With the Merit Table season only a matter of weeks away now, work continues behind the scenes to ensure the Phantoms can approach the new season with confidence. Our attention has been on securing a home ground to play from with talks being held with the team at the Hackney Marshes facility in East London for some weeks now. Fixture dates are currently being confirmed with our contact at the facility and we hope to be able to have our home pitches confirmed in the very near future.

As someone who has fond memories of playing over at the Marshes as a schoolboy and more recently during my years playing Sunday morning football in my early 20's, I think it is fair to state that the new Hackney Marshes facility, funded as part of the Olympic legacy project following London 2012, is a world away from the bleak dressing rooms of my youth and the pitches are of a very good quality when compared to many pitches at rugby clubs around the region.

Should this arrangement be confirmed, we will also now have opportunities to explore additional sponsorship opportunities in the Westfield Stratford City complex, especially in regards to post match beers and food, with the playing fields only a pleasant and relatively short walk through the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.