THREE has been plenty of positivity at Worcester City lately and Simon Lancaster has been discussing how progress has been made both on and off the pitch in his first months as the majority shareholder.

Back in May, Lancaster was unanimously voted in as the club's new owner by both the board and the Supporters Trust, who had previously owned a 51% share of Worcester City.

Five months later, City sit top of the Hellenic League Premier by six points, with a game in hand on second-placed Corsham, and are closing in on the club's longest-ever winning streak (12 games - back in 1976/77). 

And this is what he had to say about the progress made in his first couple of months at the helm. 

"I think we are doing well but it is just a start, so we have to keep our feet on the ground, stay humble and keep working hard," said Lancaster.

"But it feels like we have made the first few steps in the right direction, people seem to be enjoying it and it's nice to have put some smiles back on faces around the club and the supporters.

"It feels like we are all pulling together in the right direction. We have an ambitious plan but we are feeling good and just need to keep that going."

Before Lancaster's arrival, City were in disarray. The 2022/23 season was arguably one of the club's worst in their recent history; numerous managerial changes, countless defeats and extreme levels of frustration among supporters.

But in the summer, having provided manager Chris Cornes with an improved budget for the squad, wholesale changes were made in the playing squad and a new group was formed.

Lancaster admitted that priority number one was always to address the first-team's performances and turn results around.

"Priority number one was the first team," he said. "At a football club, everything boils down to the first team, so if you can get that aspect right, everything else should follow. 

"The first part of the investment for us was to invest in the playing team and give Chris (Cornes, manager) an increased budget in the summer. Tim (Harris) and I sat down with Chris and we set out our ambitious plans.

"But it is all well and good having a budget, you have to deliver with us and Chris deserves a lot of credit.

"He has put together a really good squad with his recruitment, he was ambitious and that's what we asked him to be.

"But football is not won on paper, you have to go out and put in the performances on the pitch and they have done just that. 

"The team spirit seems really good, the football is brilliant and the results are excellent so the players themselves deserve an enormous amount of credit.

"But like we keep saying, it's early days and nothing is won in October so let's keep our feet on the ground and keep driving standards forward."

City are flying on the field and that is down, in part, to a core of local Worcester players, which was something else Lancaster was keen to build. 

"It is really important that the fans can relate to the players and that's what we spoke about a lot in the summer and Chris delivered on that," he said.

"You can see that relationship between the players and the fans and that cascades down so it's fantastic to see so long may that continue."