IT may have gone beyond the attention of eagle-eyed Worcester City supporters but two anniversaries are being quietly celebrated at St George's Lane.

The observant City fan would probably have realised that Saturday's Nationwide North trip to Droylsden marks exactly five years to the day when John Barton took his first game in charge -- a goalless draw at home to Rothwell United on November 13, 1999 in the Dr Martens Premier Division.

However, another milestone that may have slipped the mind is one toasted by club chairman Dave Boddy, who has just completed his first 12 months in the hot seat after succeeding Dr Michael Sorenson, now City's president.

As a life-long fan of the club -- Boddy was ten years old when he watched his first City game, a 1-1 draw against Wimbledon in the old Southern League --taking over the reigns last year represented a huge honour.

Although clearly relishing the role, Boddy admits that the last 12 months have been strenuous in keeping the ship afloat in rocky financial waters.

There have been plenty of late nights along the way for the family man as he battles away for the future of the club.

Tied in with attempts to try and better the balance sheets, Boddy has been busy with the on-going struggle to relocate City to a new ground at Nunnery Way, while on-the-pitch, there has been the public backing of Barton during a dreary run of results earlier this season.

"It has been a hard 12 months, there's no doubt about it", Boddy said. "There's been a lot of pressure on me and on the board of directors, especially on the financial side.

"I probably work 40 hours a week for the club on a voluntary basis, not to mention the 40 hours a week in my normal job, as well as my family life. It's tough, but I enjoy it.

"Ensuring the club survives is the most important thing. Off the field, that is one of our targets. The other is that the club moves to the new ground.

"There is a lot going on behind the scenes. Things are moving on at a pace regards to the ground and there have been two to three meetings held each week where we've discussed it. Fellow directors have put in a tremendous amount of hours.

"If we don't move in the short-term future, we will struggle to compete at this level. The ambitions of the football club on-the-pitch is to be in contention for a play-off place at the end of the season. Despite the problems we've had with injuries, I still believe that we can achieve that."

One area of the club Boddy feels strongly about is maintaining the club's infrastructure and preventing City from 'doing a Hornchurch'.

The Conference South club surprised the non-league world when they turned full-time, bringing in a host of former professionals in their dream of reaching the Conference.

But it has backfired with last week's announcement that the Urchins' funds have dried up and all its first-team squad have been asked to find new clubs.

"I feel very sorry for the supporters of Hornchurch. We see this happen time and time again, it happened last year up the road at Telford. People come in, promise the world and then later the club has been left in ruins.

"I think a lot of people look on enviously at the clubs who have their sugar-daddies. But what's most important here is that we have a structure. One thing that Mike Sorensen did was protect the club from a couple of potential investors that may not have had the club's best interests at heart."