SOCCER: How will Grundisburgh react to the loss of one of their stalwarts? The most successful senior club in the Ipswich area for the last decade or so has this week appointed a new secretary.

By Elvin King

HOW will Grundisburgh react to the loss of one of their stalwarts?

The most successful senior club in the Ipswich area for the last decade or so has this week appointed a new secretary.

Gill Juby replaces Malcolm Harris who has decided to stand down at the end of the season.

Mac as he is known was considered by many to be the bedrock on which Grundisburgh's fantastic achievements were based.

He has been connected with the village club for over 40 years having joined as a player around the time he left school. He has been secretary for 25 years.

Since 1990 Grundisburgh have won the Metaltec SIL Senior Division championship six times and since 1995 the Suffolk Senior Cup four times.

In 1998 they won an astonishing treble, winning the SIL championship, the Senior Cup and the Omnico Cup.

A number of managers have worked in liaison with Harris, who now wants to hand over to a younger person.

While the managers have earned the bulk of the praise, it is Harris who has worked so effectively in the background and helped make Grundisburgh one of the most respected clubs in the county.

Chairman John Leggett is confident the club will carry on being a success with a secretary who did the books for the club's Under-16 side for some while.

"Steve Potts has pledged to stay on as manager next season," said Leggett. "I cannot see any reason why we should not carry on in the same way.

"We cannot move up to the Jewson League and have to paddle along in the SIL. It is up to other clubs to try and emulate us, and some like Haughley are doing that.

"Malcolm announced at the February committee meeting that he would be standing down. All clubs can benefit from new faces even at committee level.

"Times have changed since Mac took over as secretary. A committee used to pick the side when he first started.

"He may have found it hard to accept some of the decisions by managers over the years, but spectators always have the right to have their say.

"Mac's wife Janet did some of his paperwork and she is staying on the committee. Gill is very good at paperwork and she will leave the rest to Steve Potts."

Robin Dale is the club's press officer and has been connected with Grundisburgh for 13 years.

He also says that the club has nothing to fear about Harris' departure.

"We are not looking on it as a disaster," he said. "We are looking at the situation positively.

"Malcolm has done a very good job and will be a hard man to replace.

"But we have a strong committee. Malcolm is Grundisburgh through and through and he has been backed by an excellent chairman in John Leggett. The foundations of the club remain strong."

Jimmy Fitzgerald and Keith Vince are two previous managers who brought trophies to the village club, while Potts is the current manager and the one in charge when the incredible treble was achieved.

During the last 12 years or so many of the best players in the Ipswich area have been attracted to Grundisburgh, including the long-serving Martin Cotton and Julian Beaumont who have provided one of the strongest strike partnerships Suffolk football has ever seen.