2028-29 Season Recap -
Preseason: Manager and Team Status, Yearly Budgets, Board and Media Expectations
Absolutely no change to anything here, as I’m in the fourth year of a five year deal and none of my ratings change. The one big thing is that I’m now accorded “Legendary” status by the Dover supporters, joining Lennie Lee and Jason Bartlett with that lofty designation.
Of course, the big news is that in two years time, we’ll have a brand spanking new 35,000+ seat stadium here in Dover. Interestingly enough, our training facilities have dropped to “Good” from “Top” due to advancements in the world of football. I’m guessing we’ll soon move back to top facilities once we start playing at Bosela Arena in 2030!
Ticket prices are held for an unprecedented third consecutive season. The season ticket base continues to grow and our estimated value absolutely skyrockets, up to £265m, still sixth in English football. We've also become a world-renowned club...perhaps a foreign tour outside of Europe is in order!!
The pundits actually predict a third place finish for the coming season, the best I’ve seen in all my years at Dover. Of course, I continue to tell my board that battling for a division title is the bare minimum goal for the season and for that outlook, I'm granted the following in wage and transfer budgets:
2028/29 TRANSFER BUDGET - £26,000,000 (Last year: £45,000,000)
2028/29 WAGE BUDGET - £1,500,000/week (Last year: £1,600,000/week)
Well, we see a significant drop in our transfer budget and a corresponding drop in our weekly wage budget, likely due to our huge investment in our stadium. I may have to get creative in the transfer market…and that may mean some tough decisions with veteran players with one year left on their contracts.