Building a new era

The success of this season cannot be allowed to be a small moment of delight in the history of the cub. It should be a watershed moment that heralds a new period in AFCB's history when it continues to grow and enters a sustained period of football in the top two divisions. I see know reason why that is now not possible with the financial backing the club has from Maxim Demin and his partners and with the current team and management. As we can see from yesterday though the finances are crucial to development and it is likely that the spending can only really be supported by bigger gates.

Continued success is not going to be easy to do but it is surely easier to build on some success. The foundations are in place for AFCB to have the kind of success now that they have not seen before. The feel good factor seems to get stronger every season and it is undoubtedly a great time to be a fan at the club. The gates are now pushing 11,000 most weeks and with careful marketing and more seats in future seasons the support should continue to grow with the entertaining football that is now on show. Of course ground expansion would also need funding and just keeping the squad together is likely to see cost escalate, so I don't think it's an easy period for the owners or the club.

 Sam Matthews (standing behind Purches) is trying to

 make the transition from the Development squad to the first team.

Other teams have had good first seasons in the Championship only to see that fall away in subsequent seasons and it is important that any success does not go to people's heads too much. The values of hard work and high standards must not slip and I don't think that they will with Eddie Howe remaining at the club.

Much of the future success will depend on how well the Development squad can bring players into the first squad. At the moment this is a slow progression, but I really hope that this becomes a regular feature as the club moves forward. It will be of interest to see how Josh O'Hanlon and Jonathan Mleba who were signed in January can make their mark in some of the pre-season friendlies.