”
Day paid tribute to his threadbare squad during the club’s troubled times.
“No-one’s moaned, everyone’s got on with it,” revealed Day. “No-one’s asked any real questions and they’re all focused on getting results for the club. The boys have been first class but we’ve got to keep it going and keep confident going into Sunday’s game.”
Day added: “Me and Joe Healy are both suspended so we’ll probably call two academy lads up for the bench, which will be good experience for them.
“Hopefully there will be a decent crowd and they’re the games you want to be involved in. Hopefully a few of the lads can be in a few more of these games later on in their career.
“It will be nice to play but I suppose at the same time it gives someone else a go, who might not have played. It’s down to them, if they play well Sunday they might keep their place in the side, it might benefit them and it gives somebody a chance to show what they can do.”
Day also paid tribute to the club’s supporters, who are rallying behind keeping the club in business, and he knows they will turn up in numbers and give their heroes passionate support at Kenilworth Road.
He said: “You can always hear the fantastic support that we bring away and I think it does help the players, they do appreciate that they’re being cheered on and it gives them a little bit of a lift and hopefully that will be the difference on Saturday.”
Leathes Prior, the club’s solicitors, have confirmed on Thursday evening, that they now hold cleared funds of £53,900.
A club statement said: "Dan Chapman tells us that he is awaiting clearance of a small cheque and there are one or two pledges that he is led to believe are definitely on their way to his account, and he is in discussions with two other potential lenders this afternoon and evening.
"He is confident that we are almost there, but we can not be certain of this and clearly need in any event to continue to raise the final funds required.
"By way of reminder, we have to settle (as a minimum) HMRC's petition debt of £59,411.75 and the HMRC's legal costs. Dan has confirmed that these have been agreed with the HRMC as being £800. Were we to collect a surplus, plans are in place as to how they would be best utilised.
"We will give what may prove to be the final update tomorrow, and given that time is now clearly of the essence if there are any other lenders out there, please email Dan on dchapman@leathesprior.co.uk as soon as possible."
That means a total of £6,311.75 is still needed to keep the Wings in business. Let's get the job done on Friday!
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Visit Welling United's website: www.wellingunited.com
Luton Town v Welling United
FA Carlsberg Trophy First Round
Sunday 12th December 2010
Kick Off 3:00pm
At 1 Maple Road, Luton, Bedfordshire LU4 8AW
Kentish Football 
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd