Shrewsbury Town Football Club announced at a recent Board of Directors' meeting the appointment of Sir David Lees as Honorary Patron. A prominent industrialist Sir David is currently chairman of the Bank of England's Court of Directors; Deputy Chairman of QinetiQ, the Ministry of Defence company; and a former chairman of GKN, Courtaulds UK Ltd and Tate and Lyle plc. He is a governor of Shrewsbury School and was recently commissioned to be the Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire.

A spokesman for Shrewsbury Town FC said: "At the start of a new decade Sir David's contribution will be most valuable. He has a superb in-depth knowledge of, and expertise in the business sector and we are delighted to have his support, albeit in a non-financial role. We are proud and pleased to be able to enjoy the prestige of being closely associated with such a renowned person who has been a keen fan of the football club for many years. Sir David lives locally and is a West Stand Season ticket holder.

We understand that meeting the expectations of fans is of paramount importance and the Board of Directors, and indeed the Chairman are always open to positive suggestions of how to further develop what is a true success story for football in Shropshire...Shrewsbury Town Football Club. To meet the strategic objectives of our Business Plan we are continually building on our past achievements in order to achieve our ambitions. In past years the club was in serious financial difficulties before our Chairman, Roland Wycherley completely overhauled the club's finances...

With an uninsurable 100 year-old stadium (due to constant flooding) at the Gay Meadow and a restrictive covenant on the ground, annual losses of £300,000 a year, and average gates of just 2,500 he personally invested millions of pounds and considerable energy to provide what is the finest sports facility in Shropshire, and indeed probably the envy of many fans nationwide. We now own and enjoy the very best of modern facilities in a purpose-built 10,000-seater stadium, on 26 acres of freehold land, with average gates of 5,800 and no debt. Thanks to Roland Wycherley's dedication, and driving ambition we can now be really proud of Shrewsbury Town Football Club... a real success story.

The Club continues to introduce new management structures, and the new Youth Policy and forward-looking Plan is just one example of this. We will be making more announcements on this policy in the future. Whilst more and more clubs are entering administration or encountering serious financial difficulties in pursuit of rapid success and the aim of positive results on the pitch we will move progressively with the ongoing objective of nurturing and growing an ever-popular football club - which is run for the benefit of fans, the local community and the many people we employ.

Shrewsbury Town Football Club has been fortunate to have had just four Chairmen over the last 50 years and this has resulted in greater stability. They have all had the best interest of the club at heart and with our current Chairman we aim to continue to meet the challenges that 2010 will bring."