May I take this opportunity to thank you all for giving me the great honor of being president of Wanderers FC for the coming season. Wanderers has been a way of life for me for 37 years now and it is indeed a daunting and humbling experience to take up the role of president. As well as being a great honor it is a great responsibility and as I outlined at the AGM, I will be giving the role my very best effort to repay you for the trust you place in me and to the club for all it has done for me over those many years.

With August now almost upon us I am delighted to welcome you to the new rugby season and hopefully it will be a successful one both on and off the playing pitches. I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the new members who have joined us over the summer months and also a special welcome back to all the existing members, both playing and non-playing, who continue to support the club.

The club faces some major challenges at this time and we will all need to work together to be successful in overcoming those. We will work to put the disappointment of relegation last season behind us and every effort is being made to ensure an immediate return to Div 2 of the All Ireland league. The senior coaching team has been strengthened as has the playing panel and I know they are already hard at work on the training field to ensure we are well prepared for the playing challenges ahead.

I am very mindful that there is more to the club than the first team and the rugby committee will be working towards putting the backup structures in place to support all the players at the club, irrespective of the team they play for, to maximise the enjoyment for all players.

About this time next year we will be taking over our new clubhouse and facilities at Lansdowne Road and what an exciting prospect that is to look forward to. The board of management has been working hard over the last number of months and indeed years to ensure we are well prepared for this new and exciting challenge. The addition of the new clubhouse to our existing facilities at Merrion Rd will bring much greater demands for it's
management and with this in mind the board will be recruiting a full time manager in the very near future. 

While this process is taking place I would ask you to bear with any inconvenience we might experience while the new person is settling in.

Finally, I would ask you all to come and support the club over the season. The first game of the season is against Suttonians in the Leinster league on 29th August. Our U- 20s will also be playing Coventry’s colts that day, so this is a great opportunity to get the season off to a flying start. Come down and support, you will enjoy it. 

I will always welcome any comments or suggestions you may have over the season.

Joe Brady