Academy Board Change

Ayr United Football Academy said a sad farewell to stalwart Director John Dalton recently, after he decided to step down from his Directorship on the Academy board due mainly to allow himself more time to spend with his family.

The Academy may have been incorporated in December 2005, but for over a year before that John had decided to turn into reality his vision of an independent charity providing health and education opportunities for local people through football in the community and of producing a stream of talented young players for Ayr United Football Club, and placing the name of Ayr United at the heart of the community.

He started by determining that the Academy should consist of local organisations who could share that vision and could contribute to achieving the Academy ethos. Approaches to South Ayrshire Council, Ayr College and The NHS Community Partnership, proved positive and they joined the Academy’s footballing partners, The Honest Men Trust and Ayr United Football Club, in establishing and setting out to achieve the goals of the new organisation. Then came the job of recruiting the Directors, establishing the company’s charitable status, agreeing the relationship with the club, setting up the first youth team….. and on and on. All of which has resulted in a vibrant, community based Football Academy.

JD commented on his sad decision by saying "I had felt recently that I was letting my Academy colleagues down as I was not able to put in the time that I wanted and had already given some thought to resigning. The Academy players that had reached the first team squad seemed to be a really tangible sign that after all of these years, the Academy had achieved something really positive for the Club. Something told me that it was the right point to move on and allow myself more time with my family”

Academy Chairman Ian Welsh acknowledged John’s role in the development of the Academy “The Board regrets John’s decision while fully understanding and respecting his reasons for reaching that decision, particularly his desire to prioritise time to his family. We recognise that it was due to John’s initial vision that the Academy has been established and are very clear that without that vision and all of John’s personal commitment and hard work in
implementing it during recent years, the Academy would not be the healthy and successful organisation that it is today."

Carrying on Ian said "As a token of our appreciation of John’s achievements, we are delighted that John has agreed to accept our offer and become an Ambassador for the Academy, which will not only recognise his efforts but allow him to remain connected with the Academy. John will be the Academy’s first Ambassador and we look forward to him representing us at future events
We express our very best wishes to John and his family for the future”.

John himself added “The Academy has achieved so much in such a short space of time, developing a successful youth development programme for the Club and a community programme that is second to none, providing health and educational activities through football to kids, young people and those with disabilities throughout South Ayrshire.

The success achieved to date is all down to the volunteers who carry out numerous roles within the organisation and whose hard work and dedication have made the Academy what it is today. They have all bought into the vision of the Academy and I can’t thank them enough for the part that they have played in making this project the success that it has become. But the Academy will never stand still and has a lot more goals to achieve and I look forward to assisting the Academy Directors in whatever way I can to achieve those goals.”

AUFA Welcome Callum Yorke

John’s replacement as the AUFA Board representative of the Honest Men Trust has been decided this week and all the staff at AUFA welcome Callum Yorke into the position.

Callum has been Chairman of the Honest Men Trust for 2 years now and works as a Wealth Planner with Clydesdale Bank in Ayr. He has previously held roles as Project Coordinator and Treasurer since the Trusts inception in 2005.

Callum has recently passed his second professional degree and his qualifications include the areas of accounting, marketing and finance. A lifelong Ayr United supporter he likes to spend time with his wife Heather and children Erin and Elliott and is a keen musician in his spare time. He is keen to use his contacts, skills and experience to help meet the exciting challenges which lie ahead for the Academy.

Callum says:“It will not be easy to replace John as he contributed so much to the Academy’s development. However I am looking forward to participating in the continuing growth of the Academy and of its Youth Development and Community based activities. I know that my colleagues in the Honest Men Trust have some great ideas as to how the Trust can assist the Academy and am keen to develop these as part of my role as an Academy Director. I already know most of the other Directors and many of the volunteers and have admired the progress that the Academy has made in its short history, so I can’t wait to get started.

The Trust felt that it wanted to move quickly to replace John and I am delighted that I was selected to be its representative. It is likely that I will serve a three period on the Board after which the Trust will elect a replacement, but this will be ratified at the forthcoming AGM."

Ian Welsh, the Academy Chairman, added: “We are delighted to welcome Callum to the Academy Board. He has a range of skills and experience which will complement those of the current Directors. Whilst we are sorry to see John moving on, it is important that we keep the Board fresh and I am sure that Callum will bring new ideas and energy to an already vibrant organisation. We all look forward to working with him.”