As Chairman of the GCT I guess you get to have more conversations than most with Glentoran Chairman, Stephen Henderson, but when you see his number coming up on your phone towards the end of July you sort of know it's not an invitation to a barbecue! The club were keen to extend a player’s contract and when Stephen named the player involved everyone on the GCT Board was eager to listen.
Jonny Addis is not only a good footballer, but a genuinely nice guy as well. A sign of the guy's character is that Jonny was one of only 3 first team players who followed through on a promise to fight in the GCT Charity Boxing Night at La Mon a few years back. Never missed boxing training for 6 weeks, and the event raised over £12,000! £8,000 of that money went to the Glens and the other £4,000 to a number of local charities.
I told Jonny Addis, Stevie Gordon and Jay Magee afterwards, that if any of them ever needed help in the future and the GCT were in a position to provide it, we would. Which brings us to today.....
I think we'd all resigned to losing Jonny when word got out he was off to University in Liverpool this year, so it came as a surprise to learn there was a chance he could still be turning out for the Glens. It turned out Jonny was keen to extend his contract, and although based in England would be prepared to fly in every weekend for the game. The problem was finance.
So, in an effort to leave the Glens and Jonny more room to negotiate, the GCT offered to cover the cost of Jonny's flights for the entire year, providing they could agree personal terms.
We were absolutely delighted to get a call from Jonny on Thursday night, to say terms have now been agreed, and he will be remaining a Glentoran player for not just one year, but for at least another two.
It's tremendous news; a great piece of business by the club, and everybody here at the GCT are just delighted we were able to help make it happen.
All of us here at Glentoran Community Trust continue to do the best we can to support the club. In just the last 2 seasons:
2014-15
- £6,000 to the Glentoran Manager for Barry Holland & Kym Nelson.
- £2,000 to Glentoran Seconds.
- The Vienna Cup Centenary Dinner at Belfast City Hall.
- The funding of the Glens appeal to Sports Arbitration UK for the Gary Hamilton eligibility case.
- Ricky Warwick at The Elk.
2015-16
- £6,000 for the re-signing of Jordan Stewart.
- Belfast Blitz Remembered event at The Oval - 75 years.
- Match Sponsorship
- Glentoran Badge Collection
- Ricky Warwick at The Elk
2016-17
- A full season's flights for Jonny Addis
- Ricky Warwick at The Elk (TBA)
That's just in the last 24 months, but none of the above can happen without your support. If you haven't already renewed your GCT Membership please do so now by approaching a GCT Board member or visiting our website at www.gctni.com. If you're not a member then join! For only £20 a year adults, or £10 Senior Citizens you can claim to be part of all of the above and more. Nothing more is required of you; all we are asking for is your support.
At the very least, Glentoran Football Club MUST be able to compete to keep our best players. Together we've managed to save the day this time round, but how long before the contract's up on the next Jonny Addis...
le jeu avant tout
Jim Welsh
Chairman
Glentoran Community Trust