NEW Tavistock AFC chairman Paul Stapleton is a man on a mission. He wants to help the Lambs move up the football ladder, writes Phil Stoneham.

But first, the ex-Argyle boss has a message for the Western League club’s townspeople. To help the Crowndale-based team climb into the Southern League, more fans need to start coming through the gates at Langsford Park.

That Paul Stapleton is at the home of the red and blacks at all — his appointment was announced last month — will come as a surprise to many in the world of non-league football.

He was chairman of now League One Plymouth Argyle during what can only be described as glory years in the Pilgrims’ recent history.

Paul, a senior partner with Plymouth-based accountancy firm Parkhurst-Hill, succeeded former chairman Dan McCauley in 2001 and was at the helm when the Pilgrims won two league titles under manager Paul Sturrock in 2001/02 and 2003/04 to reach the Championship, the second tier of English football.

But his eight-year stint in the Argyle hotseat ended when the Pilgrims were taken over by the so-called ‘New World’ regime and Sir Roy Gardener took over as chairman. Paul continued as a director at Home Park until the club went into administration in 2011.

A season-ticket holder at Home Park, he is nonetheless a fairly familiar face in the more homely surroundings of Langsford Park, taking his 90-year-old father-in-law and his son to watch matches as Tavistock made their way up the South West Peninsula League.

Last season, before Covid-19 struck, the Lambs were leading the Western League, an astonishing achievement after their recent promotion.

Paul, meanwhile, was no longer in the football limelight and was uncertain, at first, whether he was interested when Tavistock, who were looking for a new chairman, made an approach to him to take over.

But he said: ‘We had a meeting at the Barbican (in Plymouth) during lockdown and were properly socially distanced. Their chairman was packing up and they needed someone else, and I said I’d think about it. Sometimes I ask myself what I am doing, because I was having a nice rest (from football) and there was no pressure.

‘I spent three years on the board at Argyle just watching and listening before I became chairman but here I’ve been thrown straight into it.

‘I think Tavistock perhaps lack a bit of structure, although they are a community club where everyone is a volunteer and they do everything like cut the grass and paint the white lines on the pitch.

‘I have, obviously, a financial bias and one of the things we have done is start a 200 club monthly draw to make some money.

‘I think Tavistock did exceptionally well last season to get where they were in the league, but we only have an average of 100 fans at a game and we need more. Taunton Town, for example, can get up to 800-900. If we managed 250 a game, that would make a big difference. If we had 500, we could go further than we currently are.

‘I think, with the structure we have at the moment, the club could get to the Southern League. I think it’s going to be hard work and there might be a bit of anguish if the fans don’t come in.

‘We have a very special band of fans at Tavistock but with the pandemic some of them may not feel ready to come to the club. What I can say is that we will be doing everything we can with social distancing so that everybody is safe.

‘There is no reason why the football club shouldn’t be supported and I want people to feel that it is a club which belongs to the town. My aim now is to look after Tavistock and make sure the club is going forward in the right manner.’

The Lambs will open their gates at Langsford Park to spectators for the first time since lockdown tomorrow (Friday) when they play a friendly against Bere Alston. Kick off is at 7.45pm. A maximum of 150 people will be allowed in to watch the match.

The club’s first FA cup match against Bradford Town will take place on Wednesday, September 2 with a capacity crowd of 300.

Track and trace, two metre social distancing markers and hand sanitising stations will be in place.