Mitchell: Time is running out

8:59am Thursday 4th September 2008

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DORCHESTER Town chairman Eddie Mitchell has fired another warning to the local community that they must start embracing the club or they could see it suffer a dramatic fall from grace.

A VAT bill of just under £25,000 has hit the Magpies hard and the property developer has insisted that crowds must improve if their status in the Blue Square South is to be sustained.

Mitchell said: "We have got a VAT bill of just under £25,000 that has to be paid and we have agreed terms with the VAT office to pay it in instalments which is very helpful.

"But it is putting the club under financial pressure and at the moment we are playing two leagues above what our gates allow us to play.

"If we do not get those gates up then this level of football will not be maintained, and I mean getting them up by Christmas."

Mitchell has also revealed that he is currently pumping in £5,000-£6,000 a week into the club to keep it going, which is a situation he admits cannot go on.

He said: "The club is only playing football today because of me and I am not prepared to finan- cially support it indefinitely.

"So if people want it to remain how it is they need to really get together and help in whatever way they can.

"The club has some fantastic support with people who do a lot of hard work for free but at the moment the gates we are getting simply do not match the level of football that is expected to come out of the stadium."

Mitchell would like to see more community-led events at the stadium, particularly ones involving youngsters, but he is not getting the feedback from the town he is after.

He said: "There is so much at the club that can happen if Dorchester wanted it but there seems to be no energy there. It is all laid back. Even the old board did not have any energy and that is why it gave up because they could not keep up with me.

"I love the club but for it to continue at its current level it needs the community to embrace it."

Mitchell has made massive investment in the team this season, drafting in quality players such as Nick Crittenden, Kevin Hill and Gareth Stewart.

He said: "Those players are not going to stay with the crowds we are getting at the moment because we are not going to be able to support them.

"We have some outstanding lads of a very good standard and I know our position in the league is not fantastic at the moment but we have still only lost twice in seven games and after last season that is a definite improvement.

"We are also still a relatively young squad and in two years' time with the side we have got we could win that league but only if the crowds start coming in to sustain it."

The Magpies will hold a Fans' Forum in the Jewson Stadium Lounge Bar tonight (6.30pm for 7pm).