Whitchurch Alport Football Club held its annual meeting in the Cadstones clubhouse on Sunday evening.

Observing strict social distancing guidelines there was a healthy gathering of committee members present that had not sat since lockdown began almost four months ago.

There is a change of club secretary with Andy Hough replacing Laura Thelwell who has held the post for two seasons.

Laura did a superb job and was thanked in her absence and will maintain her association with the club with a similar role with Alport ladies while Andy already has strong links with the club.

Laura and Lou Wainwright will continue to manage the women’s team.

Last season, Colin Sandland, announced he would be relinquishing his position as treasurer and Yvonne Sheridan – wife of Alport’s commercial manager, Tom – shadowed Colin in preparation for replacing him, and this was evident on Sunday evening as Yvonne presented the club accounts.

Despite the impact on the club and the wider community of Covid-19, Alport are still attracting sponsorship and Tom announced the confirmation of three key sponsors with KMJ Mortgages Ltd attaching their name to the Yockings Park stadium for a period of 12 months initially.

Also, Cadstones enter into a third year of home shirt sponsorship with Drinks Stop committing to renewing the away team jerseys and both have agreed the same deal with Alport ladies.

Meanwhile Lea Edge will assume the position of club director of football which will encompass both the men’s and women’s sections while Tony Rogers is chairman.

A club official said it had been a great occasion to meet up with committee members following so long apart.

The spokesman said: “It was great to see some familiar faces again albeit in unusual circumstances.

“It was important to hold our annual meeting to get the constitution adhered to and it completes a sizeable jigsaw that has seen a number of key changes.

“With Luke back at the helm and involved in football related matters only, he has assembled an excellent backroom staff.

“With the changes we have made we believe that we are in a really strong position off the field as well as on it.”