New president confirmed by Matlock Town

Sheffield and Jersey businessman Dennis Hobson is the new President at Matlock Town, his position being confirmed at the Gladiators' Annual General Meeting on Monday.

The role of President has been open since the death of Gladiators’ stalwart Mike Tomlinson in October 2014 who had given a lifetime’s service to Matlock, formerly being their Treasurer.

Hobson, a former non-league player in the Sheffield area, says Matlock is a club highly regarded in non league footballing circles.

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And he says he is looking forward to helping to take the club forward with a former Gladiator highly involved in introducing him to the club.

“I played here for Worksop Town and actually made the winning goal on one occasion,” he said.

“Matlock’s always been a club that’s been well thought of. It’s a lovely setting, you could have Buckingham Palace but it can have no soul, this place has an aura about it.

“Carl Fuller introduced me to the people here, he works for me and said nothing but good about the club.

“Dave Reynolds has been a big influence in me coming here, there’s a lot of good people here running the club. I love how the club is run, it’s a clean respectful club, I like the vibe of it.”

Hobson’s brief is to find potential fresh revenue avenues for the Gladiators and he has a number of projects under consideration.

“I’m going to be looking at ideas to bring extra revenue into the club,” he said. “It’s important to continue to profile the club in a good light and develop it even more.

“Success breeds success, positivity breeds positivity. I’m so happy to be here, I’ve got a lot of contacts in sport and entertainment and I intend to bring personalities here for fundraising.

“Carl (Fuller) is a good personal friend who’ll be working alongside me. I have good positive people and the aim is to utilise what I have and the excellent facilities at Matlock to bring in that extra revenue and take the club forward.”

Gladiators Chairman Tom Wright is delighted to have Hobson on board.

He said: “We’ve had a number of meetings with Dennis which have all been very positive, we’re singing from the same hymn sheet and I’m confident Dennis will play an instrumental part in taking the club forward.

“He’s very enthusiastic and loves coming here, we’re delighted to have him on board.”