By Ryan Day
It has been a turbulent 12 months for Winchester City FC after suffering a torrid season in the Evo Stik South-West division which saw them eventually relegated to the Wessex Premier over ground issues.
The club ran up debts to be thought upwards of £10,000 and even had to postpone one fixture last season as the electric had been cut from their Denplan Stadium.
But four months on from being saved by two well known local businessman, the dark clouds that once rolled over the Club seem to be lifting. Work has been carried out on the pitch meaning that new first team manager Graham Kemp can get his side playing the way he wants them to ahead of their return to the Wessex Premier League.
As well as the pitch, some ground maintenance work has been carried out by the club and some diehard Winchester fans who refused to see the club hit the wall, despite them being only weeks away from that back in April.
The return of Dave Malone and new Chairman Paul Murray has meant a restored optimism around the club, but Mr Murray was quick to point out it hadn't been easy:
"Its been a challenging time since we got involved in April, we both live in Winchester so we decided to get involved. The supporters have been fantastic since we came in.
The club was virtually non-existent when we got involved, we wanted to get the club back on its feet. It is rare you have to build a new team from scratch but here we are a week before the season starts and we have had an unbeaten pre-season campaign", he added.
The Reds completed their pre-season campaign on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Fleet Town and new First Team Manager Kemp is looking forward to the new season, despite the turbulent last few months:
"I came to the club and there was no one here. We have called on some favours and it is coming together, but the hard work starts now.
If we lose and them players have given 100% then I will be happy. My first stipulation was that we needed to sort the ground out, we need to create an environment where people want to play their football, its coming along but we are not where we want it to be just yet".
While Kemp realises the struggles the Club has gone through in recent months, he says Winchester will not be there to make up the numbers this season:
"Without putting to much pressure on myself, I have not just come here to win nothing, I am hoping we can be challenging for promotion this year and if not then certainly next season".
