You've got to have fun

I love working for Glossop North End. It has given me some experiences that I could have got anywhere else, and that will be remembered for ever.

But I'm not daft. Those events were extra special, and should not be considered the norm. The day-to-day is more mundane - e-mails heading back and forth to opposition, referees, The FA and the Vodkat League. The match-day routine of teamsheets and post-game match reports. Trying to find opportunites to get the club into the press.

I see the work as some sort of community service - the town ought to have a football club, and all football clubs must be run by volunteers. A club can become a focal point for a town, and can bring an area together like nothing else can...we have had real experience of that.

But most of all I have to see it as enjoyable. There has to be some satisfaction, otherwise why I am committing my family to my being missing every Saturday, meaning weekends away are a rarity. Their patience must be rewarded with me at least not coming home in a mood that suggests I've been banging my head against a brick wall.

It's four years since I resigned as a director. Things had been brewing for a while, with me getting a fair share of angry telephone calls, and then at a game, a fellow director and the then manager had a stand up slanging match on the pitch that nearly came to blows. It was as depressing a spectacle as you could wish to see should you wish to take the club forward. It took place in full view of anyone hanging around the dug-out area, and reflected badly on the club, shortly before an important FA Cup tie.

The reputation of the club should always be more important than that of individuals, so I vowed to keep my head down, and just get on with what I do. But come the game next Saturday, I was apparently guilty by association and the manager refused to speak to me. Given my job was to gather the team sheets, and relay information to him, this made things very difficult. And we lost 5-0

It was the tipping point. Bad results I can take, they are part of the game - but the fun is gone when people start having a go at you, and this was now more like a bad job and I was taking the ugly bits home. It was time to walk away. So I did.

If a similar situation developed, I would walk away again. I think I have a positive influence on the club, but it has to have a positive influence on me in return.