Paul Smith’s praise as Yeltz support players through shutdown

As several clubs prepare to cut costs and place staff on the government’s furlough scheme, the Yeltz have committed to paying their employees.

For manager Smith, that’s down to the work of the people in charge of the Southern Central Division One side.

“It just shows how the owners and the board have the club on a very good footing right now,” he said. “It’s run professionally and how football clubs at our level should be run.

“It shows the efforts that they’ve made in the last 18 months to two years to get the club into that position.

“We feel for a lot of clubs out there at the moment that are really struggling to make ends meet.

“This is a culmination of the hard work to put ourselves in the position to play players.

“A lot of players from other clubs will be struggling and will need some money, so it’s brilliant for us to be able to help our players and staff at these kind of times. This kind of thing gets rewarded because players will want to help and remain at the football club when we get to the summer.

“It’s brilliant work from the football club and nothing I don’t expect, it’s been a fantastic place to be part of.

“The people I work for here are the best people I’ve ever worked for in football and that’s a big statement.

“I’m over the moon, it’s great that they’ve done it and it gives the boys some money in a really tough period.”

Smith was appointed manager in April 2019 and he insists that having the right people at the top was imperative to him joining the club – something he believes is paying off for them now.

“I’m the kind of person that wants to help from top to bottom and it’s crucial to me that the club is run properly,” he added. “As soon as this horrible virus took hold I firmly believed that this club was in the position to do the right thing, on the back of how it’s run.

“It wasn’t a surprise to me – it was to a lot of other people – but I know exactly how this club is run.”