Shrimps Trust column: Looking to a brighter future following Panjab Warriors' takeover

At this point in time, there’s little to be gained from dredging over the nearly permanently catastrophic handling of the sale process by Bond Group.

The way the sale was managed was appalling, particularly over this summer, seeing staff go unpaid and parts of the club whittled away.

However, it is finally over after almost three years of being up for sale. We now look forward to building a brighter future with Panjab Warriors after their long-awaited takeover.

The group have already put a considerable amount of time, money and effort into completing the takeover of the club, and are here for the right reasons – they genuinely want to own, invest in and grow the football club.

This, of course, doesn’t make them immune from mistakes and there will undoubtedly be bumps in the road, but that’s just football.

Panjab Warriors have already signalled to the Trust that they are keen to have a continued dialogue and we hope to be able to meet and communicate with them regularly to share the voice of the fans.

It’s also been a summer of change within our own board of trustees.

First off, a huge thank you to departing chair Tarnia Elsworth. Tarnia put in a monumental amount of effort over the past year both in improving the Trust’s operations, something which will continue to help the Trust for years to come, and in doing everything possible to keep the pressure on regarding the sale process. As a fanbase, we should be hugely thankful for her efforts.

We also now welcome new trustees in James Atkinson, James Wakefield, Alistair Stewart and Ben Turner, all of whom are strong additions.

The Trust is now also headed up by Pat Stoyles as chair, who served as vice-chair last season, and Ben Cassar as our new vice-chair.

While being a difficult summer, one thing to take heart from throughout was the way in which the footballing community supported us.

This ranged across many different forms, including offering free entry to Shrimps fans and kind donations to the Trust. Our heartfelt thanks go out to all who offered their support.

Another thing to take heart from was the spectacular queue for the pop-up Terrace store.

It was a truly special sight that showed the spirit of our own fanbase to not be beaten and to support a key partner of the club in Terrace, who have provided excellent kits and club shop offerings over recent years.

To wrap up, a big welcome to Ashvir Singh Johal and a host of new players and staff.

Since Panjab Warriors took over, it’s been a hectic couple of weeks of incoming signings and, now, three actual competitive football matches – things which seemed highly unlikely at the start of August.

It was, admittedly, a bit of a wrench to see Derek Adams go, who acquitted himself so well over the summer and has some amazing memories and achievements with the club.

We now look ahead to supporting Ashvir and his new squad, who managed to produce a truly special opening game win against Altrincham the other week at the Mazuma.

The atmosphere that day was electric and undoubtedly played a part in giving the team an extra boost, particularly in a cramp-plagued final 30 minutes.

That said, the discontent after defeat to Woking was disappointing to see. The Altrincham win was amazing, but it’s important to remember that this is a new side who have a long way to go to catch up with the rest of the National League.

So let’s keep getting behind the lads, back Ashvir and his players as they continue to gel and make the Mazuma the truly special and welcoming place we all know it can be.

Up the Shrimps!