Chairman vows to back new boss

Cleeve, pictured right alongside the former Norwich City and Aston Villa assistant manager at the end of last week when he was unveiled as the successor to Gary Setchell, has pledged to keep providing the finances to achieve his long term aim of promotion to the Football League.

He told edp24.co.uk: “If you speak to guys in the game they’ll tell you he’s not just a good coach, he’s the best coach that they’ve worked under. Ian’s got great coaching abilities, without doubt I think his managerial potential is huge and we can build a football club together.

“It’s a blank canvas and Ian is passionate about football and about growing the club and the various structures, so there couldn’t be a better manager to take us forward.

Cleeve, who succeeded Buster Chapman at The Walks last summer as Lynn chairman, added: “I will do all I can to give Ian as much money I can to try and help his ambition. When I came here I said I wanted league football, ideally, and it wasn’t just a cheap sound-bite, it was something that I meant.

“That’s going to be hard but to get it right you’ve got to put the building blocks and the right people in place. I fully believe that Ian is the right man to do that. As he says, it’s not going to be a walk in the park, it’s going to be hard work. The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary, you have to put your heart and soul into it.

“From the investment side of things, I got off to a slow start because I didn’t know the area – I know Norfolk, but didn’t know King’s Lynn particularly well – so I had to make a lot of contacts and I’ve made a lot of contacts now and it’s getting a bit easier.

“Everyone is seeing how we’re getting on and I hope the businesses in the area will take stock because it’s great for the town if you have a successful football team and a team that’s going somewhere because it brings people into the town and money into the town."

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