Hello and welcome to the first day of an exciting new era for the football club as we host our old friends Scarborough Athletic and their supporters for our inaugural match in the National League North.

It’s been a busy but rewarding summer, with plenty to do on and off the pitch as we prepare for life in a new league. On the pitch, the Gaffers have bolstered the ranks with some excellent signings in the likes of Brad Roscoe, Tom Walker and Josh Wardle all of whom add to the quality and experience of our title-winning squad.

Off the pitch there have been many changes, some that you see and some that you don’t – but a lot of them wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our incredible group of supporters at Friends of the Boro who have organised working parties throughout the off season to spruce up the ground and get it National League ready and I take this opportunity to thank them for all their hard work.

There is much to update on but I will cover those another time, we have bigger fish to fry today!

It’s been great to celebrate our triumphant title win and promotion from the NPL, but now it’s time to show the world we mean business. We find ourselves on a bigger stage through the hard work and dedication of everyone connected to this football club and as a collective we have the opportunity to gain the respect of new peers and a wider audience. I can assure you that we don’t take this task lightly, but also that we are here to make our mark – the sentiment finishes at 2:59pm today and then its go-time!

Let’s get behind the lads, continue to build our numbers and show the footballing world exactly where Radcliffe is on the map. These new teams don’t know how strong we are, how together this town is and how driven we are to succeed – its time they found out!

Enjoy the game!

Paul Hilton