Swans Appoint Co-Directors of Football

Barton Town are delighted to announce the appointment of Peter Mitchell and Ian Durnian as co-Directors of Football following a restructure at the club.

Pete is currently the club’s Secretary, but over the last 40 years he has done everything at the club. Manager, Kit Man, Bus Driver etc. you name it, Pete has done it. Ian, known as ‘Sid’, to everyone at the club, is a former player and now works as a Coach and who was instrumental in the design and building of the ‘new’ ground in 2006/07, for the club. Both are held in very high regard at the club and after a vote by the club’s Board of Directors, the pair were appointed Directors of Football.

Chairman Mark Gregory has decided on the appointments to give on the field matters the focus they deserve. “I’m struggling with time and feel I cannot give the managers the time and support which is needed to move the on the field issues,” Mark said in a statement.

“I said to myself when I took over, I’d give the club five years of my full support and time which I have completed now. COVID hasn’t helped in the past two years but I feel I have achieved what I wanted to do with the club if not perhaps more.

“I want to concentrate on my strengths with the invaluable help of our Vice Chairman Kim Mumford which is the business side of the operations and running of the club with help from our superb volunteers and I think we have a great structure within the club now.

“The managers of the first team and reserves will work directly under the Directors of Football who will then report to the Chairman, who will then in turn report anything needed to the board of directors.

“I would like to wish Pete and Sid good luck in their new roles, and they have the club’s full support.”

Pete was quick to pay tribute to Mark for the work he has done since coming onboard.

“Five years ago, before Mark agreed to come onboard, on and especially off the field, we had hit the buffers. Although in terms of facilities everything was in place to take the club forward, as a business, we were struggling to make financial ends meet. It took me about nine months to persuade him but once he agreed to come on board as Chairman, from the very first minute, Mark began to turn things around off the field to the point where we now find ourselves, financially and structurally extremely stable with everything in place to take the club forward where it ultimately matters most, on the field.

“The past five seasons on the field could be described as ‘flatlining’ at best, despite the undoubted efforts of everybody involved and both Sid and myself see it as our primary role to address that in such a way as to have the first team competing at the top end of the table much sooner, rather than later.

“Undoubtedly, mistakes will be made along the way, but you can all rest assured that everything we do, every decision we make, will be geared towards ultimate success, not just for the first team but also for the reserves, who have a big part to play in helping take our club forward, as do the youth teams. And that’s what we are, a club, based in the community.

“And just one final point, we regard ourselves as Co-Directors of Football, both having an equal say, working closely with the management but reporting directly to Mark. Sid and I have known each other for longer than I dare contemplate, our football philosophies chime in every respect and our ambitions for Barton Town FC are stronger than ever.”

Everyone at the club wishes Pete and Ian the best of luck with the new roles and look forward to this new era at the club.