CHAIRMAN Matt Lucas has paid tribute to his club’s fans for the work they have done at the Avenue over the summer.

With Dorchester now a fully fledged Community Benefit Society (CBS), every effort is being made to get the people of the town and surrounding areas involved.

And that means making the most of the Magpies’ facilities for community use, which will then result in more money coming back into the club.

Lucas is hoping a new function room and revamped lounge bar are going to help with that – and he is extremely grateful to those who made those developments possible.

“The work we’ve done off the pitch to try and bring in as much money as we can on a daily basis has been really important,” he said.

“And I would like to say how great it has been to see all the volunteers and people who love the club bring their skills and give their time free of charge to do what they have.

“For a community club to have people who have given so much time is superb. Folk at Dorchester have always been very committed.

“I always say that when things are going well or when things have been difficult the crowds have always been pretty much round the same mark, so we’ve got a very loyal fan base.

“The fact we’ve got people who have given up their time and skills shows that loyalty, whether that’s down to us becoming a CBS, I don’t know.

“We’ve got to keep the momentum going and I would encourage as many people as possible to sign for the CBS and show their commitment that way.

“As a club, we obviously want to see more and more people sign up because it was a big step for the club and one that had to be made.”

On the pitch, Lucas is delighted with the job Mark Jermyn is doing as manager, and he is eager for a much better season than the last one.

He added: “I think we’re ready for the season to start.

“I’m competitive by nature so if someone said we were going to finish ninth I would be keen to finish eighth.

“Without putting too much pressure on Jem and the lads, if we were to look to be around the play-offs it would be a good season for us.

“I certainly don’t want to think we will be scraping around the bottom of the league this season.”