It has been a very disappointing start to the season and a series of disappointing results have seen attendances drop alarmingly. After the Woking defeat Martin Foyle and his assistant Andy Porter left the club and Gary Brabin has been appointed as the new manager. Gary is probably best remembered by supporters for his efforts on the field as part of the successful fight to escape relegation from the Conference in season 2005/6. He also managed us for a short time in 2008 before moving on to manage Cambridge United and Luton Town.

We hope that Gary can inspire the will to win in the players that he showed as a player to help us in the battle to get away from the relegation places.

All members of TIY will wish to give Gary and his assistant Paul Carden a warm welcome to Southport and the Trust looks forward to working with them over the coming years. We hope it will be possible for us to organise a Meet the Manager event in future months.

We were all very disappointed that things did not work out successfully for Martin Foyle. As a Trust we were grateful for his friendliness and willingness to help with such things as the Meet the Manager evening and our World Cup Sweepstake draw. Results have been disappointing (though those who travelled to Grimsby will remember the long awaited away win!) but we would like to wish Martin and Andy every success in their future football careers.

The club urgently needs some stability on the playing side. All members will agree that these are difficult times at the Merseyrail Community Stadium. We only hope that Gary and Paul can bring about improved results on the field and that off the field the board improves its communication with the Trust and supporters in general and that promises are kept. The Trust wants to see the present negative atmosphere surrounding our club lifted as soon as possible.