Great Yarmouth Town FC have announced that their “lifesaver” partnership with Oil & Gas construction company DSL and the club has been renewed until at least the end of the 2014 season.

DSL (Derrick Services Limited) came to the club’s rescue at the beginning of the year with a sponsorship package to the club, which at the time was described, by committee member and ex-chairman John Baldry as “a lifesaver”.

The injection from DSL last season helped the club to complete all its fixtures and those involved with the club continued to work hard behind the scenes to add new volunteers including new club secretary Len Beresford, new treasurer Maurice Briggs, fixture secretary Derek Bird to its ranks and a club photographer in Steve Wood amongst others.

DSL’s original sponsorship was due to expire at the end of the year with an opportunity to renew after the start of the 2012/13 season. In the summer, representatives of the club and DSL managing director Mike Smith met up and discussed the future of the club, focusing on the improvements seen in pre-season for the senior sides, the development of the youth section within the club and how the club is reaching out further into the community.

Chairman Colin Jones was pleased that Mr Smith had recognised the improvements the club had made, “I think many clubs are struggling with dwindling attendances, lack of volunteers and lack of support from local businesses, and we’ve been the most vocal about how that’s affected us. But we are finding new volunteers, and working hard to find new ways of raising money so that we can grow as a club, while also attempting to encourage more people to watch us on matchdays and to support us. DSL’s support makes our job a whole lot easier, allowing us to concentrate on these areas and to make the most out of Mike’s huge contribution to our club”.

Mike Smith himself was also excited about the future of the club, “The amount of work that has been going on behind the scenes this year has proven that there are a lot of people that care a great deal about this club so we are delighted to provide a helping hand to support and encourage that passion and belief in the club going forward.” He also indicated the importance of the club’s commitment to developing young players,

“It’s also very encouraging to see such positive work being put into the youngsters squads, which of course is another way that helps to keep the club connected to the community”.

Manager Mike Derbyshire was understandably positive about the news, and was keen to use this as a platform to build on; “It is no exaggeration to say that Mike Smith and DSL saved Great Yarmouth Town FC and everyone at the club is truly very grateful. Mike’s agreement to extend that original deal gives us a chance to move on from simply stabilising the situation to taking things forward again. What we must do, as a club, is reward his faith in us by attracting more sponsors and support off the pitch and by producing some positive development on the pitch.”

The manager, who has recently reached a year milestone of being manager of the Norfolk side, was happy that his anniversary was met with such good news: “I believe that real progress is being made here at every level and I’m just delighted that, after a year as Great Yarmouth Town manager, I have a proper chance this season to do a proper job.”