Brakes finish 13th

Leamington finished a creditable 13th with 54 points in the National League North after a 1-1 draw at Darlington this afternoon. This is the best finish since the club was resurrected in 2000.

Leamington managed to contain the home side until just before half time when they went ahead. Bishop equalised in the second half. Breeden made a number of good saves throughout the game: how much we owe him.

Congratulations to the 20 or so Brakes fans who made the long trip.

Next season only two clubs go down as the pyramid is reorganised so we should still be in tier two when (hopefully) our new stadium nears completion.

Praise is due to the board, the manager, the players and all the volunteers who keep the club going. Paul Holleran has his critics, and I have sometimes had reservations about our style of play, but his contacts enable us to bring in great loan players.

And we have a cup final to look forward to.

Bishop's move

A Colby Bishop hat trick saw Leamington beat Nuneaton Borough 3-0 at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium in the final home game of the season watched by 623 and two dogs. Leamington remain 14th on the same number of points as Southport (53).

Brakes showed early intent when a free kick was headed off the post. An excellent cross from Connor Taylor enabled Bishop to make it 1-0. Almost immediately after the resumption, Bishop forged through to make it 2-0. Some entertainment was provided by Nuneaton's No.9, Luke Barlone, aka the incredible hulk, constantly falling over.

After the break, Leamington rained in shots on the Nuneaton goal but Cameron Belford made two excellent saves. Twenty minutes in Bishop made it 3-0. There were calls for the 'old five', but it was not to be.

Bishop and Jack Edwards were substituted and Nuneaton used their two substitutes. Tony Breeden had to make a good save to prevent a consolation. In time added on Brakes hit the underside of the bar.

The referee kept his cards in his pocket.

Annual general meeting

The attendance was fairly modest. One interesting revelation was that the average turnover of a club in the National League North is now just over £700,000 a year and the average playing budget is £268,000. This reflects the fact that there are a number of former Football League clubs in the division. However, a number of clubs have much smaller turnovers and playing budgets.

The recently released accounts of one club for 2017/18 show a turnover of £294k and a player budget of £190k. Advertising and sponsorship was the biggest income stream at £90k while match receipts amounted to £77k. A donation of £10k was received for the transfer to Swansea City. A £18k contribution was received from the National League from Premier League distributions and their own sponsorships.

The meeting followed the win over Ashton which should have secured another year in the National League North. Relegation would mean a loss of £70k in revenue. In the long run, the situation is not sustainable which is why we need to move to a new ground.

Individual directors bought £25k of shares to cover a projected £18k end year loss. They are not wealthy individuals and I would like to endorse the vote of thanks passed at the meeting.