New Whitchurch Alport co-chairman, Tony Rogers, has explained how ‘catching the Alport bug’ led him to presiding over the club.

Rogers was unanimously elected following an online poll conducted with the club’s committee members and will stand alongside interim chairman, Luke Goddard, before he steps down next month.

Like all other Alport supporters, his Saturdays are currently spent in isolation rather than on the terraces at Yockings Park.

“We are living in very surreal times at the moment,” he said, “and we hope our loved ones can all stay safe throughout this horrific period.

“You hear people saying that we will one day return to normality, but I’m not sure what normal will look like once coronavirus has been beaten.

“I’d love to be coming into my new role in different circumstances, that goes without saying, but we will get through this and hopefully make our community even stronger.

“The football club is integral to making that happen and we can’t wait to welcome our supporters back through the gates.”

Ten days ago, Alport sacked manager, Matt Burton, and Rogers felt it was the right decision.

“People tell me that Matt is a really nice guy and I don’t doubt it,” he said.

“But nice guys don’t necessarily win trophies and the fans I’ve spoken to since his departure unanimously agree it was the right decision.

“For us to be able to move forward as a club we needed a change in direction and I’m looking forward to seeing the calibre of candidates we should be able to attract.”

Tony enjoyed a milestone birthday a couple of years ago but has long since retired from a career spent entirely in banking.

His roots are firmly down in Gwersyllt, near Wrexham, but he’s been making the weekly pilgrimage up Black Park Road for nearly five years.

“I caught the Alport bug quite by accident really,” said Rogers.

“I started coming during the first season in the North West Counties and it was the people that I met here that encouraged me to keep coming back.

“It certainly wasn’t the football because the team were getting hammered most weeks and the ground wasn’t the most welcoming either – not to put too fine a point on it, it was falling down!

“But there are some really interesting characters here and some of them have been coming for decades.

“Gradually over time they became my friends and now I feel privileged to have this title bestowed upon me by those very same people.”