Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Fletch: We can play a part in off-field stability
Cherries star Steve Fletcher has welcomed the club's new-found off-field stability and also says Eddie Howe's men have a crucial role to play in securing future prosperity. His comments come as the winding-up petition brought by HM Revenue & Customs was yesterday dismissed after chairman Eddie Mitchell confirmed a legacy debt of about £400,000 had been paid to the tax man. Fletcher, who has worked under a number of regimes during his time in Dorset, revealed he was delighted with the way the new board had gone about their business since taking charge in the summer. And he firmly believes Howe's team, who continued their League Two promotion push with a 1-1 draw at Bradford on Saturday, have a key part to play in assisting Mitchell in his pursuit of success. It's a chicken-and-egg situation, the inspirational targetman told the Echo. If we do well, we get more supporters and the club gains from revenue and it builds a better club. If we don't do well, the support goes down, the gates go down and the club doesn't do as well. It's a football club. It's not just dictated to by the players on the pitch it's also the people running it and the supporters coming to support us. Small clubs like ourselves and probably 90 per cent of the clubs in the Football League have to be run in the right way. Every other month there's some other club that's got a winding-up order or someone's pulling them out of trouble at the last minute. It's a sad state of affairs what's happened to some of the clubs in the past 10 years. But, thankfully and fingers crossed, things look to be on the up for us. Fletcher put Cherries' improving off-field status down to a team effort from everyone connected with the club. He said: We've got people at the helm who are businessmen and they are interested in the club. They're also interested in their own interests. The club has got to be run correctly and run as a business and I think it's credit to everyone who has been involved that the club is in the situation it's in. Long may it continue because it puts everybody's minds at rest, not just the players, but everyone involved with the club and the supporters. A lot of credit needs to be taken for everyone who's worked hard off the field, from the chairman down to all the staff at the club and the directors. Everybody is doing their bit and, hopefully, we can do our bit on the pitch.