All change at Melksham Town

AHEAD of the start of the season, Melksham Town Football Club has announced a number of changes at the club.

After seven years as chairman, Dave Wiltshire has stepped down from the role. He will however continue to be involved in the business side of the club.

First team manager Darren Perrin has agreed to take on the role as chairman and will combine this with his commercial managers role.

Whilst this appointment has caught many by surprise, the club say this was always something on the horizon, but has been brought forward 12 months due to Dave’s decision to step down.

Assistant manager, Kieran Baggs, will now take on the first team manager role. The club wish Kieran well in his appointment and say he will receive the full support of all at the club.

Dave Wiltshire said, “It is with great sadness that I will be relinquishing my role as chairman. It’s been an honour and a privilege to be the club’s chairman for the past seven years and I feel extremely proud of what we have all achieved. The club has come on in leaps and bounds and now has a tremendous facility to support its future plans.

“I have decided to do this now as it fits in with what I need to do for myself moving forward. I will now be spending much more time with my family and will also be using my extra free time to improve my golf!

“In the short to medium term I will continue to help the club, but this will be on the business side as opposed to the football.

“I am personally delighted that Darren Perrin accepted the offer to become the new senior chairman. I have worked with Darren for the last five years and I can honestly say that you will not find anyone that is more passionate and who cares  more about our club than him. It’s been my pleasure to work alongside him and I feel that we both have learnt so much from each other.

“Whilst I know and expect that a lot of our fans will question this decision, we feel it’s a perfect fit as Darren’s football awareness and experience will be invaluable to our club moving forward.

“I am also delighted that Kieran Baggs has accepted the role to become first team manager and I know he is so excited and can’t wait to get going. After spending a year working alongside Darren, we feel he is also the perfect fit for us. He will bring in some new ideas, but he also knows what big shoes he has to fill and fully understands and appreciates what he has to live up to.

“I have met and become friends with so many people through this football club and as I have said lots of times, what we have here at this club is truly amazing from sponsors, parents, players, supporters, managers and directors; we do have all the ingredients to continue to move forward and become a major force in non- league football and to be a part of this has been very satisfying for me.

“I take this last opportunity to thank everyone that has helped me in the last seven years and I hope and know the club will go from strength to strength.”

Darren Perrin said, “It is an incredible honour to be asked to become chairman of Melksham Town FC and one that I will endeavour to do to the best of my ability, but I am under no illusions on how hard a task it will be to follow in the footsteps of Dave Wiltshire who has worked tirelessly for the past seven years and who was the leading figure for both the football and rugby clubs in helping us get the magnificent facilities that we have today at Oakfields.

“I am incredibly proud of my achievements and success that we have had in the last four seasons (winning a trophy every season) especially winning the Western Premier Division title for the first time in the club’s history and I now look forward to working with Kieran Baggs in hopefully taking this club into the Southern League and achieve even more success. The same applies for all the other managers at the club, and players, staff and supporters alike.”

Kieran Baggs said,  “Firstly, I would like to thank Melksham Town Football Club, Dave Wiltshire and the committee for the fantastic opportunity to become the manager of such a prestigious club. At the age of 28, it’s a real privilege.

“I am very aware of the ethos of the club and how it operates, with home-based players and exciting young talent coming through the system and this is definitely something I will continue to encourage.

“The team at present is made up of local lads who love playing for Melksham and after speaking with them, they are all very excited to get started and look forward to what the season will bring.

“I would also like to go on record and say what an unbelievable job Darren Perrin has done for this football club. The achievement of winning the Toolstation Premier League and the Les Phillips Cup for the first time in the club’s history, alongside the Senior Cup victories, are there for everyone to see and it’s been a huge honour to work alongside and play for him.

“I hope to continue the success of winning trophies and add to the club’s achievements.

“I can’t wait to get started; we have some mouth-watering pre-season friendlies lined up thanks to Darren.

“All the players will be back in this week to start preparations for the new season and we hope that all the supporters share our excitement in starting the new season in earnest, with an FA Cup tie our first competitive fixture on 5th August.”

In an official statement, the club also announced a new committee.

“With the workload of running a club with some 100-plus adult playing members, 400 boys and girls and a fully operational social club, the Board of Directors have decided to set up a new committee of some 10-12 people who can bring additional resource and expertise to the club to alleviate an ever growing workload in the facility management, business and football areas in both the senior and youth sections.

“The current Board of Directors will continue to guide the club through the exciting times that lay ahead with a vibrant club and continued local community support at the forefront of all we do”