Q&A: Boston United chairman David Newton on finances, players, county rivals, favourite away days and pink away kits

LincolnshireWorld.com has been marking the 15 year anniversary of David Newton taking over Boston United.

Here the chairman waxes lyrical about a number of topics.

On his relationship with players: "We try to create a good environment for players round the club. We try to make it friendly. I'm happy chatting to the players. A lot of chairmen get involved on the football side. I don't. But before every season I still go in and have a sit down and discussion with them before the season - more around what I expect of them. I expect players to interact with the fans and show good behaviour. There's a list of stuff I go through with them, betting is one we talk about strongly. I set the tone but we just treat them properly. We treat them with respect, they get paid in full on time, but to me it's just doing the basic things and making them realise how important this club is to the fans. It's not about them or me. It's about us making memories for the fans."

On the first full season at the Jakemans Community Stadium: "It's gone well. We've put a massive amount of work into it to get it open, particularly as we didn't know where we would be Covid-wise. In the first few games I was like a cat on a hot tin roof - I didn't see any football. I was round making sure everything was working. It worked really well apart from the first few games where we had parking issues. Considering we'd gone from being in the dark ages to online ticketing and scanners on turnstiles, it was a massive amount of work."

On the club's finances: "We're pretty much on to doubling the turnover from York Street. Hopefully we'll get quite a bit more on top of that. So it's been successful (moving). We don't know yet (how the cost of the new stadium compares to York Street). We've not had a full year of proper bills yet as we've been to-ing and fro-ing with water and all sorts. Business rates are set so we're paying those. This week we've sent our new assessment off. We've not really bottomed the costs out. We're building the business and it's been really well received by the community and it's getting busier day by day. We know we can do a lot more."

On the new pink away kit: "I think it's every season I've turned down a pink kit in the past. It's nice. I think it's time - with the new stadium - that we try something different. The kit is important. We always try to have a nice kit and one fans will be comfortable wearing in a social environment."

On the best part of being a chairman: "I think, this will sound odd, but the staff. We've built such a close bond. We know how hard working they are to make this club successful. Everybody has amber and black running through their veins. We've got a lot of volunteers. Every club needs volunteers and should have volunteers, it's a key part of what we do - they're trying to help make this club successful."

On his favourite player: "It's like saying who's your favourite child. I could probably name a favourite player every season. But I won't tell you who."

On his favourite game: BPA (Bradford Park Avenue, play-off final win in 2010) is the biggest one, in terms of impact on the club. And obviously Rochdale (at home in the FA Cup, the final big game at York Street).

On his favourite grounds to visit: There's one or two. Guiseley were always really good to us and Kiddy. We have a good relationship with them. Kiddy wasn't that way, it just seemed to have clicked. I've been around a long time now, longer than most chairmen. But most clubs are absolutely fine."

On past managers: "We've never fallen out with any managers, we try to do things professionally. I've got a great relationship with the old managers. The most acrimonious one was when Paul (Hurst) and Rob (Scott) left, but now I get on very well with Paul. He was going to bring a team here for pre-season but that's been messed up by them getting promotion."

On Hurst's Grimsby winning the National League promotion final: "I'm delighted for them. I was rooting for them and wanting them to do it. I sent Paul a text asking him to take the final to the wire (like the two previous rounds). He said he wanted it sorted earlier this time - but he didn't maage that. They're a club that's going in the right direction and it's nice to see."

On growing up in Lincoln: "I used to go watch (City) when I was younger. I look our for their results. We used to have a box at Lincoln, which was more family getting together, more family than football. It's my home town and I want them doing well."

On a job in the public eye: “I was working from home one day and a man came to deliver the oil. He looked at me and said ‘you lot were unlucky last night.’ But apart from the oil delivery guy, it’s a pretty normal life. I live on my own so life away from Boston United and Chestnut Homes is very normal – a bit of shopping and sorting the house out and paying the bills. I probably get recognised more in Lincolnshire for Chestnut Homes than I do football.”