Grantham Town FC Interim Chair Sophie Cope announced following this week’s board meeting of Grantham Town FC that there has been a complete reshuffle at board level to bring in three new directors who will all invest significant time and money – both this season and going forward – as the football club make every effort they can to remain at this level of football, and become more competitive next season.

As part of the deal Jonathan Redshaw, Adam Stokes and Dean Williams have resigned from their positions, and Barry Palmer will stay on board until a smooth handover has been completed of the finances.

The new board will see Sophie, along with Michael Bird and Peter Railton, remain to help the current directors with the day-to-day running of the club.

All the new directors have begun work reviewing the current operations of the club and putting plans in place to take it forward.

Darren Ashton, Gary Jackson and Martin Massey – three business partners from Sheffield – met with the Board, club president Roger Booth and club secretary Pat Nixon for the final time last night to finalise the deal to bring them all on board.

Darren Ashton will take the role of chairman as soon as all the relevant checks by the League, The FA, etc have been completed.

Ms Cope commented “I’ve been in talks with Martin and the guys for the past three or four weeks to see what they think they can be bring to the Club and I’ve been very impressed. They have a lot of business contacts and football contacts and are already in talks to line up some high profile pre-season friendlies.

“As I said in my statement last week this club can’t continue to survive at this level without some serious investment, and we believe that the new additions to the Board will generate the revenue required to provide a competitive budget and secure the long term future of this football club.”

The outgoing board members who stepped down to allow the club to progress are also confident after last night’s meeting that the new faces coming in can help to stabilise the Club towards the end of this season and bring a wealth of information and know-how, both on and off the field into the future.

The Club thanks Jonathan Redshaw, Adam Stokes and Dean Williams for their time, efforts and hard work, and they will continue to be great friends of The Gingerbreads.

Sophie added: “Through the network of contacts in the football fraternity and business connections the new Board members can without doubt strengthen the Club from the ground level and will look to integrate a number of new policies and ideas within the organisation as a whole”

Incoming Chairman Darren Ashton who will speak to Radio Lincolnshire at tonight’s game added “I feel it’s an exciting prospect and I’m really excited to finally be on board. I’m determined to help the Club reach its potential.”

“There are a number of aspects within the Grantham Town umbrella that are already something to be proud of, however I’m not so sure at this stage they are being used to their maximum potential, the Academy being one such asset.

“I will look to bring the Academy closer into the fold with the mindset of developing young talent that will hopefully end up being part of the first-team squad.”