There's always an abundance of change at the end of a season, and this one is no different at AFC Sudbury. We've got an update for you on all the movements in preparation for starting a fresh season with fresh ideas and fresh excitement.

The Board are pleased to announce two new members. Terry Burgess, who many of you will have seen at both home and away matches throughout the last couple of seasons, brings skills that others don't have on the Board and will be an excellent support and sounding board for Ash, as he has vast experience working with the voluntary sector including good knowledge of football operations and in his professional career worked with digital strategies and service design in developing brands and working with digital marketing. We also welcome local man Kevin Withane who recently showed interest in helping the club with major fundraising and giving back to the community. Kevin is a dual qualified barrister (non-practicing) and solicitor with over 22 years global experience and is founder of Diversity X, a community for overlooked and underestimated founders.

Ash Webb has handed the bar and events management back to the club (after 2 ½ years as a third-party operator where he transitioned the offer and brought the clubhouse to life again). This has been done to allow Ash to focus on his true passion - football! Ash now joins the club officially, as Youth Section Lead - additional duties alongside his Media Manager role which is unchanged. The Youth Section at AFC Sudbury is huge and it's no mean feat to organise 60+ volunteer coaches, bringing the different sections under one umbrella to ensure consistency, professionalism and safeguarding, 100s fixtures across 4 different leagues, and ensure they all start getting quality media coverage, so please be patient with Ash as he learns his new role this season and get in touch with him if you think you can help the Youth section in any way!

This has led the Club to appoint Helene Jones as Events Manager which encompasses organising and overseeing all events at the club including all matchday and football training operations, in the clubhouse. Helene was previously part of Ash's team and brings warmth, knowledge, enthusiasm and new ideas for events and matchdays at The Clubhouse. Please say hello to Helene when you're next in the Clubhouse and feed back any ideas for fundraising events. Look out for some exciting new changes on the bar coming soon!

The final part to the Clubhouse rearrangements is that Bub Goodliff will be leaving the club on 19th June. Bub has served the club immensely well over the last 2 years or so and has always been a smiling greeting to academy students and on matchdays. Unfortunately the academy lunchtime service is coming to an end and Bub needs to balance work and home life so whilst she was definitely welcomed to stay on for functions and matches this season, she needs to leave those anti-social hours and weekend working behind her after over 2 years with practically no full weekend off! Bub came to us from The Bridge Project and upped the standard after they left the kitchen, ensuring we achieved 5 star hygiene ratings, helping to plan and open Kitchen 2 for the Community Pitch, as well as keep everyone fed and entertained at matches. Everybody at the club wishes Bub all the very best for her next endeavour.

Also moving on is Men's GM, Dave Hennessey after 2 years at the club. Following the end of the season the appointment of new Men's First Manager Phil Weavers, Dave Hennessey has decided to move on from our football club as the GM role is now to be largely encompassed by Phil. CEO Alicja Holland said that Dave has been a massive support and whilst there was obviously a lot of ups and downs last season, Dave stuck it out with aplomb. She personally thanks him for his moral support and efforts beyond the pitch that not everyone would see, during his time here.

Dave said "Several roles within the club were discussed and Sudbury made every effort to keep Dave in the building, but ultimately nothing was found that worked for all parties. It's with sadness that I'm leaving Sudbury. It's only been 2 years, but it's been some journey and I'll carry the memories and friendships with me for years to come. It's been an honour and a privilege to represent this club over the last two years and there are just too many people for me to thank you all personally, but I will say thank you to all the volunteers, everyone who works so hard behind the scenes and to our fans, the true heartbeat of our club.

I leave a better person than the one who came aboard 2 years ago, I've worked with some wonderful football people, from head coaches to physios and everyone in between. Thank you all for your efforts and support.

I've learned so much in terms of the business side of football and I'm grateful for the trust and belief placed in me by those that appointed me initially and more recently Alicja, Andy and the rest of the board. These guys have a thankless task and work so hard behind the scenes, they are the reason we even have a club to support.

Good luck to everyone involved in this amazing club, I want nothing but good things for AFC Sudbury and I'll be following developments as a fan.

I won't say goodbye, because this isn't a goodbye, it's just an...I'll see you soon."

And finally, Lia Smith joined us a couple of months back as Club Secretary and has settled into her new, voluntary, role very quickly. There's still a lot for Lia to learn so please do be patient as she gets to grips with our complicated business, and say hello as she often attends matches with her husband and children, who have just started playing football too! Lia is also our cleaner at the club and does an excellent job to keep on top of such an operation, so thank you to Lia and we're pleased to have you in this role too now.