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Catch-up with Neil (taken from his programme article - Sunday 9th October)

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The question I am obviously asked by everyone weekly is “When is the building in Manchester opening and why is it taking so long?”. Well firstly I don’t think any of the team and I realised the amount of work that would have to be done in the background to get planning permission for an Ice Arena to be put in an old disused warehouse facility. I mean don’t get me wrong we knew it was going to be a lot of work and costly but we never anticipated the vast amount of work that would be needed and the amount of professional reports that would be needed to support our submission.

It has been intensified by the amount of public attention the project has attracted, with a lot of people outside of our organisation trying to ensure that the new project does not break any current legislation.  It has been a long process to ensure that The Ice Dome has been properly assessed to meet the new obligations and regulations set out by the local authority.

I would like to thank Ice Tech UK who have worked tirelessly in the background to ensure that we meet all the obligations placed upon us to achieve the goal of opening The Ice Dome here back in Manchester.  The license to occupy has helped us to do a lot of preparation work.

We now believe that all the reports required along the way have been completed and that the council are now going through the documents in detail.  We are hoping for a positive result shortly from them, then we will then start work on the project and try and execute it as quickly as possible so we may return back home to Manchester where we all rightly belong.

In the meantime, we have tried to make the Fylde Ice Arena our home and stream the games weekly back to Manchester.  I would like to thank Dan and his team over in Blackpool for trying so hard to accommodate us helping to keep the Phoenix alive.  I don’t think we could have found a nicer bunch of people to share, what has been for me, one of the most difficult journeys I have undertook.

I would like to thank all of you for being patient, I know it has been difficult for you as well as Tony and I.  I know a lot of people outside of the club have an opinion about what we are doing and not doing, imagine what they could achieve if they put that focus and effort into their own projects and lives.

Just so you know I have tried so hard since we left SilverBlades to relocate the whole Phoenix organisation back into Manchester.  It has been much, much harder than I ever anticipated and I am sorry, if at times, I don’t meet everybody’s expectations, I have learnt I will never be able to do that. I can only do what my dad taught me to do, while I have my health, I am to get up and work hard every day and try my hardest.

I believe with a little more patience and the belief that the faithful from Manchester generates we will be home soon.

I will always try and keep my word and never give in if you don’t.

Serva Fidem.